
Canon HF10 "News Cast" quality, BUT expensive hobby!
Review created: 07/14/08(updated 07/14/08)

WANT AN ACCURATE REVIEW OF THE CANON HF10/HF100? Well HERE IT IS!
This Canon HF10 is the same as HF100, but mines is black and has a built in memory.
This camcorder is INCREDIBLY good! The videos are just about as clear as those "news cast" videos!...... YES you heard me right!! The quality is unbelievably clear! (BUT on a HD TV only!) It handles the low light well and has built in lights. What I like too is the HIGH quality built in 3.1 mp snapshot camera feature, with a flash!! All this in ONE! convenient!
Get yourself a Canon HF10 or HF100, You'll LOVE IT! But expect to pay well for it though! The software it came with is VERY easy to use! It is easy to make DVDs with it. You can make AVCHD (HD videos) on a standard DVD as computer files that play only on Blu-ray player. OR you can make a standard DVD to play on ANY DVD player (But video is SD, NOT HD).
But keep in mind, that it has to be THIS software that came with cam, ONLY THIS software will work, to use this cam with a computer. You CANNOT play the videos on computer by just simply plugging the USB from the cam to computer (unless THIS software is loaded on computer). In other words, you cannot transfer the video files from the HF10/HF100 to computer, then click on the files to play. It won't work that way. BUT you CAN get the pictures from the cam directly , however.
More about the software: IF you don't have a "good enough" computer, working with this camcorder can be a VERY slow process. It takes nearly as much time as how many mins/hrs of video on cam!! So for me, I decided to buy a new computer with a Quadcore processor, I can say it takes this very fast computer about 1 minute for every 5 minutes of video! When I make a DVD disc (for all DVD players), It takes a very long time for the computer to convert the files to DVD. But if I make a AVCHD disc, computer does it pretty decently quick. Also these are the discs to make if you want a Back Up copy of the HD videos as a "hard copy". One other thing, if I want to make ANY disc, the videos HAS to be IN the camcorder to be able to do this.
The built in 16gb memory is conveinient cause I don't need to carry anything else but this camcorder! (No threat of misplacing a memory card!) Or I can also put in an extra memory card in cam for extra time and not have to carry any cards in my pockets etc.
Ultimately, the nice things I like on my cam are:
1) built in 3.1mp snapshot camera with flash : Works GREAT!
2) "News Cast" quality video
3) No tapes to buy. NO MOVING PARTS!
4) Its good on the low light, has built in lights
5) The compact size. Sligthly smaller than a MiniDV (Not MiniDVD) cam.
BUT the bad things about it though!
1) Expensive to buy and can end up being an expensive hobby if you decide to buy everything HD
2) Need a powerful computer to make full use of program and camcorder, other wise it wont work properly. Need at least 3gh processor (or 2.4gh if dual core)
3) Capability situation!!! and will need to upgrade computer, TV and "everything" else to HD capability to get the FULL benefit of this camcorder. (if not done so already!). But its not so much of whether you have an HDTV and blu-ray player or not, how many people will have them.
4) Need TONS of space of memory and harddrives. 16 gigabytes for every 2 hours!!These High definition videos are INCREDIBLY awesome, BUT COMES AT A PRICE.
If you have any questions about my reveiw, be free to email me!
Review ID: 10000000007974274

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