Performance

The Canon Vixia HF10 has a smaller CMOS sensor than the HG10 or HR10, which both sported a 1/2.7-inch sensor. By contrast the HF10 has a 1/3.2 inch CMOS sensor with and RGB Primary Color Filter. Gross pixel count on the Canon Vixia HF10 is 3,300,000 pixels with an effective pixel count of 2,070,000 pixels at 1920 x 1080. The gross pixel count is slightly higher than the HR10 & HG10’s 2,960,000 pixels, but the effective pixel count remains the same.

An increase in pixel count and a decrease in chip surface area is always disconcerting to imaging critics like ourselves. Manufacturers will always cite new noise suppression systems or processing enhancements, and you can be sure than the Canon HF10 has them. But the truth comes out in the testing room. On the show floor, and when we saw the HF10 in Japan, we could see no discernable difference from past camcorders. However, that hardly constitutes full testing. The new ability to record in full 1920 x 1080 (rather than an anamorphically stretched 1440 x 1080) actually made some improvements in detail along horizontal lines, reducing the stair-stepping effect.

Low Light Performance

When the pixel density increases and individual pixels shrink, we’re typically concerned with a decrease in low light performance. Smaller pixels mean a reduced ability to capture incoming light. As stated above, Canon has tinkered with the processor to try and offset the increased noise that’s likely to occur. We cannot state as to the veracity of these claims yet. What we can do is hope that Canon knows what they’re doing. The imaging system used on the HV20, HG10, and HR10 was a competition-killer, producing the cleanest, most vivid pictures of the year. If the new system deviates from the high standard they’ve set, we’re not going to be pleased.

 

 

 

 

Format

Compression

The Canon Vixia HF10 is another notch in AVCHD’s record of rapid growth in the consumer camcorder market. The HF10 improves over the HG10 and HR10 by offering recording at full HD (1920 x 1080) and ups the maximum bitrate to 17Mbps, slightly higher than the 16Mbps that Sony is offering in their new camcorder lineup. You can also record at 12 Mbps (XP+), 7Mbps, (SP) and 5Mbps (LP). The increase in maximum bitrate should help alleviate some issues we’ve seen in the AVCHD format like trailing and artifacting, but we’ll see when we get it into the labs.

Media

Canon’s approach for high definition in the last year has been to take an imaging system they like and then roll it out into a series of camcorders with different formats. The HV20 (and now HV30) are the HDV models, the HR10 is the DVD model, and the HG10 is the hard drive model. The HF10 is the last product in the lineup and records to flash memory. The HF10 has both 16GB of internal flash memory and also supports recording to SDHC cards. Using the built-in memory you can record 2 hours 5 minutes at the highest quality (FXP, 1920 x 1080 at 17Mbps). Stepping down you can get 2 hours 50 minutes at XP+, 4 hours 45 minutes at SP and 6 hours 5 minutes at LP. You can obviously increase the recording time by adding an SDHC card, which are currently available up to 16GB in size and we should see 32GB cards in mid-2008. Unfortunately if you run out of storage space in either your card or internal memory the Canon Vixia HF10 won’t transition to the other storage medium on the fly. Instead you’ll have to do it manually via the menu system.

Editing

Your options for editing AVCHD footage have improved remarkably over the past year. PC users can choose between Ulead Video Studio 11 and Pinnacle Studio 11. Sony Vegas 8.0 also supports AVCHD editing but will only work with Sony camcorders. Mac users can choose between iMovie ’08 and Final Cut Express 4. We recommend you check compatibility with any software you purchase because even though AVCHD is standardized the codecs are tweaked just enough between manufacturers to cause problems with some editing software.

 

The Canon Vixia HF10 ships with Canon Digital Video Solutions and Corel Application Disc version 1.0, which includes Corel GuideMenu, InterVideo WinDVD SE, Ulead DVD Movie Factory SE and DVD Movie Writer SE. This is a good set of application to import, edit, and author movies for the web or DVD, but processing times are slow and your editing options are limited.

 

 

 

 

Auto / Manual Controls

Picture & Manual Control
*Automatic Control *

The Canon Vixia HF10 has an Easy button, a brand new feature for Canon, one "borrowed" directly from Sony, which has made it a standard on all their consumer camcorders. As long as Canon can get away with this neat bit of thievery, it’s a smart idea. Though there’s little difference between their Auto mode and Easy mode, it’s the idea of simplicity planted in shopper’s mind that is going to make this work for Canon.

When in Easy mode the camcorder will attempt to automatically make all the adjustments you need. You can’t even get into the menu system so you’re stuck with whatever the HF10 thinks is best. In this way, it’s even more of an idiot-proof mode than Sony’s easy mode. The Canon Vixia HF10 also offers users several scene selection modes to automatically adjust to certain situations. These include Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, and Fireworks.

*Overall Manual Control *

Unlike the Canon Vixia HG10 there is no control dial around the joystick next to the LCD to make manual adjustments on the Canon Vixia HF10. Although you can still activate the same menu system for quick manual controls by pressing in on the joystick, you will need to use left/right to make adjustments. We found the scroll wheel was smoother and jostled the camcorder less than using the joystick, but the scroll wheel was far from perfect. Canon stuck with the tried and true joystick – no complaints here. Manual controls on the Canon Vixia HF10 include Focus, White Balance, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Canon’s Image Effects. This is more than what you see from most consumer oriented camcorders.

Zoom

The Canon Vixia HF10 has a 12x optical zoom, which is a step up over the Canon Vixia HG10 and HR10’s 10x optical zoom. The zoom control on the top of the barrel isn’t very comfortable to use, mostly due to the fact that the camcorder isn’t easy to hold onto in general. We also found that our reviewer, who has small hands, had to stretch to reach the zoom toggle. A second set of zoom controls are found under the LCD and double as FF and Rewind controls when in playback mode. We should note that the improved zoom is the result of the Canon Vixia HF10 using a smaller 1/3.2 inch sensor, which may bring its own drawbacks, like poorer low light performance.

*Focus *

Unlike the Canon Vixia HG10 there is no control dial around the joystick next to the LCD to make manual adjustments on the Canon Vixia HF10. This means you’ll have to use left/right on the joystick to make focus adjustments, which can lead to bumpy footage. For this specific purpose, we preferred the rotating wheel on the HG10 and liked the HV10’s dedicated focus wheel even more. Pressing in on the joystick will give you a small menu in the lower right of the LCD with three pages, one of which is focus. When you’re on the focus page pushing up on the joystick will engage manual focus. You can then use left/right on the joystick to adjust focus. Like the Canon Vixia HG10 you can set Focus Assist to activate automatically so the image on the LCD will zoom in so you can better judge the adjustments your making. This is a nice feature but the lack of a dedicated Focus Assist button like on the HV10 means you can’t check your focus except by making the manual adjustments.

*Exposure (Aperture) *

Manual exposure can also be accessed via the small menu that appears when you press in on the joystick. Scroll down until you’re at the "EXP" option and the up to make adjustments. You then see a bar appear at the top left and moving left/right on the joystick will adjust the exposure between +/- 11.

You can also use the Aperture Priority tool to adjust exposure. You can access this by going to the top line of the Function menu and setting the camcorder to "Av" mode. You then have the option to set aperture priority to any of the following settings: f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.4, f/2.8, f/3.4, f/4.0, f/4.8, f/5.6, f/6.7, and f/8.0.

Shutter Speed

Unlike Sony’s new AVCHD camcorders the Canon Vixia HF10 allows you to adjust shutter speed by placing the camcorder in Shutter Priority mode via the Function menu. You can’t, unfortunately, adjust both shutter and aperture manually at the same time so in Shutter Priority mode the aperture will be adjusted automatically. In the 1080/60i and 1080/30P modes, the Canon Vixia HF10 allows you to set the shutter speed to 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000.

In 1080/24P, your options are 1/6, 1/12, 1/24, 1/48, 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000.

White Balance

There is a good selection of white balance settings on the Canon Vixia HF10. In the Function menu you will find presets that include Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Fluorescent H. That last is for fluorescents that emulate daylight. You can also set white balance using a reference card that can be purchased cheaply at most camera shops, or use a white piece of paper in a pinch.

Gain

There are no gain controls on the Canon Vixia HF10.

Other Manual Controls

24P and 30P modes - 24P mode allows you to get more of a film look with your vide capture, especially when combined with Cine Mode, see below. We’re not sure if the Canon Vixia HF10’s 24P mode displays the same issue with motion trailing that we saw on the HG10, that will have to wait until we get it into the labs. 30P mode has been added this year as a nod to those who produce web content where video is often encoded at 15fps. With 30P recording you can produce smoother 15fps video because every other frame is removed. Even those who don’t produce online content can enjoy the additional aesthetic choice that 30P offers.

Cine Mode - This setting shifts the gamma curve to affect exposure and color rendering. It is similar to the Cine 1 setting found on the much more expensive Canon XH A1. You can see the difference between Cine mode and the normal gamma curve by viewing this graph. The idea is to emulate film colors by giving mid tones preference and losing detail in the shadows. In well-lit settings your picture can look remarkably good, but in even moderate low-light situations you’ll want to take it out of Cine mode. Unfortunately you can’t be in Cine mode and also be in Aperture or Shutter Priority modes, but you can choose from 60i, 24P, and 30P.

Image Effects - With image effects you are given some control over color performance. You can choose from four settings: Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening and Soft Skin Detail. You can also set it to Custom, which allows you to adjust Color Depth, Brightness, Contrast, and Sharpness to values of -1, 0, or +1.

Markers - Somewhat similar to the Guide Frames found on Sony camcorders these markers can be used to better frame and line up your shot. Unlike the Sony Guide Frames that only give you a simple grid there are a few Marker options on the Canon Vixia HF10. You can have a simple horizontal line across the center of the screen in white or grey or you can have a grid that divides the screen into nine sections, also in white or gray. You can find this option in the Display Setup section of the Admin menu.

 

 

 

 

Still Features

Still Features

Unlike Sony, with its new 10-megapixel still capture, Canon has not seen fit to significantly upgrade the image size available in the Canon Vixia HF10, with a maximum of 3.3 megapixels. Of course megapixels aren’t everything and the Canon Vixia HF10 offers an excellent array of still features that offer better access than some of Sony’s camcorders.

You enter photo capture mode by moving the dial located on the back right of the camcorder to photo captured mode. We didn’t find this dial particularly easy to use, as we will discuss in the handling section. Stills can be captured to either the internal memory or an SDHC card. You can capture images in 1920 x 1080, 2048 x 1436, 1440 x 1080, and 640 x 480. To capture a photo simply press the dedicated Photo button right behind the Zoom toggle. A flash is located to the right of the right of the lens, which makes us worry a little about even lighting when it’s in use. We also worry that it may be obscured when you use a wide angle lens. The Canon representative told us this shouldn’t be an issue but we aren’t convinced. We’ll check this out when we have it in the lab. You can set the flash to Auto, Red-Eye-Reduction, Forced-On or Forced Off.

Images can be captured in Single, Continuous (3fps), Hi-Speed Continuous (5fps) and AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) modes. The last option takes three images with one in auto exposure, another at +0.25 EV and another at -0.25 EV. Metering options include Evaluative, Center Weight Average, and Spot Meter.

 

 

 

 

Handling and Use

Ease of Use

Unlike the HG10, which had a switch for auto/manual mode the Canon Vixia HF10 has an Easy button, just like Sony camcorders which are currently the king of the "Easy" mode. This new Easy mode has also been simplified compared to the HG10’s Automatic mode. Whereas on the HG10 we felt like there were almost too many options in Automatic the Canon Vixia HF10’s Easy mode is really easy, with all the menus turned off. Although this definitely takes all the thought out of capture some users may be irked at the inability to make even simple adjustments in Easy mode, like changing the scene setting. There has to be some kind of happy medium. Sony seems to have found it but Canon hasn’t.

The reduced options in the Canon Vixia HF10’s Easy mode means the gap between the fully automatic mode and manual modes has become even wider. This reviewer found the menu system on the HF10 to be a little confusing, especially the Image Adjust menu you get when you press in on the joystick. You would expect that perhaps you could use up/down to switch between the different options and left/right to make the adjustments, but that simplicity seemed too straightforward. Down will take you to the next option, but up doesn’t take you to the previous one. Instead up will allow you to change the currently selected option, and then you can use left/right to make your adjustments. Learning Curve = steep. The menu system on the Canon Vixia HF10 isn’t too bad, it’s a simple tabbed interface you navigate with the joystick, but it lacks the clean look and nice large names that we saw from Sony camcorders.

Handling

We didn’t like the way the Canon Vixia HF10 handled. The camcorder seems to distribute a lot of weight horizontally across the body, so it always felt like it was ready to fall out of our hands. Our reviewer had small hands and found that the zoom toggle wasn’t in easy reach, those with larger hands may not have this trouble. The mode dial also wasn’t easy to use with the hand you’re holding the camcorder with, meaning you have to awkwardly reach around with your other hand to adjust it. The joystick to the left of the LCD is fairly easy to use, although we miss the rotating dial we saw on the HG10 and it does require two-hands to make any adjustments. The buttons below the LCD are not as easy to use, we had to press pretty hard to activate them, and they felt squishy and cheap. Though we’re loathe to suggest purchasing a DVD camcorder, they do tend to offer more comfortable handling. The Canon HR10, for example, has a taller form factor, making for a more natural grip.

The Canon Vixia HF10 weighs in at only 380 grams without the battery and measures 73 x 64 x 129 millimeters. This is significantly lighter than the HG10 or HR10, which both weighed over 500 grams. It’s slightly thinner and shorter than the HG10 and slightly fatter, but significantly shorter than the HR10. Despite this rather diminutive size and weight, though, we just can’t seem to get over the fact that it didn’t feel comfortable in our hands. 

LCD/Viewfinder
** **The Canon Vixia HF10 has a 2.7-inch LCD with a resolution of 211,000 pixels. This is the same size as the LCD found on the HG10 and HR10, but we must admit that it’s a little small for our tastes. We would have liked to see something closer to Sony’s new 3.2-inch display with 921,000 pixels. That being said the LCD does a solid job and the image on screen looks decent. If the anti-glare is similar to what we saw form the HG10 and HR10 it should also do well in bright light situations. Below the LCD is a strip of playback controls and a menu button. The Canon Vixia HF10 lacks a viewfinder, a trend we’re not particularly happy with.

 

 

 

 

Audio / Playback / Connectivity

 

Audio

The Canon Vixia HF10 has a two-channel stereo electret microphone that is mounted just beneath the lens. On the back you will find a mic jack and next to it the A/V out that doubles as a headphone jack. We like the placement of the mic and headphone ports at the back of the camcorder better than the placement at the front with the HG10 as this allows you to better manage your wires. When using a wired headset you’ll also want to change the headphone mode in the menu before you plug in to avoid some nasty feedback noise. Like the HG10 the Canon Vixia HF10 also sports a winds screen feature, audio level controls and a zoom mic to better pick up sound for the place you want it.

Playback

Like many other software features on the Canon Vixia HF10 learning how to deal with playback mode can be confusing. It’s easy enough to enter playback mode, just move the switch on the back right of the camcorder to Playback mode. You then get a screen with thumbnails of your clips that can be navigated using the joystick. The Function button will bring up a menu with options like Add to Playlist, Delete, Select Date, and Menu.

When you actually start playing a clip is when things start to go a little weird. You can use the playback buttons below the LCD for Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Stop. The Fast Forward and Rewind are very sensitive, however, and you can quickly get up to the 60x max speed and find you’ve gone through the entire clip. The joystick can also be used to control playback, but also has some issues. Left/Right on the joystick will skip between clips. Up/Down doesn’t do anything until you press in on the joystick to bring up a menu where up/down controls volume. Of course you would expect left/right to do something special and different now, right? Unfortunately not, which brings up the question: why not assign volume to up/down by default and do away with the extraneous menu? You can bring up the Administrative menu during playback by hitting the Function menu button to get to system settings like display setup and date/time.

Connectivity

Probably the biggest issue for connectivity with the Canon Vixia HF10 is that the accessory shoe has been transitioned to the new Mini Advanced Shoe standard. On the plus side the cover for the Shoe is now tethered to the body so you won’t lose it as easily, but if we give that up can we please have our standard shoe back, sirs? The practical impact of this change is that none of your previous Canon accessories will work with the HF10. On top of that, the standard is new enough that you won’t find many accessories that will work with it, nor are there adaptors to use accessories that require a standard shoe. In time, we expect some third party to develop a hack, but anything like that will likely put a lot of pressure on the gripping area of the shoe and risk snapping it off.

 

 

That disappointment aside, the Canon Vixia HF10 provides users with a decent selection of ports and most of them are well located. As we mentioned above the mic and headphone/AV-out jacks have been moved to the back of the camcorder as opposed to the front as on the HG10. Below these ports you will find the DC-in and to the right the battery slot. On the right side of the HF10 are the mini HDMI and USB ports. We have to again express some annoyance at the use of "Mini" version of HDMI as this will require you to go out and get yet another cable. Inside the LCD cavity is the SDHC card slot. We like that most of the ports are located on the back or the left of the camcorder as this means you won’t have wires obscuring your view of the LCD.

 

 

 

 

Other Features/Conclusion

Other Features

Digital Effects - For those who want to have a little bit of fun with their video before you get it to an editor you can add fade-t and wipe transitions and Black & White, Sepia and Art (or solarization) effects.

Backlight Compensation - This feature adjusts the light to expose the foreground better, so if you have a subject standing in the shade with a lot of light behind them BLC will allow you to bring out the details in your subject better.

Quick Start - This places the Canon Vixia HF10 in a low-power standby mode that consumes less power but lets you start the camcorder up more quickly as opposed to turning it off completely.

Conclusion

The Canon Vixia HF10 is the first Canon camcorder to catch the wave of the future with recording to flash media. There are several benefits to flash media, including the speed, not worrying about damaging it with a drop, and the ease of popping out a memory card and transferring your clips to other devices. Also, the on-camera playback mode is mush faster and the battery time is increased. We’re happy to see that Canon isn’t forcing you to go out and purchase an SDHC card, as the Canon Vixia HF10 has 16GB of internal memory to get you started. Of course the problem with flash compared to an HDD device like the Canon Vixia HG10 is that storage is more limited. However, card capacities are growing quickly and at a certain point you will have "enough" storage.

Apart from the support for flash media the Canon Vixia HF10 also add support for full 1920 x 1080 video capture at 17Mbps. This is a slightly higher bitrate than the Sony HDR-HR12, which tops out at 16Mbps with the same resolution. The Canon Vixia HF10 also adds 30P recording, which will aid in the quality when downcoverting to a web-friendly 15fps, and provides yet another look for your video besides 60i and 24P. The Canon Vixia HF10 also shed some weight and size, making it one of the smaller HD camcorders on the market. This comes at a cost, however, as the Canon Vixia HF10 has contracted the "mini" disease with both mini HDMI and a Mini Advanced Shoe. Be prepared to shell out for some new accessories.