Canon Vixia HF10 Camcorder Review

The Canon HF10 is among the most anticipated camcorders in recent years, due no doubt to the outstanding reception of its HDV predecessor, the HV20 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $903). There are several key differences, however. The CMOS chip is not the same as last year’s Canon HD camcorders; in fact it’s smaller, with a higher pixel density. The HF10 records in the AVCHD format, heretofore riddled with performance problems. This is Canon’s third try on an AVCHD camcorder, and the format appears to finally be coming into its own. Full 1920 x 1080 output, a new 17 Mbps bitrate, and 60i/24P/30P frame rates make this the best AVCHD camcorder we’ve seen to date. Prepare to be surprised.

The Front (7.5)
Gazing into the HF10’s 12x optical zoom Canon HD video lens head on is like staring down the barrel of a miniature bazooka. This midnight-black piece of AVCHD artillery is flashy and compact, yet with well-equipped controls. Up front, the HF10’s lens has a focal length of 4.8mm – 57mm and an aperture range of f/1.8mm – f/3.0mm. The lens has a 37mm filter diameter.

To the right of the HF10’s lens is a column containing the Instant AF sensor, Flash, and LED video light. Although we’ve addressed this countless times in other reviews, it’s worth mentioning yet again that the asymmetrical placement of the Flash leads to uneven lighting, especially when an attachment is fastened to the lens. Sony’s HDR-SR1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) (Review, Specs, Recent News, $670.28) solves this caper by embedding the flash just above the lens—a design other manufacturers should model. The HF10’s LED Video Light is actually rather powerful, but casts a bright bluish orb in the middle of the frame that could throw your color balance.

Tucked beneath the lens is the HF10’s built-in stereo microphone, which features screens over both left and right speakers. Canon was wise with its microphone placement on a camcorder this small. The Panasonic HDC-SD9 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $492.00) is not as fortunate, with a top-mounted microphone that is easily scraped by the shooting hand.

The Right Side (5.75)
The right side of the HF10 looks strikingly similar to the Sony HDR-CX7 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $745.00) (Review, Specs, Recent News, $745.00). Both camcorders look like distant cousins—Darth Vaderesque black paint jobs and rounded gun barrel bodies. The HF10 is one of the more solid Canon camcorders and the revamped hand strap is one of the prime contributors to an overall rugged design. At last, the HF10’s hand strap features a lightly padded, breathable mesh liner on the inside—something that’s been on our Canon wish list for quite some time. The hand strap is anchored to the body of the camcorder via two burly metal d-rings that can take a healthy walloping.

The HF10 Mode Dial is located just above the rear hand strap d-ring and can be shifted to each of the following settings: Photo mode, Video Record mode, Video Record Playback, and Photo Playback. The Mode Dial is large, but difficult to shift with a sweaty right thumb. Lurking beneath the shadows of the hand strap are the HDMI and USB terminals, housed by a covert, rubberized shield.

The Back (6.0)
In back, the HF10 looks like an HDR-CX7 on a diet. The blueprints are uncannily alike, yet Canon keeps it compact with a smaller battery and flatter top. The HF10’s BP-809 rechargeable battery sits flush with the back of the camcorder, thanks to a cavernous battery chamber. To the left of the battery reside crucial ports housed by rugged plastic enclosures. The Mic, A/V Out/Headphone, and DC In jacks are found here. To the right of the battery is the Record Start/Stop button, which is easily reached by the thumb.

The Left Side (5.5)
From this angle, the jig is up—the HF10 is almost indiscernible from the HDR-CX7. It looks like Canon just lopped a small chunk off the top and relocated the “HD” hologram. Inside the LCD cavity it’s a different story. When you fling open the HF10’s glossy 2.7-inch LCD screen, only two buttons are present – the Easy button and the Display/Battery Info button. That’s right folks, Canon smacked an Easy button on the HF10 – there’s a new sheriff in town, Sony. Or is it the same sheriff again? We’re not sure. Anyway, Canon stole a good idea from Sony, which makes sense. If you’re going too steal from anyone, steal from a market leader.

Below the two buttons is the card door switch, which opens the SDHC card door located along the bottom of the LCD cavity. The door must be manually shifted down in order to close. The Component-out terminal resides next to the card door, shielded by a rigid plastic square that pulls out.

The HF10’s LCD panel is where the Joystick is located, along with a slew of Playback and Video controls. The Joystick is easy to use, but lacks the solid construction of Panasonics we’ve seen in the past (but better than the new Panasonic HDC-SD9). A horizontal panel of controls lines the bottom of the LCD panel and contains the following buttons: Function, Play/Pause/Record Start/Stop, Rewind/Zoom Out, Fast Forward/Zoom In, Stop/BLC.

The left side exterior		The LCD cavity

The Top (5.0)
The hub of all activity up top is located toward the back end. The HF10’s Zoom toggle is loose and cheap-feeling, but it does the job. The Photo button is located behind the Zoom toggle. Embedded in the left side ridge is the Power button—something Canon chose to isolate from the Mode Dial. While the separate Power button might seem like a nifty feature, we experienced trouble turning it on and off—we really had to jam our finger down for it to work. Also, the tendency to forget to use the Power button is fairly common—no one wants a drained battery from leaving the HF10 in standby. Toward the back is the hot accessory shoe, Canon’s branded Mini Advanced Shoe. The shoe is sheltered by a hard plastic shield tacked onto the body of the camcorder via two feeble plastic straps. Of all port covers on the HF10, the shoe enclosure will be the first to snap off.