I did months of research before deciding on the S11, and my biggest priorities were superb picture quality then durability. Because flash camcorders don't have moving parts like a hard drive, flash memory is less prone to damage, uses less power, and reads/writes faster. This is very expensive, but it will last for many, many years while vividly capturing my most important memories with family. HD is the way to go.The picture quality is great, and you can easily find HD examples on YouTube to preview if you're curious to see how this measures up. Video capture at night isn't as bad as what I had read. I can easily make out images in my night time shots albeit some detail was lost (as expected with any consumer camcorder). An added bonus is that I can snap photos while in video mode, so I don't have to pack my point-n-shoot camera too. This has a built-in 8MP camera.
If you need more than the 64GB of internal memory, you can expand by purchasing an external SDHC card. Canon says to use a minimum Class 4 SDHC card for video, but a lot of people who own flash camcorders seem to have better results with Class 6 cards (faster write speeds mean you won't miss as many frames during recording). Keep in mind that 64gb can capture a minimum of 5 hours 55 minutes in MXP mode and up to 24 hrs 30 minutes in LP mode.
There is NO electronic viewfinder which can be a problem since the screen is hard to see when you're in super dark or super bright settings.
Unfortunately, your investment won't end with the camera.
You will have EXTRA stuff to buy:
* Extra battery the one that comes included lasts 1.5 hours at best; I recommend Canon BP-827 * Lithium Ion Battery Pack for Vixia HG 20/21, HF11/10 & 100 Camcorders
* Battery charger otherwise you can only charge the battery while it's in the camcorder so you have to stop filming while charging
* HDMI cable
* Canon Remote Control Adapter RA-V1 for Vixia HF S11 Camcorders to access the camera's functions if you heavily use a tripod
* Video editing software Adobe Premiere seems to be pretty popular for AVCHD video.
I travel often, so it's not always practical for me to carry a lot of SDHC cards, and I wanted something that would be more user friendly for my folks to use. It's crazy that Canon charges so much more for 32GB extra memory over the S10, so if budget is an issue, look into the HF S10 (32GB internal memory) or HF S100 (no internal memory).
The S11 is very similar to the HF S10 and HF S100 models. The only differences I can tell:
64gb internal memory (main reason this model costs more)
Dynamic SuperRange OIS (which is supposed to make for better video while walking and at wide angles)
Compatible with Canon's RA-V1 remote adapter that you plug into the accessory shoe to provide a LANC (wired remote) terminal
Extra mode for low light scene
Make no mistake, Canon's HF S11 camcorder is not perfect. But at its price it's a steal. I won't lavish endless praise like many reviewers (including professional reviewers) did. In fact, I'll go over the negatives first.
One of its biggest shortcomings is the audio quality of the built-in microphones. I rolled my eyes when a reviewer in VideoMaker magazine stated that the sound was something to the effect of "strong and clear". It is not, there is almost a complete absence of bass, there is not a whole lot of treble; just a whole lot of narrow band midrange with very little apparent stereo separation. I find this to be one of the HF S11's most serious flaws. At first glance, you'd expect the sound to be quite good, especially when each microphone is clearly arranged on each side of the camcorder. But take a closer look and you'll notice that each mic opening through each of the deceptively large mic grills consist of a pinhole! Every camcorder I've used, including the lowest end unit outperforms the HF S11's sound. So don't expect even good amateur results. In fact, if you intend to use the camcorder to produce a professional-quality video, plan on investing in a separate digital audio recorder for the soundtrack and getting it back into sync with the video using editing software. You may be wondering why I simply don't recommend purchasing an external mic to plug into the 1/8" mic jack. Well the jack is side-mounted and there are no firm surfaces onto which you can attach the mic or the cable. The jack itself only supports mono.
The second negative in my opinion may not be too important to a lot of users. The shooting angle of the lens is somewhat narrow. On many occasions when you're shooting in tight spaces, you'll find yourself backing into walls because you can't capture enough video from the sides. Solution: you'll need to purchase a wide-angle adapter. But if you do that you may see a slight loss in picture clarity AND the wide angle lens will block the camcorder's front-mounted light sensor, which would prevent the camcorder from popping up the video light when scenes become too dark to shoot. The "low-light" shooting mode on the camcorder is not a good way to compensate for this because it will brighten the footage simply by slowing down the camcorder's shutter speed until your footage appears as if it's astronaut footage. The half-way compromise in this case is to use the unit's "night scene" shooting mode, which fortunately adds no visible video noise. There's only a very slight loss of clarity. But even then footage will be dark. The built-in lens is of good quality and there is just a slightly noticeable barrel distortion. Be careful when choosing a wide angle adapter; choose the wrong one and the barrel distortion will visibly increase or there may even be some vignetting. I purchased a Canon WD-H58 (0.7x lens) which did not produce these problems, there was just a very slight loss in detail.
The third minus is a sin. Canon uses a proprietary hotshoe it calls the Advanced Mini-Hotshoe. This boils down to being forced to use only Canon's accessory speedlight, video light, or microphone. And these accessories are not cheap by consumer camcorder standards. Sure, you can get around this by using an adapter on top of the hotshoe but the adapter is a coldshoe and it raises the mounting height.
The fourth shortcoming is ironically one of the HF S11's biggest selling points. Reviewers have billed this camcorder as a great indie film maker's tool because it has the 24P shooting mode. Canon is careful not to overtly state that it shoots at 24 frames per second. It does not. Shooting at the 30P and 24P modes (as opposed to the conventional 60i mode) does give your footage more of a film look but this comes at the expense of motion blur or judder in medium to fast-moving objects. Why? Because the difference is not the frame rate but shutter speed! If you switched the camcorder to the 60i shooting mode and entered the custom dial menu to change the shutter speed to 30 or 24, you would get the same look! Personally, I find the 24P mode impractical to shoot anything other than subjects making very small and slow movements. I shoot at the 30P mode as a compromise, which still gives the film look. On the other hand, the 60i mode gives the best clarity and can capture fast motion. It just has a video look and everything appears to move quickly.
The last negative in my opinion is the operating life of the included battery. For the four-figure price tag of the camcorder, consumers deserve more than the 75 minutes of operating time, especially when the internal flash memory already provides nearly 6 hours of shooting time at the highest quality mode.
With so many glaring negatives, you'd expect a lower rating. But things need to be put in perspective because the HF S11 really is just a consumer camcorder. For the price, you really can't expect professional results. But basic picture quality is extremely good. Although the HF S11 only uses a single CMOS chip (as opposed to three one for each primary color), colors are extremely accurate and realistic. The camcorder itself also supports shooting in Deep Color. Picture clarity is outstanding even in low light shooting without the internal video light, provided that you switch to the "Night Scene" mode. With this mode you really don't see any visible grain or noise from normal viewing distances from your home display. Other modes will give visible noise under low-light shooting conditions. The extra stabilizer mode dubbed as the "dynamic stabilizer" really works well. The standard stabilizer mode works as well as other well-designed camcorders' stabilizers. The stabilizers are optical (a more professional type) rather than digital and very little picture detail is lost when they are activated. The loss is so slight that you'd have to switch back and forth between modes to see any difference. Auto focusing works very well under all but the darkest shooting conditions. In those cases, auto focus is slow. In any case, overall picture quality actually beats my $15,000 professional camcorder, which only provides auto iris adjustment (manual focusing).
Don't forget that the HF S11 also has the 8-megapixel still camera function. The results are on par with a decent point-and-shoot digital still camera. Canon also needs to be given credit for including so many adjustment parameters (red eye reduction, aperture priority, shutter priority, etc.). Results would be even better with the accessory speedlight (flash).
While some professional videographers have commented that the HF S11 does not look presentable enough to shoot weddings, you can get around this by spending a few hundred bucks on the accessory microphone and this will probably dress it up enough to enable the professional to use it for such jobs. Not enough? Well, attach it to a monopod or a Steadicam or Glidecam. Even with such accessories, the HF S11 will be much cheaper than the full-blown professional alternative.
In short, if you want professional video results buy this camcorder. For consumer standards the price is high but the video results take it into the prosumer league. By that standard the price is a steal. And with the still camera function the HF S11 is a compact and powerful unit. For professional video and audio results add a wide-angle adapter lens and an external digital audio recorder.
Buy Canon VIXIA HF S11 HD Dual Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom - 2009 MODEL Now
I have never owned a Canon Camcorder before. However, being a professional photographer, I am quite familiar and happy with Canon products. I have always bought Sony handy-cams in the past. I bought this camcorder with the desire to shoot in HD and also because it had dual flash drive options (internal 64 GB and by card). I picked it up at a store (Samy's Camera) and having called ahead they charged the battery ahead of time per my request (but still, nice customer service). My plan was to use it right away. Anyone familiar with Camcorders or cameras can operate this unit with ease. For the more advanced individual there are endless options available and from my perspective easily navigable. Taking photos is a snap, and recording video is just as easy. The stabilization and zoom in and out is first rate and very smooth. It has a built in pop-up light which also functions as a flash for photos. The dual microphones offer a nice level of surround sound. The mics pick up even the slightest details (my son kicking a soccer ball 50 feet away during his game). It is slighter larger than I imagined having seen some very small camcorders but easily disregarded when you consider what you are getting in this pro-sumer camcorder (but it does fit in your hand). Instead of the "rinky-dink" lens you get on some camera's this has a nice size lens allowing in all the light you need. It seemed to work well in low-light situations and does an amazing job in a macro situation. Granted, I have only used the thing for 4 days but I am more than happy with my purchase. One thing you will want to pick up if you like to plug your camcorder directly into your HDTV is a mini-HDMI to standard HDMI cable or a converter if you already have a HDMI cable it is one thing CANON left out of the box that and a SDHC card. I also bought a larger battery for more flexibility.I purchased three of this video camaras a month ago for making videos of live jazz performances. I make sound recordings separately and put video and sound together when I edit.Goods: The picture quality, viewed by 52" LCD TV and by HD projector, is very satisfactory, although the camera does not make shallow focal depth of professional cameras. Noises are reduced compared to similar models I purchased a couple of years ago, although I have not made quantitative comparisons. 62 GB of internal flash memory is large enough for recording typically 2 hours long stages. The optical image stabilizer works well and compensates shakes due to a little too light weight of this camera.
Bads: The battery lasts only one hour. Canon should sell battery packs like the ones they sell for their SLRs. Microphones on this camera make very low quality sound. External mic. should be used if one wants nornal/better sound quality.
Other thoughts: This camera chops the video data into 2 GB files when videoed continuously for a long time. I think this is a good idea, considering rather long data transfer time to computers. But, this requires a little too much work to put several files from a few cameras together.
The prices at mail order stores in Japan ( on Jan. 2, 2010 ) is $720 at current exchange rate of $1 = 92 yen. This is a half the price offered here.
Want Canon VIXIA HF S11 HD Dual Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom - 2009 MODEL Discount?
This is the third camcorder I bought and I am finally happy with this one! The picture quality and clarity is great in a range of lighting. Everyone else has said so much I don't feel like I need to rehash it all so I will keep to some general digital video stuff that I think is catching some people:1. AVCHD is a high-compression codec, but it is tough to deal with for editing. (A codec is the algorithm, a small program per se, that shrinks the size of the video on disc. Without a codec, this camcorder would probably fill it's video memory in 20 minutes. Codec is short for COder/DECoder).
You may have to convert the video before editing and the conversion can take a long time at HD quality. Adobe Premiere I know deals with AVCHD natively (and does so very well), Final Cut Pro will not. If you just want to playback then you'll be fine. But, this is not like the old video tape camcorders, as far as popping it in a vcr and go. Playing back on your computer can be a challenge to setup for the layman. If you find this part difficult, then you may want to buy the canon DVD recorder accessory and it can convert from the camcorder directly onto DVD. Playing back from the camcorder to the TV is great and simple!
2. AVCHD requires a lot of horsepower. The camera is highly optimized to do just video, your computer is not. You may have to use one of the lower quality recording settings if you want to play back on your computer. (really! the camcorder beats the average desktop computer!) Fortunately, even the lower settings on this Canon provide good quality for most users (it's still HD resolution, but a little color and clarity is lost.) Unless you are like me, you probably wont notice. I mostly record at second from the lowest, and I have a keen eye for bad video quality. Tip: I did a bunch of test videos at all the various quality levels, then played back on the computer to choose the best for me.
3. Oops! Make sure you don't press that manual focus button! You probably wont notice on the LCD if you do until you play it back on your computer or TV! Even better, unless you plan on using manual focus, disable this button through the menus.
4. The wide-angle adapter lens is worth it IMO. But (typically) you can't use zoom with a wide-angle lens adapter. (It all about the optical planes.) The extra lenses distort at zoom and the focus algorithm may also stop working. (I didn't know this and at first thought I bought a crappy wide-angle lens.) Thus, you will be swapping the wide-angle lens depending on what you plan to record not a big deal.
5. If you have audio/video sync issues on playback it is the playback codec. This is a problem with many codecs including AVCHD. Again, getting the computer properly setup can be a challenge. But once you do, you are golden from then on. (Google's your friend.)
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