Canon FS100 review – with remote control, lacks internal storage
Thumbs Up:
Microphone unit; attractive and compact design.
Thumbs Down:
Lacks audio jacks for external headphone; ineffective wind filter; no optical image stabilization.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Canon FS100 is standard-definition camcorder that has 1/6” CCD optical sensor. It features DIGIC DV II Image processor, remote control, 2000x digital zoom, Electronic Image Stabilization, wide-screen video capture, and digital photo shooting mode.
The camcorder has micro-SD card slot that supports SD Memory Card and MultiMedia Card for external storage. Camcorder sensor resolution is 1.07-megapixel and still image resolution is 0.8-megapixel. Supported still image format is JPEG. The recording speed options are XP, SP, and LP.
2.7 inches LCD display has 123,000 pixels resolution. Zoom lens has 2.6-96.2mm focal length and F/2.0-5.2 aperture that features 37x digital zoom. Canon FS100 has TTL contrast detection auto-focus, nine auto-focus zones and inbuilt lens shield.
Maximum shutter speed is 1/2000 second. Shooting programs are Portrait mode, Sports mode, Night mode, Spotlight, Fireworks, Sunset, Beach, and Snow. Canon FS100 has three types of white-balance: Automatic, Presets, and Custom. Its presets are: Tungsten light, and Daylight. Exposure modes are: Automatic and Program.
Canon FS100 has inbuilt stereo microphone. The connector set includes 1×USB, and 1×3.5mm stereo microphone – mini-phone.
The additional features are two-channel Dolby Digital AC-3 recording, USB 2.0 compatibility, PictBridge Support, and Night Mode/Low Lux. The camcorder has canon BP-808 lithium ion rechargeable battery. Accessories supplied inside the box are A/V cable, USB cable, remote control, wrist-strap, drivers & utilities, and power adapter,
Razzle Dazzle:
Canon FS100 is 2.4 inches tall, 2.3 inches wide, and 4.9 inches deep and weighs 9.2 ounces. It is very comfortable to handle the FS100 camcorder with single hand.
Inside Dope:
Canon is famous from manufacturing the standard-definition camcorders to high-definition and solid-state HD models like Vixia HF10. Now, the company has launched three new SD camcorders– Canon FS100 (no internal memory), the FS11 (inbuilt 16GB), and the FS10 (internal 8GB memory). These three models are priced under $600 and differ only with inbuilt memory and color. Canon FS11 comes in dark gray color, the FS10 comes in silver, and $399 priced Canon FS100 comes in red, blue, and silver colors. However, the video quality is modest and the FS100 lacks external headphone jacks and optical image stabilization.
There is a thumbwheel button at the back of Canon FS100 camcorder. You can use it to toggle the recording on/off, and select between still capture and video recording. The power on/off switch, photo shutter, and zoom switch are easily operative with your forefinger. SD card slot and battery sits behind a sliding panel on the bottom. We appreciate the Canon to also include the inbuilt electronic lens cover and LED video light.
You can flip out the 2.7 inches LCD display for better usage. You will find the AV out connector, 3.5mm microphone jack, mini-USB port, battery info button to show remaining estimated battery power, and Easy button for full-auto mode behind the display. We like that Canon FS100 comes with composite cable to view the videos on TV. Obviously, you can use joystick for menu navigation and also to quickly access some controls such as manual focus, shutter sped, exposure compensation, and video light.
There are some membrane buttons on the LCD bevel including Menu, backlight compensation, start/stop recording, and playback controls. Unlike other models in its class, Canon FS100 has numerous shooting options such as image and digital effects, white balance, wind screen filter, 16:9 wide-screen recording, variable or three constant zoom ranges, and bit rates of 3Mbps, 6Mbps, and 9Mbps.
Zoom switch is a bit loose, so we will recommend you to keep hand steady while adjusting the zoom. The power on/off switch is flush inside the surface and need some pressure to press.
We appreciate the Canon to debut its Advanced Zoom technology that transforms 37x optical zoom to 48x. You can move the lens elements for changing the lens-focused sensor area, which also changes the video resolution. Actually, the increased zoom is hybrid and not digital or optical because it increases the resolution from 410,000 pixels at 37x to 710,000 pixels at 48x.
Canon FS100 performs very good from speedy auto-exposure and accurate focus to solid LCD display that remains visible even in direct sunlight. However, there is no electronic viewfinder but the screen tries its best to compensate that. The power-on and shutdown both are quick and Canon has also included instant start/standby mode that toggles when you flip-open or close the display.
The overall video quality is good. Videos looked soft except on zooming in. Canon FS100 blows out clipping highlights. The colors appear washed out and orange hues look shift. Moreover, low-light videos appear softer with relative noise. The audio recording is good, but the wind-filter is ineffective. Overall, the videos are only good for small Web usage and prints only.
As there is no internal memory in Canon FS100, so you have to depend upon micro-SD cards for external storage.
All Canon FS series models – FS100, FS10, and FS11 – are stylish and flexible camcorder to provide passable video quality as per their price tag.
Nitty Gritty:
If you need good standard-def video quality for Web usage and can work without internal memory then go for – Canon FS100.
However, we will recommend you to check the other FS series models FS10 and FS11 also that offers similar quality and inbuilt memory. You can also check for ultra-cheap high-definition camcorders – Aiptek Go-HD.
