Canon Vixia HF200 – good quality but expensive deal

Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Great video quality, user friendly menu interface, attractive looks.

Thumbs Down:

Expensive

Inside the Trunk:

Infrared remote control, PIXELA Image Mixer, Utilities & drivers, wrist strap (accessory), Component video cable, USB cable, A/V cable.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Canon Vixia HF200 is a 1080p camcorder, effective sensor resolution is 2.99 megapixels, has 300x digital zoom, optical CMOS sensor size is 1/4”, videos are stored in MPEG-4 and AVCHD format, shooting programs include portrait mode, sports mode, night mode, spotlight, fireworks, sunset, beach, snow.

White balance presets Fluorescent light (warm white), Fluorescent light (cool white), Tungsten light, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade. Exposure modes include Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, Automatic, Program, Manual. Camcorder sensor resolution is 3.89 megapixels, camcorder effective still resolution is 3.31 megapixels, camcorder effective video resolution is 2.99 megapixels, images are stored in JPEG. The camcorder has 2.7 inch TFT LCD.

HF200 has Zoom lens – 4.1 mm – 61.5 mm – F/1.8-3.2 with 9 auto focus points, lens aperture is F/1.8-3.2, focal length is 4.1 mm – 61.5 mm, has 15x zoom, minimum focal length is 4.1 mm, maximum focal length is 61.5 mm, minimum focus range is 0.4 inches, additional features include Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording, Takes photos while movie recording, RGB primary color filter, USB 2.0 compatibility, Progressive scanning, PictBridge support, Histogram display, 24p Cinema Mode, Face detection, Direct print.

Connectors on the device include Component video output, Composite video/audio output, Microphone, USB and HDMI. The unit is powered by Canon BP-809 Li-ion rechargeable battery. Canon gives you one year warranty for this product.

Razzle Dazzle:

The HF200 has typical camcorder looks but it is heavy with 13.9 ounces and with its big dimensions, it will struggle a bit to fit in your jacket pocket. The camcorder is easy to grip while shooting and the buttons are all located ergonomically so that pressing them while using is easy.

Inside Dope:

This is the fourth offering by Canon in the HF family after HF 100, HF 11 and HF 10. For this model, there are two versions, HF 200 and HF 20. The only difference between the two units is that HF 200 has no internal memory while the other one comes with 32 GB integrated.

This model is a bit smaller and also less power full than earlier HF S100 and HFS10, these models have 4 MP sensor and longer 15x zoom lens. The features are more or less the same in this unit but it doesn’t have features like pop-up flash, color bars, zebra stripes and manual control dial. The HF200 is a bit expensive at $549. Panasonic’s HDC-TM20/SD20 and Sony Handycam HDR-CX100 which offer similar features, come at a lower price. However these two camcorders don’t have features like headphone jack, microphone input and accessory shoe which are a must in camcorder. Just like HF200 and HF20, there is no eye level viewfinder.

Most of the controls for shooting are on the bezel of the screen. The function button gets you full menu and also the settings which you use frequently. It has all the usual settings that you find in the camcorder like scene modes, program, still-photo size, video quality, digital effects, image effects and white balance. The unit gives you real shutter modes with speed range from 1/8 to 1/2000 second and aperture-priority shooting modes with options ranging from f1.8 to f8. So you get more controls over field-depth than what other models offer. In the Cine mode, you get to adjust gamma and color in the 24F progressive modes. When you are in the still mode, you can select drive and metering modes. Other advanced features include x.v color mode and three variable or fixed zoom speed.

Pushing the joystick down gives you a menu for face detection, mic level, manual focus, exposure and backlight compensation, 3 second prerecord, digital effects and video light. In the photograph mode, you don’t get prerecord but there is flash. The menu has been revamped to make it more attractive and user friendly. You can even choose the size of the font for the menu. The screen is 2.7 inch big, typical for this class. Just like most camcorders, the videos on the screen of the unit look blown out and contrasty than the actual video so you cannot rely on it to make white balance or exposure adjustments.

The quality and performance of the camcorder are great at both 17Mbps and 24 Mbps bit rate. 5.5 minutes recording will occupy 1 GB of memory space and at the 17 Mbps 7.8 minutes take up a gig. Focus, even in low light was accurate and quick. Rated life of the battery is 1.5 hours; you can get extended battery packs which offer up to 4 times the bundled battery life. We had some problems when we put in memory cards, the camcorder didn’t recognize our SanDisk Extreme, we didn’t know what the problem was, however after a while, it started working fine.

The video quality was really good, they looked sharp, the exposure was excellent and colors were saturated. There is bit of softness and noise in light levels of a typical living room but that is not unexpected. Audio recording of the camcorder was clear and crisp but the microphone picks some wind noise. Photographs are good but the resolution is lower as compared to HF S series.

The camcorder also has the new Video Snapshots features which can be used to create a four second ‘highlights reel’ which can be used to shoot a four second clip. We liked the feature but it is hard to use on this camcorder. There is a dedicated button for this feature and pressing it (which is rather hard to press) will give you a blue outline on the screen as a countdown for the four seconds. Pressing the Video Snapshot button will get you to the playback mode again.

Nitty Gritty:

HF 200 has an awesome set of features and the quality too is good. The only thing that makes the deal sour is the big price. We were turned off by the $549 price tag slapped on to it by Canon. You can get Panasonic’s HDC-TM20/SD20 and Sony Handycam HDR-CX100 which have similar features and lower price.