Canon Vixia HF200
Canon’s acquitted itself quite well with an almost matching threesome of flash-based AVCHD video recorders, the HF10 / HF11 / HF100, and follow-up models HF20 and HF200 manage to enhance their bequest. The sole difference between the 2 models is color and memory configuration : the HF20 has 32GB built in, while the HF200 has none. And though they retain lots of the same feature set as those models, they do not supply more enthusiast-oriented niceties like a manual control dial, zebra stripes, and color bars, or a popup flash.
Still they are a definite upgrade from the older versions.
Like most all new models the HF20 and HF200 lack an eye-level EVF. It is extremely cosy to hold and use, with the photograph button and zoom rocker on a slight rise to fall naturally under your forefinger. The majority of the shooting controls live on the LCD bezel. The function button pulls up both the often used settings as well as the full menu system another level down. It also offers Canon’s Cine mode for adjusting color and gamma to go with its 24F progressive modes, though it and 30F get recorded as 60i. In still mode you can select metering and drive modes also. Other top of the range features accessible thru the menus include 3 fixed or variable zoom speed and x.v.Color mode. Navigating down on the joystick while shooting triggers a fly-up menu to turn on the video light, digital effects, 3-second prerecord, back-light and exposure compensation, manual focus, mic level, and face detection. In still mode you gain flash and lose the prerecord.
The menu system itself has been updated for a smoother feel and the power to select font size. Since the 2.7-inch display is the classic low-resolution model, the tiny fonts look pixelated and would be hard for some to read.
It does stand up pretty well in direct daylight, however. As we have seen with masses of video recorders the recordings on the LCD look much more contrasty and blown out than the particular video, which implies you can’t trust it for making exposure or white balance adjustments.
I appreciate the idea, but the execution can be annoying. You enter Video Image mode by pressing a hard-to-feel button on the left side of the mpeg recorder in the LCD recess. When you press record, a highlight travels round the blue outline counting down your four seconds. It stays in Video Image mode till you switch to playback or press the button again. While I admire the way the display feedback works, I suspect I could have preferred a fresh record button, or a choice on the mode dial instead of the have the isolated button.
Performance and quality are first class at both its maximum 24Mbps bit rate and at 17Mbps. ( Recording capacities are about 5.5 mins per gig and 7.8 min / GB . Canon counsels a Class four or better SDHC card. ) The video recorder focuses quickly and exactly, even in low light. The optical stabilizer, as normal, works rather well out to the end of the zoom range. I did run into an issue with it failing to recognize my SD card ( a routinely bulletproof SanDisk Extreme III 30MB / sec edition ) after initializing it and using it for a pair clips, but I was not able to reproduce the issue. Having internal memory “just in case” could be worth the price tradeoff for some users. The DigicDV three processing does a solid job maximizing the dynamic range.
There’s a little bit of noise and softness, but that is expected. The audio records clear and crisp, too, though the microphone placement tends to pick up wind noise.
While they lack the fringing I saw on the top end models, out of doors shots do show a little bit of haze over light, brightly exposed objects, and I think there’s more ghosting than common on fast moving subjects. The Canon Vixia HF20 and HF200 are glorious video recorders, but do cost a ton more than the competition.
