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| Brand: Canon
Category: Photography
List Price: $899.99
Buy New: $529.00
You Save: $370.99 (41%)
New (33)
Avg. Customer Rating:  141 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Monitor Size: 270
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 12
Digital Zoom: 200
Display Size: 2.7
Maximum Focal Length: 57
Minimum Focal Length: 4.8
Maximum Resolution: 2070000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 5.1 x 2.9 x 2.5
nv:Size: 1/3.2-inch
Image Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Movie Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Storage Media: SD/SDHC Memory Card
Compressed Format: DPOF
Compressed Format: DCF Exif 2.2
Movie File Format: MPEG-4
Movie File Format: AVCHD (HD)
Optical Zoom: 12x
Digital Zoom: 200x
Focal Length: f=4.8-57.6 mm
LCD Monitor: 2.7-inches
LCD Pixels: 211,000 pixels
LCD Coverage: 100%
Maximum Aperture: f 1.8 - 3.0
White Balance Control: Auto
White Balance Control: Daylight
White Balance Control: Cloudy
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: HF100
Model: HF100
UPC: 013803092004
EAN: 0013803092004
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not for 64 bit May 24, 2008
17 out of 76 found this review helpful
Well, taking pictures with the cameria is fine, especially if you have the use of your right hand. It would be next to impossible to use left handed.
Watching the movies is another matter. There is absolutely no support or software provided by canon for Vista 64 bit. They suggested buying Adobe premier pro, but never mentioned that that cost more than the camera. I have yet to watch a video taken with this camera.
Update: from another site, download and run "Media Player Classic" and then change the filename extension to .MPG. Then windows media player may work then.
 A Capable HD Camcorder June 3, 2008
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
This is my first camcorder. Before my purchase, I did some extensive researches on what camcorders to buy and most of the materials lead me to get a HD camcorder to be future proof. Further research throws up more confusion as you have a choice of recording medium for HD camcorders - DV, HDD, DVD, Flash memory. My initial choice was between Canon HV20 and Canon HG10. I like the Canon HV20 for the quality of the videos, ease of editing but do not like DV as I feel that it is probably going to be obsolete in a few years' time. I like the idea of having a HDD in a camcorder for the convenience and ease of transfer of the recorded materials but noted that it may be susceptible to loss of recorded footage in the HDD due to vibrations or dropping the camera. While I proscratinate, my prayers were answered when Canon launched the HF10 and HF100. It uses flash memory which is more stable than HDD and in view of the falling prices of flash cards, is getting cheaper by the day. After reading the review on the HF10 in www.camcorderinfo.com, I was sold on the camcorder.
I bought the HF-100 instead of the HF-10 as I like the gun metal grey look and also with the price difference, you can buy a couple of 16G Class 6 SDHC Transend cards. I also do not like the glossy black of HF10 as it is a figure print magnet. Although I am residing in a country where the TV system is PAL, I do not mind the NTSC model from Amazon as it is much cheaper than what I get back home (about USD500 price difference) and nowadays most people own a multisystem LCD or plasma panel anyway. The only drawback is that there are certain pull down issues for NTSC models (which do not bother an amateur like me) and that the warranty is only valid in the US which I do not reside.
I have the opportunity to try out the camcorder and my initial thoughts are that it is very user friendly. In fact, I tried thre various functions of the camcorder without much of a quick glance at the user manual. I tried the Easy mode and was happy to find that even with this mode, the video turned out nice and sharp without any editing. I like this mode as it enables my wife and friends to use the camcorder easily. For the same reasons, I normally have the set my DSLR to auto mode before I get someone to take a picture of me when I travel.
I decided to turn off the Easy mode and played with the 3 different recording modes - 60i, 24p and 30p. In a bright environment, there is not much difference. The colours in 60i do however seem to look more saturated. In a lighted environment, the 24p and 30p showed their usefulness as the videos captured are brighter than the 60i, contributed no doubt by the slower frame rates. Colours as a whole are rich and tend towards slightly on the cooler side. I do not usually use the Cine mode together with one of the 3 aforementioned mode as I prefer brighter & saturated colours and shoot landscape very often. Cine modes do give you a slightly smoother and less saturated colour range means that it probably handles skin colours better. In any event, you can make whatever adjustments which suit your taste. The camcorder is certainly customisable to your needs. However, in an environment where the lightings are a tad dim, I noticed grains on the video which suggest that this is not a videocam which you want to use in dark indoors. I cannopt fault the camcorder too much as it only costs USD700 and you cannot expect capabilities like those of a professional camcorder. Given the proper lightings, it will not disappoint you.
My only criticism is that the stabilisation is not too effective. Maybe it is due to the light weight of the camcorder, which ironically is one of the reason why I bought it. To reduce vibration, I tried not to zoom in when I pan the shots. Although the autofocus is fast, be careful when you pan the scenes too fast as the speed may cause the autofocus to hunt and you will find that your videos will not be appear to be well focused as the camera moves. You can overcome this by using the camera at its widest settings and pan only in a slow and smooth motion. Further vibrations can be eliminated when you mount your camcorder to a tripod.
The camcorder can also take pictures at 3MP. The picture quality is acceptable although you cannot compare with a mid range PNS or digital DSLR camera.
As for the batter life, try to get an extended battery which allows at least twice the shooting time. The extended battery offered by Canon does not flush well with the camera and is in black. So aesthetically, it does not go well with the body colour and shape of the camcorder.
I also like the camcorder for having an automatic lens cover. However I bought UV filters as an additional protection for the lens although it may not be necessary. However I do shoot in windy conditions and byt he sea and do not want the dust or sea water to settle on the lens.
As for editing, so far I have yet to do very extensive editing. I tried the software provided by Canon and it is essentially only good for viewing the recorded materials. I invested in a Corel Ulead Studio 11.5 as it is cheap and I wanted something simple to use before I progress to sometime more advance in future. So far the software runs fine on my PC which is a 4GB Quadcore machine.
As a whole, I do like the camcorder very much taking into consideration the low price. I would summarise my likes & dislikes for the camcorder as follows:-
Likes
Affordable
Light weight
Comes with 24p and 30p
Uses flash memory
Hand strap not very comfortable
Sharp pictures in brightly lighted environment
Dislikes
Only stereo and not 5.1
Flash card can only record 1 hr of video
Rocker switcher for zooming feels loose and cheap
Location of flash not ideal if using convertors
AVCHD editing still not too stable.
Lousy software provided
No mini HDMI cable provided
Grainy video quality in dimly lighted environment
I give it five stars despite some shortcomings as it is a very good value for money camcorder.
Amazing HD Camera June 23, 2008
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
My husband did a great deal of research (including Amazon customer reviews) before we purchased the Canon Vixia HF100 cameraCanon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom. We are delighted with the camera. We also purchased 8 GB and 16 GB SDHC (class 6) memory cards Transcend 8GB SDHC CARD (SD 2.0 SPD Class 6)and an extra battery. There are some things we did not understand before we purchased the camera that we now know -- and I will share with you.
(1)In order to edit your HD movies, you MUST have a powerful computer (we tried it on our "pretty good" computer and it did not work). When replacing our old desktop computer, we used the requirements called out for expensive video editing software. We got a Dell Inspiron 530 with Core 2 Quad, 3GB Ram, 256 NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT video card, 500 GB hard drive (bigger would be better), 48XCDRW/DVD drive, 16XDVD+/-RW drive (maybe should have gotten dual drive and maybe Blu Ray?), SoundBlaster Audigy audio.
(2)The 16GB card holds about 2 hours of recording.
(3)You can make High Definition movies using your powerful computer, a REGULAR DVD burner on DVD-R discs, USING THE SOFTWARE THAT CAME WITH THE CAMERA. Most people who will use this camera have no need for the expensive video editing software that does fancy things. With the software that comes with the camera you can delete scenes, clip scenes, split scenes and add titles. Just follow the steps in the manual included on the software disc. There is a small learning curve. I had a little trouble with adding transitions, but don't care. I have not tried adding extra audio.
(4)You can also burn regular (not HD) DVDs (about 30 minutes per DVD) and export movies in the format for a website or YouTube (instructions in manual).
(5)To view your High Definition movies, you must have a Blu Ray player THAT CAN VIEW AVCHD FORMAT. (Not all Blu Ray players support AVCHD.) We purchased the Panasonic BD30 Panasonic DMP-BD30K 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player. It is a great player that pairs perfectly with this camera. You can put the SDHC memory cards directly into the player or burn your own, edited HD movies and play them in the player. This player will also play the ones you burn as regular DVDs.
(6)We burned 25 minutes of High Definition video (3.47 GB) onto a DVD. There was room left, so we believe a regular DVD will hold 1/2 hour of HD (4+ GB). (The Panasonic player can play dual layer discs, so a dual layer burner on your computer, and dual layer discs might get you a full hour.)
*Note: Regarding the Panasonic Player, you can make a CD of your JPEG photos from other cameras and play them. That is "CD", not "DVD". The important thing is to NOT include anything but JPEG (no movie clips), or the player will not read the disc.
Great Entry into HD Video June 10, 2008
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
This is my first Flash Drive Camcorder. Prior to this my experience with Camcorders goes back to the early 80s when I first used a Sony BetaMovie, then onto VHS. Previously I still used a Sony Handycam Hi 8 camera for the past 10 years. Incredibly reliable....
Now onto the Canon: I immediately read the other reviews. First let me point out that if you are serious about this camera, make immediate plans to purchase the larger battery and at least a 16 gig SDHC card. For editing, do not use the U-LEAD software. It absolutely can't handle the high definition files that this camera can put out even if you have upwards of a Core QUAD processor as I did. Go instead for the Sony Vegas Pro 8. Save the Grief.
The Camera is outstanding. The only issue I thought of initially was that it did not have a view Finder and uses an LCD viewer exclusively. I tested this in the hot sun on my back, and I had no issues. Video stabilization was good. It is a necessity for such a small camera or you risk having videos that look more like earthquakes. Also important to get a very good tripod. This camera takes exceptional full HD video. Nature shots will require this as well as using this for a good pan shot. It's difficult to hold this camera steady so a Tripod helps. I was surprised at the lack of latency reading and writing to the SDHC card and I am assuming there is a small buffer zone that assists with this.
Most of my initial tests were in the "Cinama Mode" where it moderately degrades the video ever so lightly to give it a Film look. I thought that was outstanding. The color response on the default settings is a bit high, but it can be adjusted. The controls are intuitive. I really only looked through the book only for non basic settings. I also recommend Canon's external directional microphone especially if you are interviewing someone among a crowd. The internal mic's are great but very sensitive to a larger radius of sound. The only negative I have is that the battery doesn't fit as snug as I would like and I hope this doesn't introduce any noise. Photo quality is ok. Glad to have it, but more impressed with the video. Also, this camera does not have an infrared or nightshot type mode. (My Sony had this. It proved useful many times). Since the video in the HF-100 is far superior, I can forget that completly.
Exporting files is pretty painless. Use the Image Mixer software to transfer files to your PC. The additional software is useless. Just get a decent editor such as Sony Vegas Pro 8 (Discussed earlier).
I recommend this camera for those who are above the average person who wants to do serious video in HD but not want to spend a fortune. In the right hands, this camera can produce anything your collective conscience can think about.
Great BUY for Mac April 21, 2008
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Great buy works really well with my mac, some folks have had problems with it working on thier mac but guess what its avchd other processors cant handle it lol. I use imovie to download and it works like a charm. I was really surprised with the ease of use and editing, another homerun! I don't know what in the world freddy is talking about, if you knew anything about avchd then you know you need an intel mac. No surprise to us mac users, just the slow ones.
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