Canon HF S10/S100

[AdamNJ77]

For all the people who are already using the HFS10/100 (OtherSteve, Adam, etc):

How do you find its autofocus capabilities? Does it find and lock on fast? Is it reasonably smart about what it focuses on?

People are pointing out the autofocus as one of the drawbacks of the Sony XR520.

From the menu you can select either I.A.F. (Instant Auto Focus) or AF (Auto Focus). I find the focus to work very well. I have used the Sony 500V briefly and that was one of the negatives I noticesd was it's auto focus. It isn't as fast as Canon's. With the HF S10/100, you get a rather quick kind of SNAP & focus feel. Where as the Sony was more of a slow auto focus. I am not an expert though by any means, so I don't have a lot of experience with dozens of cameras. However I did try both of these, and I would say the Canon definitely excels in the auto focus area

[Thronsen]

Thanks Adam, thats very helpful.

Any other features that led you to pick the HFS10/100 over the Sony XR500/520?

[AdamNJ77]

Thanks Adam, thats very helpful.

Any other features that led you to pick the HFS10/100 over the Sony XR500/520?

The whole interface of the Sony was very diffacult, there were features hidden within features. The menus were completely disorganizer for my taste. The slow autofocus, it's clunky toyish look/feel. The fact it only does 16mbps. Basically just about EVERYTHING on the HF S10 is better. I will say the Sony does have a BEAUTIFUL LCD. But once again it is touch screen so you spend the whole time getting your grubby fingerprints all over it. And the touchscreen was not very responsive even. It is nice in low lighting, but so is the Canon. The Sony will light things up almost unnaturally. If I am filming outside with one street light on, I don't expect it to be as bright as noon on the beach in the middle of July. The HF S10 doesn't light things up as much as the Sony but you can lower the gain which helps eliminate which I hate MOST, and that is NOISE. I have been able to virtually eliminate all of the noise in any setting I have tried indoors in low light. As a matter of fact about 15 minutes ago, I turned off EVERY light in my bedroom, and used the internal Camcorder light that pops up on the HF-S10, and I was able to get remarkable sharp, clean video with NO NOISE. I was beyond impressed. If I could change one thing, I would toss a bigger LCD on it with a higher pixel count. But that said, the LCD on it is more than adequite. It is hard for me to find something to complain about. As far as any other features it is more the immense features this camcorder does have that the Sony doesn't. And lastly the 24mbps mode. You can really notice a difference. It is much sharper and cleaner. If you see certain videos online that you don't like the color of the Canons video, that and just about everything else can all be adjusted. You can increase and decrease color, contrast, Brightness, or, well I could go on but you can do just about anything you want with it. If you REALLY need something with AMAZING low light capabilities because you are going to be shooting in dark allies or chasing alligators in the sewers at night, then I would get the Sony. Otherwise get the Canon. I RARELY recommend electronics to friends because I don't want it to come back to me that it wasn't what they were looking for blah blah blah. This is one of the few devices I gladly give my recommendation to. Just get one, you won't be sorry

P.S. One more thing I should mention I prefer with the Canon is the use of Flash Memory vs. a hard drive. I know 32 gigs is NO 240 gigs (but seriously who needs 240GB). 120GB is nice in the 500V, but I just like the fact there are no moving parts, it's a little quicker, it records 3 seconds of video before you even hit record, you don't hear any hard drive noise. And lastly, I know this has probably been mentioned to death, but it uses SD/SDHC. I HATE the fact Sony insists on using their proprietary, more expensive, at this time smaller Sony Memory Cards (At this time I believe they only go to 16GB). I mean just about EVERYTHING uses SD/SDHC and Sony just cant stand to use any media that isn't theirs (Memory Stick, Blu-Ray, Betamax lol) Anyway just had to say I love the internal switch to flash memory over a hard drive
Here is a CLASS 6 32GB SDHC card for anyone looking for ONLY 104.99. You can't beat that:
http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/Pro...965-1234332841

[MistahTibbs]

...Dell.ca for the HFS100.

They have it for $1099 CDN.

Mostly Digital has it for $1159 CDN and it goes up from there.

I'm thinking the price is going to come down even further in the next couple of months.

I'm really beginning to lean towards this cam as my entry into HD for my event footage.

Just need to "sex" it up a bit. Maybe get a hood or mattebox and a couple of other accessories so that it approaches the looks of my Panny DVXb cams...OK approaches is an optimistic word, but at least so the Canons wouldn't look so consumer.

MT

[Thronsen]

Great, thanks alot Adam for that insight. Ive been teetering back and forth on the fence for a few weeks now, but am increasingly sure Im going to get the Canon.

[AdamNJ77]

Great, thanks alot Adam for that insight. Ive been teetering back and forth on the fence for a few weeks now, but am increasingly sure Im going to get the Canon.

If You're not sure, Most local stores are getting them in stock now. Even if you're going to order online and save yourself a few dollars. It might be worth it to just go down to your local Bestbuy, or J&R, or whatever you have by you and play with the two just to get a feel for each. And when the salesman comes to ask if he can help you, tell him you're just checking them out but buying online, and who knows, maybe he will offer you a lower price to match online

[jehugarcia]

Alright I just got mine today and let me just say, it is awesome!!! Don't think people will buy the hv40 when they can have this for not much more. Already Flip Hacked it and Did some tests with a 35mm adapter will be uploading footage tonight.

[greyroot]

Everyone seems to buy class 6 cards for their cams but is there any reason the 'minimum' class 4 card would not be enough? at 24 Mbps that's only 3MBps, and my understanding is class 4 cards would be minimum 4MBps.

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

If you want pre-recording, and photos while recording and stuff like that, it's best to have class 6. Besides, don't believe the ratings, and don't forget that when the camera might be on a load (maybe even because of a firmware bug), it's better to have the better card with you. Don't juggle with your options.

[Barnaby]

Camcorderinfo sure are taking their sweet time to put up the review of this camera.

[MistahTibbs]

Already Flip Hacked it and Did some tests with a 35mm adapter will be uploading footage tonight.

Looking forward to your footage jehu.

MT

[Anthony Mwamwenda]

Thanks to all the HF S10/S100 owners for sharing information and footage with the rest of us!

Has anyone tested for rolling shutter on the HF S10/S100? Has it decreased from the HV20/30 series cams?

[Lucasberg]

I am getting my HF-S100 today.
I want a wide angle but usually when I want wide I want really wide and I was thinking of this one http://www.opteka.com/index.asp?Page...rodID=156&HS=1
Has anyone heard anything about this one or if Opteka Quality is good?

I posted in this thread because I'm not sure if it would have been fine to post in the HV accessories forum.

[thequads]

Thanks to all the HF S10/S100 owners for sharing information and footage with the rest of us!

Has anyone tested for rolling shutter on the HF S10/S100? Has it decreased from the HV20/30 series cams?

My initial impression is that rolling shutter isn't as bad.. or at least it's not worse. I haven't seen any, although the only test I"ve done was try and shake it crazy on the tripod, the cam was hooked to a 32" lcd TV while I was doing the shaking and I diin't notice any jello effect.

[Thronsen]

Camcorderinfo sure are taking their sweet time to put up the review of this camera.

Yeah no kidding. In February they were bragging about how they were going to be one of the first sites to get the HFS10 to test. 2 weeks into April, still havent published anything.

[Piewee]

I am getting my HF-S100 today.
I want a wide angle but usually when I want wide I want really wide and I was thinking of this one http://www.opteka.com/index.asp?Page...rodID=156&HS=1
Has anyone heard anything about this one or if Opteka Quality is good?

I posted in this thread because I'm not sure if it would have been fine to post in the HV accessories forum.

Humzz...not sure, anyone else? Because the price on that site is ass kicking!

[Babook]

I finally recieved my Raynox HD-6600 58mm wide angle adapter.
It's H U G E! The 72mm front lense is just gigantic!
The adapter itself works great, not much barrel distorsion, not much (perhaps not al all) chromatic aberations. But 0.66x doesn't seem wide neough to me compared to the 0.5x I used to have.
The complete setup is now quite heavy, I had to had some wight to my Hague MMC stabilisers and I don't think I'll be able to shoot 15mn straight with the complete rig (S10 + 6600 + MMC).

I built a small dof adapter using jetsetmodels.infos parts and tutorials, simple, quite fast an easy to build (if you're good enough using your hands at least), so :
jehugarcia : what is "flip hacked" (I guess it's flipping the LCD display) and what lens support are you using?

[Babook]

(Ok I found theanswer for the flip hack but I don't think I'll do it on my brand new and shiny HF-S10 :/)

[net]

Camcorderinfo sure are taking their sweet time to put up the review of this camera.

I think they are too late. Whatever review they will present has lost it's momentum by now...

Between all the other reviews, people buying them and posting vids; most people already know the deal with this camcorder.

I'm still interested to see it; no way near as I did two weeks ago.

[othersteve]

Stills comparison, by request!

http://digitalchumps.com/gamingnews/87-media/2665-canon-hf-s100-digital-photo-still-images-full-res.html

Steve

[Rumpelgeist]

Hey Babook, how does autofocus works with the WA adapter on? I suppose it should be as fast as without adapter, this was the whole point of putting the iAF sensor inside the threads. Please write back!

[JCM_GDL]

Thanks for the stills comparition.

[jehugarcia]

Looking forward to your footage jehu.

MT

Here it is:
[ame="http://www.vimeo.com/4071093"]http://www.vimeo.com/4071093[/ame]

jehugarcia : what is "flip hacked" (I guess it's flipping the LCD display) and what lens support are you using?

Using Cavision rods with Letus bracket, the one that sells for $49 on their site

[Miner]

Its about time CamcorderInfo posted their HF S100 review. They felt that it was pretty comparable with the other big offerings with a few advantages and a low light disadvantage.

[Rumpelgeist]

the HF S100 continues Canon's tradition of producing not particularly sturdy-seeming products. Once again, a Canon camcorder greets us with that familiar rattling of internal parts that's a bit unsettling on the ears. When you're in photo or video mode, the rattling subsides, but in playback mode or when the camcorder is powered down, the rattling is very distinct. We thought at first that this was the lens cover, but the sound comes from further up the barrel and it occurs even when we hold the lens cover in place. Whatever the sound is, it's not something you like to hear from a thousand-dollar piece of equipment.

They don't know about OIS rattle, fascinating.

Also, nothing has been said about 24p-in-60i, and that the 300 has it native. The 300 actually looks pretty good compared to the HF-S, maybe too much sharpening, but nevertheless good enough to compete. I will wait for the 300 review, but so far I am leaning to the TM300.

The SD/SDHC card slot is protected by a flip down door that cannot be opened when the camcorder is attached to a tripod or if the LCD screen is closed.

Huh? They complain that they cannot change the card with LCD closed? Pfft. But not being able to open the card door when the camera is attached to a tripod is lame, the Sony HC1 was hammered for a similar design flaw and Sony never repeated this mistake again. Does Canon learn on others' mistakes?

Canon implemented a sliding cover for a shoe, and a pop-out flash. Still playing catch-up with Sony, that is just funny.