The Canon Vixia HF S200 has a respectably designed user interface; the phone has dual SDHC slots and superb set of manual features.

Thumbs Down:

The Canon Vixia HF S200 has a really small battery life; the camcorder doesn’t support SDXC; its default to inferior video mode; the camcorder has a really inadequately designed touch-screen menu system and it’s comparatively expensive.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Price:  $1,399.00 – $1,399.99

Product Type: Camcorder – 1080p

Manufacturer: Canon USA

Part Number: 4374B001

Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 3 x 5.8 x 2.9 inches

Weight: 16.6 oz

Shooting Modes: Digital photo mode

Optical Sensor Type: CMOS

Exposure Modes: Program, Automatic, Shutter-priority and Aperture-priority

White balance: Custom, Presets & Automatic

Software: Drivers & Utilities and Pixela ImageMixer 3SE

Peripheral Devices: CD-ROM drive and USB port

Cables Included: Component video cable, A/V cable and USB cable

Connector Type: USB, Composite video/audio output, Component video output, Microphone, Headphones and Control-L (LANC), HDMI

Additional Features: Direct print ,   Face detection ,   24p Cinema Mode ,   Contrast control ,   Relay Recording ,   Sharpness control ,   Histogram display , Built-in speaker ,   Brightness control ,     PictBridge support ,   Saturation control ,   Video Snapshot mode ,   Accessories hot shoe ,   YouTube capture mode ,   Progressive scanning ,   Backlight compensation ,   Touch-screen control ,   HD-to-SD downconversion ,   USB 2.0 compatibility ,   Face-priority AF function ,   Touch & Track technology ,   Digital tele-converter ,   Display brightness control ,   Scene Detection Technology ,   5.1 channel surround sound ready ,   Takes photos while movie recording and Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording

Focus Adjustment: Automatic and Manual

Shooting Programs: Beach, Fireworks, Snow, Spotlight, Sunset, Sports mode, Low light, Portrait mode and Night mode

Search Modes: Date search & Face index search

Supported Battery: Canon BP-808

Included Accessories: Stereo video cable, Compact power adapter, Wireless controller, Component cable and Battery pack, USB interface cable

Battery Type: Lithium-ion

Razzle Dazzle:

The Canon Vixia HF S200 is the heaviest and largest models of their class, buts despite their weight and size, these camcorders are immensely comfortable to hold and to use. Though it won’t fit in every pants pocket, but you can carry them in a spacious jacket pocket or can even use a handbag. Every model from the HF S2 family comes with little rubberized bumpers at the front of the zoom switch of the camera. These small bumpers not only provide a decent grip on the system but according to us are also a decent design touch. Just like its precursors, these cameras makes us of an oddly fitted lens cover which is more of a closing-eye type rather than being an aperture-blade design, which we’ve seen in most of the cameras. Though, the difference is hard to notice, but when the cover is closed the two plastic parts of the camera clatter against each other; it’s not a problem as the camera is closed, but still is a bit annoying.

Inside Dope:

The Canon Vixia HF S200 belongs to Canon’s 2010 HF S series of AVCHD camcorders. The good thing about the camcorders of this series is that unlike the camcorders from Canon’s 2009 Prosumer Vixia HF S1x series, they possess the EVF. And even though we liked the Vixia HF S1x series we just could not completely endorse the HF S10/S11 because of the same reason. Although the inclusion of EVF in the camcorders has given a steep rise of $200 to the price of these new series of camcorders, but if you look at the HF S200, you will feel that its worth paying, but at the same time the rise in price makes the camcorder expensive than its reasonably priced, EVF-free siblings and on a whole more expensive than most of its direct competitors. This hike in price could stop a lot of buyers from getting this system.

Canon’s 2010 HF S series of AVCHD camcorders has three models, each of which differs from the other by the abovementioned viewfinder and memory configuration. Though, the key specs for the system remains the same as that of their precursors. The camcorders come with Canon’s all new optical image stabilization technology, together with the fresh Powered IS ability to provide enhanced stabilization at the telephoto end.

Canon has packed a lot of functions in the cameras’ recessed LCD, such as the key for switching in between the shooting and playback, video snapshot (it makes use of a four-second clip to create a “highlights reel” result) and a pair of SD card slots. The inclusion of double memory slots is yet another feature that deserves appreciation, but that’s not the case here, as we think it’s just a way of making up for the omission of SDXC support in the camera. This means you’ll be using two 32GB SDHC cards if you want a 64GB, whereas had there been the SDXC card, it will be the minimum you’ll be getting.

Under a slide down cover there are the component, wired remote jacks and headphone/composite slots of the camcorders. The headphone jack is located somewhat awkwardly, especially if you use headphones and EVF a lot while recording. One another setback here is that if you use EVF and LCD at the same time, it will put extra burden on the already weak battery of the HF S200.

The top of the camcorder is unnecessarily crowded; it hosts the typical zoom, power and photo switches, apart from this there also is a wide assortment lights and labels. The camcorder also has a pop-up flash-video light and accessory shoe combo.

The performance of the camcorder has been improved a bit’ especially the low-light performance has a better sensor this time and the camcorder comes with an improved Digic DV III processor for enhanced depiction of blues and purples. Even the overall performance of the camcorder was better than some of the other camcorders we’ve seen in the past. Though the still images shot from the camera appeared a bit overprocessed, but we think, it still were better than some of the interpolated photos generated by Sony and Panasonic’s lower-resolution sensors.

Nitty Gritty:

The Canon Vixia HF S200 belongs to the superb trio of camcorders, the Vixia HF S21, HF S20, and HF S200. But they all are significantly highly priced than most of their relevant competitors, particularly the S20 and S200, which even doesn’t have electronic viewfinders. So if slight manual control subtleties of HF S200’s manual controls are not what you are interested in, then there is a strong chance of you getting a better and cheaper camcorder.

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.

Thumbs Up:

Huge 120 GB hard drive, attractive looks, good video quality, eye level view finder.

Thumbs Down:

None in particular.

Inside the Trunk:

Infrared remote, included accessories – Stereo video cable, USB cable, Component cable, Wireless controller, Compact power adapter, Battery pack, USB cable, A/V cable, Component video cable.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

HG21 has a 200 x digital zoom, 3.3 mega pixels, has 1/3.2 CMOS optical sensor, minimum shutter speed is ½ second and maximum shutter speed is 1/2000 second. Shooting programs include snow, sunset, spotlight, sports mode, beach, fireworks, night mode, portrait mode. The camcorder has 2.7 inch TFT LCD display.

White balance presets include shade, daylight, tungsten light, cloudy, fluorescent and Fluorescent light (warm white).

Exposure modes are Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, Automatic, Program, Manual.
Camcorder Sensor Resolution is 3.3 mega pixels, Camcorder Effective Video Resolution is 2.07 mega pixels, photographs are stored in JPEG format, the options for resolutions are JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 848 x 480, JPEG 1440 x 1080, JPEG 1920 x 1080, JPEG 2048 x 1536

Zoom lens is – 4.8 mm – 57 mm – F/1.8-3.0, it has a 4.8 mm – 57 mm focal length and lens aperture is F/1.8-3.0, has 12x optical zoom, minimum focal length is 4.8 mm and maximum focal length is 57mm

Additional features on the camcorder are Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording, Takes photos while movie recording, RGB primary color filter, Backlight compensation, USB 2.0 compatibility, Progressive scanning, Accessories hot shoe, PictBridge support, Histogram display, Direct print

Connectors include HDMI, headphones, USB, microphone, component video output, composite video/audio output. There is also a slot for SD memory card.

The camcorder is powered by li-ion rechargeable battery and the camcorder comes with a one year warranty.

Razzle Dazzle:

Canon Vixia HG21 looks quite similar to Vixia HF11 but the 2 have different internals. HG21 is three inches high, 3.1 inches wide, 5.4 inches deep and weighs about 17.6 ounces. The buttons are slightly altered in this device but both of the devices look more or less the same.

Inside Dope:

HG21 is another simple to use HD camcorder from Canon. It is just like HF11 from the same manufacturer however the HG21 records to internal memory and the earlier model records on hard drive. If you don’t mind the weight and a shorter battery life then get a hard drive based camcorder or else go for flash drive based ones. Flash drives are now preferred all over but they come at a higher price.

So apart from the storage medium is there anything else different in this product? Will this make a good buy? The answer is yes. HG21 has a 120 GB hard drive and HF11 model had a 32 GB internal flash memory. We were glad with the 11 hours rated battery life for the camcorder. HG21 also has a view finder which is now becoming rare.

The controls are all located on bezel of the LCD which can be a bit difficult to use, especially the five way joystick button. The screen is 2.7 inch big which is neither smaller nor bigger as compared to most camcorders in this range.

The camcorder records at maximum of 24 MBPS and the minimum is 5 MBPS. The latter will hold about 45 hours, fifteen minutes’ clips. In all there are five options for quality which we thought was a bit too much. The camcorder is capable of recording full HD and the maximum resolution is 1920X1080 or 1080p.

We typically find a 10x lens in such camcorders but we were glad to find a 12x zoom in this product. The features in this camcorder are quite similar to what you see in prosumer units of Canon. For video, the features include aperture- and shutter-priority exposure modes, video light, options for 3 fixed/1 variable zoom speed, wind-screen filter and Instant AF. You can also capture videos at 24 or 30 fps and 60i. For photographs there are options like flash, metering, burst and exposure bracketing.

The performance of this device is great the focus is quick in both bright and dim conditions. Videos look nicely saturated, exposed and sharp. There is a lot of noise from low light videos but it is not uncommon. When viewed on a big HDTV, the 24MBS and 17 MBPS videos look quite similar. Photographs quality is good too. The microphone records audio quite well, when shooting videos.

On the camcorder, you get connectors and ports set mini-HDMI or component to connect the device to HDTV, USB port for copying the videos to a computer and mic and mini headphone jacks.

Nitty Gritty:

Except for touch screen interface, Canon Vixia HG21 has all the features that Sony HDR-SR11 has. This product also goes in to competition with HF11 which has flash based memory and gives same performance. Presence of hard disk makes this camcorder cheaper than those flash based memory units. Pick this one up if you want a bigger memory and are not too fond of touch screen.