Canon Vixia HF S21 – One Of The Biggest And Heaviest Models Of Its Class
Thumbs Up:
The Canon Vixia HF S21 has got a wide array of manual features, has dual SDHC slots and the camcorder also flaunts a well-designed interface.
Thumbs Down:
The Canon Vixia HF S21’s touchscreen menu is really poorly designed; the camera can’t hold up SDXC; it’s defaults to mediocre video mode and is rather expensive.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Manufacturer: Canon USA
Part Number: 4374B001
Price: $1,399.00 – $1,399.99
Product Type: Camcorder – 1080p
Weight: 16.6 oz
Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 3 x 5.8 x 2.9 inches
Optical Sensor Type: CMOS
Shooting Modes: Digital photo mode
White balance: Custom, Automatic and Presets
Exposure Modes: Automatic, Program, Aperture-priority and Shutter-priority
Peripheral Devices: USB port and CD-ROM drive
Software: Drivers & Utilities and Pixela ImageMixer 3SE
Cables Included: USB cable, Component video cable and A/V cable
Connector Type: Component video output, Composite audio/ video output, USB, HDMI, Microphone, Headphones and Control-L (LANC)
Additional Features: Face detection , Direct print , Relay Recording , 24p Cinema Mode , Contrast control , Built-in speaker , Sharpness control , Histogram display , PictBridge support , Brightness control , Video Snapshot mode , Saturation control , Progressive scanning , Accessories hot shoe , YouTube capture mode , Touch-screen control , Backlight compensation , USB 2.0 compatibility , HD-to-SD downconversion , Digital tele-converter , Touch & Track technology , RGB primary color filter , Display brightness control , Face-priority AF function , 5.1 channel surround sound ready , Scene Detection Technology , Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording and Takes photos while movie recording
Shooting Programs: Beach, Snow, Fireworks, Sunset, Spotlight, Low light, Sports mode, Night mode and Portrait mode
Focus Adjustment: Automatic and Manual
Search Modes: Date search & Face index search
Included Accessories: Stereo video cable, Wireless controller, Compact power adapter, USB interface cable, Component cable and Battery pack
Supported Battery: Canon BP-808
Battery Type: Lithium-ion
Razzle Dazzle:
The Canon Vixia HF S21 comes from the family of HF S2 camcorders from Canon, and is one of the biggest and heaviest models of its class. The big size and heavy feel of HF S21 gives it a strong feel and makes it easy for the shooters to hold the camera and use it. The HF S21 can easily be carried in big pants pockets and big handbags, so it will be comparatively easy to carry the camera. There also are little rubberized bumpers on the top of the camcorder and on the front of the zoom switch. It provides a decent grip on the camcorder and gives it a decent design touch. The lens cover for the camcorder is also the same old inherent lens cover, which we’ve seen in many of the earlier models from Canon. It uses the closing-eye kind of design rather than the aperture-blade design; this also we’ve seen in many of the expensive camcorders. So, on a whole in terms of design the camcorder has got everything one expects from a camcorder from Canon.
Inside Dope:
Canon’s Prosumer Vixia HF S1x series launched in year 2009 was an impressive series even from many aspects, but still we just can’t support its HF S10/S11. The reason here being the missing features such as an electronic viewfinder and is appreciated by a lot of high-end camera buyers. Camcorders that have EVFs are rather easy to operate, while shooting videos and the EVFs are rather easy to see in intense sunlight. But it’s nice to see that finally Canon has opted to fit in an EVF in their high-end Camcorder the Canon Vixia HF S21 for 2010. But sadly, the HF S21 is priced $200 more than its rival EVF-fitted models.
Canon’s Vixia HF S21 series of AVCHD camcorders has three models for 2010, and the major difference in all these three models is of memory configuration and viewfinder. The major specifications for these models are the same that has been with some of their precursors, and have the same optics and sensor.
Canon HF S21 has its LCD recessed in its body, and some of the other major controls for the camcorder include buttons for switching between the shooting and playback modes, video snapshot and pair of SD card slots. The camcorder has a couple of memory card slots, which according to us is a respectable move, but some might take it as an alternative or replacement for the missing SDXC support; so you will have to get two 32GB SDHC cards, in order to get a 64GB memory. But had there been a SDXC card support it would be the minimum memory.
The Vixia HF S21 doesn’t support Eye-Fi wireless uploading. It also doesn’t allow you to convert the HD video into standard definition video on the camcorder and also you can not copy the video to an Eye-Fi SD card positioned in the second slot. The composite/headphone, component and wired remote jacks of the camera are placed under a slide-down cover. The positioning of headphone in particular is a tad awkward, especially when you use the headphones and EVF frequently while recording.
The biggest disappointment came in the form of its performance and the Canon Vixia HF S21’s performance clearly doesn’t support the high-end status of the camcorder. That’s also one of the reasons why we don’t agree with its high-price as well. The camcorder’s output is as good as you will get from any $400 priced camcorder. But if you are shooting in bright lightening conditions then you surely can expect a much better performance from HF S21.
Nitty Gritty:
The Canon Vixia HF S21 comes from the family of excellent camcorders from Camcorders: the Vixia HF S20, HF S21, and HF S200. It’s much highly priced than most of its rivals available in market, especially considering the fact that the S200 and S20 doesn’t have EVFs. And finally most of the features offered here can easily be obtained at a much lower price.
