Canon LEGRIA HF S10 Comments

Sounds like its the Panasonic for me then.

I have to agree - the lack of a lens ring is the killer blow for me, which is a shame as it's the more attractive model in many other respects.

So, as someone considering spending £1000ish on a semi-pro camera over the coming months, what would the users and staff of TrustedReviews recommend?

which camcorder has the best video quality HF s10 or Pansasonic hdc-hs300
what is the best buy

Definitely a review I've been waiting for. Now if only the decision as to whether the Canon or Panasonic were easy! German magazine Bild Audio Video Foto put them up against each other in the March edition.

The Panasonic +'s with its colour viewfinder, 5.1 sound, focus ring, touchscreen and microphone and headphone connections. It -'s with its battery lasting only 2 hours. The final score is 2.07 (with 1.00 being the best possible).

The Canon +'s with its video light, rotary ring settings adjustment, microphone and headphone connections and video snapshot function. It gets minus points for not having a viewfinder and the battery being rechargable only in the camera. Its final score is 2.31 points.

Without my wishing to appear pro or contra either model, the Panasonic beat out the Canon in all disciplines with the exception of the cost of replacement batteries. Here, as in the UK, there is also a significant price difference between the two, with the magazine quoting E899 for the Panasonic and E1499 for the Canon. I have yet to see the Canon in the shops but have seen the Panasonic, but at E999.00

Everybody mentions Panasonic. But what about Sony and their XR500V and XR520V models? No early 2009 camcorder decision would be complete without Sony consideration. I'm really interested how image stabilization compares in these cameras as it seems that even if camcorder has better image quality it gets ruined by constant motions. From what I've seen from Japanese website samples Canon gives over-saturated image and has much worse image stabilization than Sony. However 24Mbps vs 16Mbps helps Canon to capture more details (and its own sensor noise).

maybe the Panasonic Lumix GH1 a total solution

@Sergei Mutovkin & James Morris - German website slashcam.de reviewed the two Sonys. The verdict is (my translation): In normal light conditions they strongly resemble their predecessors, have very good focus but are very, very slightly beaten by the Panasonic and the old Canons in this respect. Their lowlight performance sets new standards. The technology sets a new reference in their price class. The downside is that for semi-pro use they both lack the ability their rivals offer, to make the kind of adjustments one would expect at this level.

You're welcome, James. It's hard to tell whether Sony Germany are keener to hand out review samples or not, but trustedreviews is not the first UK website I've seen complaining at Sony UK's reluctance to provide review samples, a complaint I have yet to see here in Germany. While you do need very good German to read the slashcam.de review, the photos speak for themselves, especially the lowlight performance, which is absolutely amazing. Of course, waht's needed is someone to run a three-way face-off between the Panasonic, Canon and Sony, which will come sometime soon I'm sure. But at the moment the nod goes to the Panasonic by a large margin, especially taking the price difference into consideration.

Thanks, James and shame on Sony!
FYI: i found a link with the translated Sony test from slashcam (a comparison of the Sony XR520, Canon HF S10 and the Panasonic SD300): http://camcorder-test.slashcam.com/compare-33976e1c32741f267bbd79b5ef50ca90.html

What do you think of the canon LEGRIA HF20? can't decide which camcorder to get from canon or panasonic but like th look of HF20. I am looking to buy for my brother who is wanting one for his baby due in May. Any ideas???

i do not trust that German review .. even the spec data is wrong.
i really wish to see the Sony camcorder review .they made so many changes this year

@ Stephen Campbell & James Morris. Camcorderinfo have just reviewed the LEGRIA HF20 and were not that impressed - http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-Vixia-HF20-Camcorder-Review-36314.htm - so it looks like this round goes to Panasonic. James, let us know how you get on with Sony.

Hi,

I am in Brazil, so I have very limited options to buy up-to-date electronics. My primary source would be B&H Photo that delivers down here, surprisingly enough.

So, in this store, apparently, unlike in the UK, there is no price difference between Canon HF S10 and Panasonic TM300 (which I would prefer in relation to HS300) - both being priced at US$ 1300. However, there is a huge difference to HF11 that is priced at just US$ 800.

I understand that HF11 is inferior compared to both others, but as it was released in late 2008 and got so great reviews everywhere, I imagine if that wouldn't be a very good pricing. Which of the 3 would you guys buy in my situation? Bear in mind that I am fairly inexperienced in shooting, so I might not take advantage of very advanced and complicated functions, however I wont buy another one next year like some people here seem to do, so I would like to buy a camera that would still be respectable in 3, 4 years down the road.

Thanks in advance for everybody's great advice.

Hi Marcio,
As far as I can deduce, the only differences between the Canon HF S10 and the HF11 are the increase in size and weight of the body over the HF11, and the increase in sensor size from 1/3.2" (3.31 total megapixels) in the HF11 to 1/2.6 (8.59 total megapixels) of the HF S10. The larger sensor affords greater sensitivity, so low light quality is reputedly better than the HF11. The 8.59 megapixels would only appear of benefit in still photos, since only around 2.0 meg. is needed for full HD. Canon uses 6.01 megapixels for movies, interpolating down, but I wonder whether this actually makes any visible improvement in video quality over the HF11 in good light. Has anybody tested the quality of still photos with the HFS10? Is this a factor worthy of the price hike over the HF11?

Thanks, Peter. I actually don't care much about the still pictures, I find the pictures from camcorder way too frustrating anyway, that is exactly why I am considering buying a lesser version of camcorder and investing the difference to buy a Leica. So, if anything, the better low light recording (and the light from HF S10, I might add) could be the decision maker here. Do you feel there is a dramatic improvement to justify a 60% price increase or it would be something that I would have to keep my nose glued to the TV to notice the increased noise? Could anyone comment on that?

Hi Marcio,
It sounds to me like you'd be better off going with the HF11. While the HF S10 and the Panasonic are better cameras, that is a very large price difference. The extra money buys you more extras, but that $500 can be well invested elsewhere. It all depends whether you want to be a happy filmer, having fun and learning, or whether you want to get into some serious videography and can envisage your skills and abilities growing and thus needing the extra facilities and abilities offered by the more expensive cameras. Something that might be a factor is whether you could have a problem playing back your footage on a Brazilian TV. The US has NTSC and Brazil its own weird PAL hybrid, as far as I know. (Please get proper information from someone who knows about this!)

Thanks, Risnorter. I guess you are right, the HF11 is already probably more than I can handle, so I better save the extra cash for other stuff. And Brazil is really a very clever country, isn't it? I guess the rest of the world can't really see that coming. We always create a proprietary system that is fully incompatible with the rest of the world and expect that the world will curve, amazed, and adopt our system. We actually just did that for digital TV again. In the end, the best definition for this is a weird (and infertile) hybrid, as you put it, and our best contribution to the world would be.... ehhhh... does Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima count? But I don't worry much about that, if it comes to that, I just play it through my computer, instead of directly to a local DVD player. If I stick to versions being sold down here, I will probably pay MUCH more than I will pay for HF11 (including freight from US) and will be with cutting-edge technology... as of 2006. Thanks again you guys and Trusted Reviews for your insights. So the HF11 it is.

Excellent review. I am looking into getting a good HD camcorder and like many other, I 'm probably leaning towards either this one or the HS300.

Could you (or anyone else who knows) please clarify if the S10 allows for manual control over iris, shutter speed and exposure ? And if yes, can you manually set them independently of each other ? Finally, how about the "rolling shutter" problem, is that a thing of the past now ? Thank you very much !

What a clear and to-the-point answer ! Exactly what I needed to know.
(I 'd like to know about the HS300's manual controls too, but I 'll probably leave a comment on that review to keep it in context).

Thank you very much James :)

Again a perfect set of information :)

If I 'm getting it right, since you can either set iris OR shutter on the HF S10, and have the other governed by an AE preset, in a shot panning through different brightness spots the camera would constantly auto-adjust (even if I wanted "blown out" or "blacked out" parts during the pan). Is this correct ?

Apologies if I 'm abusing the Comments page, and thanks again for making such a tough decision that bit easier !

As the Panny TM300 is currently available for £320 less than the HF-S10, the choice is made for me. However, can not get anyone from Panny to confirm whether the TM300 is compatible with SDXC cards that will be available very soon. Is the HF-s10 SDXC compatible, this could change my decision. Do not want to spend ~1K on a device that is only compatible with the soon to be "old-school" SDHC cards.

I had the HF S100, I found it does not compare to the image quality of the HF 20 sorry I most likely stand alone, but it's true. I found the HF S 10-HF S100 was not what I was looking for I owned the HF 100 and loved it and the HF 20 is better camcorder than W hat I experienced from the HF S100 or HF 100. The Movies and prints prove it. As far as low light it has not been an issue.

Hello all, thanks for the great reviews James.
regarding the HF10
I wonder does anyone know if it is possible to obtain a small LCD Viewfinder and connect it to the hotshoe of the CANON HF S10 with a small AV cable into AV out. ???? Does this make any sense to anyone? is there some old canon model Digital Still or Camcorder that had a detachable ViewFinder? For me thats the number one problem with this model, next to native 24p which could be easily solved pulled down SO?

Thanks.

Correction - on last note "regarding the HF S10". Also Anyone been able to find a decent comparison between HF S10 and HDC TM300 camcorderinfo is not releasing a full review infosync is not to me trusted, so is there anything else out there? maybe with Google translator?

How about combining the HF S10 wit this Nikon up300 media port - Viewfinder, Looks like it could be rocki'n to me. if i can find one.
http://www.upstore.jp/front/ProductVUA11001.do

Thanks James but thats not what i asked.
i asked if anyone has found videos or a comparison between the Canon HF S10 and The PANASONIC HDC TM300
Also i asked "does anyone know if it is possible to obtain a small LCD Viewfinder and connect it to the hotshoe of the CANON HF S10" regarding this question i made some research i suggested to try and work with the Nikon up300 head on eye display -
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2008/10/nikon_up300up300x_headmounted_media_player.html

it solves for me absence of a viewfinder on the canon hf-s10 and also offers some interesting ways to operate.

good day

I've had the HF-S100 for a couple days and really do like it. I think it is a great little camcorder that can do things the much more expensive cameras do. I'm planning on using it on future shoots and mixing it with prosumer cameras such as the Sony EX-3 as well as at home. However, the two biggest disappointments for me (and the ones that have me kicking myself for not getting a Panasonic TM300 instead) are:

1. Trying to use the small function wheel does not work for adjusting focus. I stupidly only gave it a few twirls before buying and liked the response and resistance. It was not until I got it home and out of the box that I realized it is not functional for focus. Let's say you wanted to rack focus from one object to another that are 20 to 30 feet away from each other. It literally takes up to 5 or 6 compete revolutions of this tiny wheel. It is way too many to be done in a short amount of time or without making the camera jiggle as you try to quickly spin the wheel over and over. What lens focus would require that many turns? It is only good as a fine adjustment after you have gotten 90% of the way there. There is no way to adjust how much ground is covered with each spin (say fast and slow settings). I just gave up and use it to adjust exposure with Zebras on. The joystick is a much more realistic tool for adjusting focus.

2. Dealing with the 24P mode (recorded over 60i with a pull-down) is too much of a pain in most programs. I use Final Cut Pro and trying to reverse telecine the 24p footage takes far too many steps considering that it is not an "advanced 24p pull-down" and there are no flagged frames. It doesn't happen during the ingest (as it does with the Panasonic P2 cameras). You have to go to an outside program, duplicate the clips and bring them back in or re-link them. However, I found that getting the 30p footage to a progressive state is far easier (which makes sense I suppose since it is already at essentially the same frame rate).

Overall, it is small and can capture really great shots with a decent amount of manual control. I think I will make great use of it, but wonder if I would have made much greater use of the TM300.

Im also torn between the HFS10 and the TM 300, having read your reviews on both. Is it crazy to make a decision based off a single feature? The TM300 does sound a little bit better, but the pre-record feature of the HFS10 I think would be incredibly useful.

P.S. For what its worth, I think its crazy you have so much trouble getting cameras from Sony. No way are most people going to drop this much money on a camcorder without doing alot of online research first. If there arent reviews for Sony, I wouldnt consider buying one.

Also, did you find one camcorder had a better OIS then the other? Thanks again.

Hi James,
Excellent review on all the camcorders I read thru on your site. I got this link from a friend & I read all the camcorder reviews posted since the beginning of this year. MUST say best of all the sites I had visited till date.
Back to my query, comparing the Canon LEGRIA HF S10 with Panasonic HDC-TM300GC, ignoring the price factor, please advise which one of these two are best on Features and Video Quality. I had been using the JVC GZ-HD6 since its launch & was quite happy with its video quality when compared with the models then launched by Sony, Panasonic & Canon. I badly need a switch-over from HDD to SDHC keeping rest of all the features at the optimum level. Greatly appreciate your assistance to give me just one shot… Go for “---“ Many Thanks & Regards, Tom.

Thomas,
One can keep comparing during months, but personal preferences are not to be forgotten. As we all are think and feel different, "the best coice" might be different from the best choice ... for YOU ! For example, I wouldn't like to handle a camcorder which is missing a viewfinder, while another person might maybe not care at all.

Video quality differences between those excellent camera's will probably make less difference... as long as your movie has something to tell and keeps the viewers attention. Only when being bored by a movie, specialists (only) will "start" looking closer at the picture quality.

"Customers service" is VERY important too. Be aware that some BIG companies on the market have less and less local service. You have to wait months (even in European countries) for a most simple repair, or to get a delivery of an additional acessory.

Just go for what YOU like most on your shortlist; that's the "best choice" (I hope)

James or anyone else who can help,
I'm looking to buy my first camcorder but wondered which of the Canon's hg20 and hf11 you thought to be the best as although you made comparisons between the 2 in each of their respective articles, it wasn't clear which you felt to be the superior and why. Many thanks. Stevie =)

hello james,
a question vrom Holland;i do some underwater filming and wright now i`m using a sony HDR-HC3 with a sealux housing but because it is very hard to the focusing good with sediment in the water we wanted to buy a 3ccd camera, we have seen pictures made on the same time and they were a lot better, but since the housings are very havy we now are thinking of the canon HFS10, would this be a good choice?
thanks Klaas.

Hi, James. I would just like to ask about something that's been disturbing me for some time now. Kindly go to http://camcorder-test.slashcam.com/compare.html
If you compare the HF S10 and the HF11 in that site, it will state that the HF11 triumphs over the HF S10 in terms of video quality (they gave the HF S10 a good; the HF11 an excellent).

Is this true? Thank you!

Oh, and a follow-up:

Actually, Slashcam gave the HF10 and the HF11's resolutions an excellent. So, why would they give the HF S10 only a "good", considering that it has more advanced specs?

I really hope that you can put this case to rest. Thanks!

Again a very comprehensive test, well written up. I have read many trusted reviews and bought several items based on them, however there is one simple addition that I would benefit from, particularly with small items like camcorders and mp3 players, that is a standard photo of the equipment next to a common item for comparison eg a soft drink can, cigarette packet or similar. I would find this a much easier method of visualising the equipment size. The video clips you attach to your reviews you do may show this but they are too slow to download via satellite link!