Introduction

What you do get is 64GB of internal flash memory (twice that of its predecessor), an extra level of image stabilization, and compatibility with Canon's RA-V1 LANC adapter (see Connectivity section). These are certainly useful features, but they might not warrant a race to the stores for the HF S11.

Update: The Vixia HF S11 was ultimately selected as our 2009 runner-up for Camcorder of the Year. To see why we selected it and read about our other 2009 awards, check out the 2009 CamcorderInfo.com Select Awards.

Design

Front

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Back

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Left

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Right

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Top

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Bottom

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Size & Weight Comparison

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In the Box

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Performance

Color

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The Canon HF S11 produced accurate colors in our bright light testing, but its results weren't as good as some of the other top-of-the-line camcorders on the market. The camcorder managed a color error of 4.19 and a saturation level of 83.64% in this test. More on how we test color.

Shooting in auto mode, the HF S11 had trouble rendering most colors with the ideal level of accuracy. The Color Error Map above shows the camcorder was most accurate with certain blue tones, while pinks and yellows gave it some serious trouble. Despite these troubles, the camcorder did a satisfactory job, which is what we expect from a high-end model like the HF S11.

The HF S11, like all Canons, offers a variety of color modes. In addition to the preset options (shown above), the camcorder also has a custom setting that allows you to set your own values for Color Depth, Sharpness, Contrast, and Brightness—albeit with very limited incremental control. In our testing, we found the camcorder produced the most accurate colors when using the Vivid setting: 4.06 color error, 93.57% saturation.

A camcorder's color reproduction is often a matter of personal preference. The Canon HF S11 tended to have less saturated colors than both the JVC GZ-HM400 and Panasonic TM300—something that many consumers may find disappointing. In particular, the Canon produced lighter blue tones than the competition.

Of the camcorders shown both above and below, the JVC and Panasonic had the best color accuracy, though the results were not a great deal better than those produced by the HF S11 and the Sony HDR-XR520V.

When you really get down to it, the color differences between these powerhouse camcorders are very subtle. The four camcorders shown above do an above average job at capturing colors faithfully and each of them produces a crisp, vivid image in bright light. What really separates these cameras is low light video performance, which we discuss later in this review.

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Low Light Color

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The Canon HF S11 put up average numbers in our low light color testing for a high-end consumer HD camcorder. Its color error was measured at 5.06 with a saturation level of 64.79%. This represents a significant drop from the camcorder's bright light color results. More on how we test low light color.

The HF S11 did slightly better when we switched over to its 24p mode (5.09 color error, 77.93% saturation) and its 30p mode (5.15 color error, 75.26% saturation). The difference between the frame rates is reflected in the chart below.

The HF S11's low light color performance is on par with the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and the Sony HDR-XR520V. Interestingly, the Canon produced the darkest image of the bunch (see below), although that says more about its auto exposure system than its color accuracy. In fact, we were impressed than the camcorder produced such vivid colors despite the darkness of the footage. The color of the HF S11's footage looked quite good, especially next to the comparatively dull and washed out colors of the HM400.

While the Panasonic, Canon, and Sony each put up similar numbers in our low light color test, the JVC GZ-HM400 was the odd cam out. Its low light image was murky, noisy, discolored (with a slight green tint), and lacked vivid color saturation. It is, by far, the worst low light camcorder of the four shown above.

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Noise

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The HF S11's noise percentage of 0.7225% in bright light is pretty good, but it is also slightly higher than what we got from the competition, particularly the Panasonic TM300 and Sony XR520V. Of course, noise is not usually very noticeable in bright light, as the crops below demonstrate. More on how we test noise.

It's nearly impossible to see any noise on the 100% crop images shown above. This is mainly because all the camcorders shown produced very little noise in our bright light testing. The crops do, however, show differences in sharpness, with the JVC GZ-HM400 managing a slight edge over the competition. Of course, every one of these camcorders is capable of capturing a very sharp image when shooting under ideal lighting conditions.

One small detail worth noting: the Canon HF S11 produced an odd dark at the top and bottom of the brown patch in the crop above. In a few other areas of the chart, the Canon seemed to have trouble rendering sudden transitions between two highly contrasting colors. The HM400 also had this trouble in places, though to a lesser degree. In fact, all four camcorders showed a bit of artifacting and splotchiness in the darker color areas.

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Low Light Sensitivity

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The Canon HF S11 needed 17 lux of light to reach 50 IRE on our waveform monitor. This isn't a terrible performance, but it's certainly disappointing, especially considering many of last year's camcorders did better. These results seem to continue a trend we've been seeing all year: higher pixel counts mean far better sharpness in bright light, but far worse sensitivity in low light. Canon definitely isn't alone with its poor low light sensitivity; the Sony HDR-XR520V came in at 16 lux and the JVC GZ-HM400 was even worse. More on how we test low light sensitivity.

On the bright side, the HF S11 fared much better in low light when we used its 24p and 30p shooting modes. In fact, using these modes improved the camcorder's low light sensitivity by more than 50%. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 had the best overall low light sensitivity of the camcorders in this set, requiring only 9 lux in its regular 60i frame rate.

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Low Light Noise

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The noise levels on the HF S11 were pretty good in low light. The camcorder averaged 1.1325% noise in this test, which is far better than the JVC GZ-HM400, and a bit worse than both the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-XR520V. More on how we test low light noise.

As we saw in our low light color test, the camcorder did show improved performance when we tested it using the 24p (0.95% noise) and 30p (1.1% noise) frame rates. These frame rates result in much brighter footage, while still maintaining low noise levels. Of course, bear in mind that these frame rates also impact motion significantly.

The crops higher up do a very good job showing off the low light capabilities of each camcorder. The HF S11 is darker than the competition, but also has a pleasantly clear image. The JVC GZ-HM400 has a very noticeable amount of noise, plus it sports a green hue that seems to take over the footage in low light. All that noise might be a result of a big boost in gain, but the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-XR520V both manage to look just as bright without all that noise.

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Low Light Color

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The Canon HF S11 put up average numbers in our low light color testing for a high-end consumer HD camcorder. Its color error was measured at 5.06 with a saturation level of 64.79%. This represents a significant drop from the camcorder's bright light color results. More on how we test low light color.

The HF S11 did slightly better when we switched over to its 24p mode (5.09 color error, 77.93% saturation) and its 30p mode (5.15 color error, 75.26% saturation). The difference between the frame rates is reflected in the chart below.

The HF S11's low light color performance is on par with the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and the Sony HDR-XR520V. Interestingly, the Canon produced the darkest image of the bunch (see below), although that says more about its auto exposure system than its color accuracy. In fact, we were impressed than the camcorder produced such vivid colors despite the darkness of the footage. The color of the HF S11's footage looked quite good, especially next to the comparatively dull and washed out colors of the HM400.

While the Panasonic, Canon, and Sony each put up similar numbers in our low light color test, the JVC GZ-HM400 was the odd cam out. Its low light image was murky, noisy, discolored (with a slight green tint), and lacked vivid color saturation. It is, by far, the worst low light camcorder of the four shown above.

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Motion

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For the most part, the Canon HF S11 captured motion extremely well, and we didn't notice any difference between it and the previous Canons we've tested this year (the HF S100, HF S10, and Canon HF20). Artifacting was very minimal in our test footage and the moving objects retained a strong amount of detail and looked very sharp. While the footage was smooth, it wasn't as consistently fluid as the JVC GZ-HM400's moving image. More on how we test motion.

Video Sharpness

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The Canon HF S11 had the same video sharpness scores as the previous Canon 'S' series camcorders we've tested (the HF S100 and the HF S10). The camcorder measured a horizontal sharpness of 800 lw/ph and a vertical sharpness of 650 lw/ph. These are very good scores, but as we said in our bright light color and noise sections, most high-end camcorders do extremely well with this test. The fact is, if you spend $1000+ on a high definition camcorder, you expect, deserve, and usually get very good video sharpness.

With that in mind, there were some noticeable differences between the Canons and high-end models from other manufacturers. The JVC GZ-HM400 had the best sharpness, capturing a horizontal sharpness of roughly 1000 lw/ph. The Sony and Panasonic models both produced a slightly less sharp image than that of the HF S11. More on how we test video sharpness.

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Testing Samples

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Usability

Ease of Use

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Canon has made a couple of changes in this year's lineup that make their high definition models slightly more befuddling to use. Namely, the prominent 'Easy' button that used to be right in the middle of the LCD cavity is gone. Instead, you'll need to enter cruise control by switching the dial over to 'Dual Shot' mode. This is a bit of a misnomer, since you can shoot stills and videos in manual mode too. In fact, we have no idea why Canon made this bizarre design choice. For a complete novice—who might actually want to find easy mode—this is hardly intuitive.

Last year's Easy button has been replaced by the Video Snap button. This imposes a four-second clip limit: you're intended to put the resulting short vids in to a fun, music-filled slideshow. We suppose this could have some allure, but we would strongly prefer having an obvious Easy button. We think that easy mode should be the easiest thing for users to find. In this regard, the 2009 Canons are a disappointment.

In Dual Shot mode, the user is essentially locked out of anything that could get a novice in trouble. No manual image controls or menu options: just point... and shoot. The good news is that Dual Shot mode actually allows you to capture either maximum quality 4:3 photos or maximum quality 16:9 video without switching modes. The bad news is that you can't change the quality setting of either photos or videos without swapping to the appropriate mode and making the adjustment in the menus there. Why isn't there a Dual Shot mode with full menu access? Why isn't there a clearly marked easy mode version of video or still mode?

If easy mode—or Dual Shot mode—is a little too simplistic for you, the regular video and still modes are also at your disposal. Your first step, however, will be surmounting the steep learning curve that comes with learning the camcorder's ins and out. Everything is packed into a pretty dense menu, where the sheer volume of options can be pretty overwhelming. There's also the smaller function and joystick menus, but these options are all represented by sometimes esoteric icons, which novices might find intimidating.

The overall menu structure can be one of the HF S11's most confusing aspects, spreading everything across several different menus. Some options appear in more than one menu, but most live in just one of the three different menus: the main administrative menu, the function menu, and the joystick menu. This makes the camcorder a bit cumbersome even for more experienced users. To adjust white balance, just pop into the function menu. To shift exposure, use the joystick menu. To shift AGC limit, navigate to the second tab of the administrative menu.

Of the four major manufacturers (Canon, Sony, Panasonic, JVC), Canon offers the least in the way of tool tips, descriptions, or other contextual aids. Panasonic's Info feature can be activated to bring up a short explanation every time you select something in the main menu. Sony has a similar feature for their main menu, plus short text descriptions inside the camera settings menu. JVC has scrolling descriptions of the features within their menus. That just leaves Canon, with no scrolling text, tool tips, or menu help of any kind. If you don't know what a feature does, you'll probably need to refer to the instruction manual.

Requiring this kind of mastery over the menu navigation really places the HF S11 out of reach for less tech-savvy beginners that are considering venturing into the realm of manual controls. Experienced users will adjust quickly, but first-time videographers will probably want to look elsewhere. The one saving grace is the excellent instruction manual.

We already discussed the frustrating multi-layered menu system of the HF S11, but it certainly warrants further discussion. Options have been spread across three different locations, leaving you to guess where to look when searching for a particular feature. This greatly impacts ease of use, especially for less experienced users.

That's not to say that there isn't at least a small amount of logic in the menu structure. More significant image adjustments are located in the Function menu (above), where you select a recording quality, bitrate, and image effects. This is also where you can access Aperture and Shutter Priority modes. Quick image adjustments that you might want to make on the fly are located in a quick menu, mapped to the joystick (below). Manual exposure and focus adjustments are both part of the joystick guide.

Everything else is lumped into one giant administrative menu, divided into several different tabs. Navigation of this menu could be a lot easier. Instead of pressing left or right to change tabs, you have to navigate up to the top, then left or right to change tabs.

These minor navigation issues only exacerbate the troublesome split menu design: not only do you have to search for your desired option by process of elimination, but you can't always do it quickly. So, if you're looking for the gain control, you might strike out in the joystick guide (even though that's where focus and exposure are located), then strike out again in the Function menu (even though that's where you control aperture, shutter speed, and white balance), then finally land in the second tab of the administrative menu at a feature called AGC Limit.

On top of all this, Canon doesn't provide tool tips or text descriptions of any of these features. If you don't know what 'AGC Limit' is, you'll need to consult the instruction manual or just leave that feature alone. The same goes for BLC (backlight compensation), tele-converter, and several other features. This may only be a minor nuisance to the experienced videographer, but it can make the technology a lot more daunting to first-time users.

For a little bit of added flexibility in your menus, there are two font size options (the captures above use the smaller of the two sizes) and 23 language options.

Auto Mode

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Whether you're loaning your camcorder to someone less technically inclined or just don't have the time or patience to frame a shot manually, the HF S11's auto mode will come in handy. Unfortunately, finding easy mode isn't all that easy. The HF S11's dedicated auto mode is Dual Shot mode, which is represented on the mode dial by a green icon of a camera and a camcorder. We handed the camcorder to several random passersby and not one identified this as the easy mode. We hope that next year's upgrades from Canon will address this irritating design flaw.

Users that experiment with this Dual Shot mode will be rewarded with a very straightforward recording experience. All menus and manual controls are hidden away and just about the only thing you can do is zoom, record, and press the shutter button to take photos. If you find this mode a bit too streamlined, you can also switch back to regular video mode in order to gain access to some options. Thankfully, you can keep most controls automated and still have access to the one or two manual controls you want.

As for how the HF S11 handles automatic controls, we found most adjustments to be more than adequate. Like its predecessors, the HF S11 has two autofocus modes. The first is called Instant AF—a mode that utilizes a secondary autofocus sensor (located beneath the lens) to provide an immediate, snap-like focus. Instant AF seemed to work well in most cases, but it can be finicky if there's a lot of motion in your frame. For a more traditional autofocus style, there's the normal AF system. With this system, autofocus still works quickly when moving between multiple subjects, but it doesn't have the same immediate, locked-in focus shift that occurs with instant AF. The normal AF mode looks a little more natural—almost like someone is performing a manual focus with a lens ring.

The HF S11 also features the same excellent auto exposure as the rest of the Canon lineup. The camcorder adjusts to various light sources with gradual ease. Strangely, there are multiple metering methods in still mode, but only one auto exposure setting is present for videos.

For a little extra help with focus and exposure, the HF S11 has face detection. When this feature is activated, the camcorder will automatically detect faces within the video frame and adjust focus and exposure accordingly. During playback, any clips shot using face detection can also be organized and sorted based on whose face is in the clip. Canon claims their face detection can isolate up to 9 faces at once and 35 faces in all, but we couldn't get the HF S11 to pick up more than a few faces at any given time.

There are a number of white balance presents on the camcorder, but it's the auto white balance that many beginners will rely upon. Fortunately, the auto white balance works surprisingly well in a variety of lighting conditions. Even so, the adjustments made in auto mode are never quite as accurate as those effected by a manual white balance.

Rounding out the auto controls is an auto slow shutter feature that can be turned on and off in the camcorder's menu. Turning the feature on allows the camcorder to use shutter speeds down to 1/30 of a second, which will produce a blurry, trailing effect in low light. With auto slow shutter off, the HF S100 won't drop below a 1/60 of a second shutter speed.

Low Light Modes - The HF S11 boasts only a small handful of upgrades from the HF S10 and HF S100 released earlier this year. One of those is the addition of a low light scene mode, which drops the shutter speed to as low as 1/2 of a second. There's also a Night Scene mode, which keeps the gain low and the shutter speed relatively high. This is more appropriate for shooting a city skyline at night. And in case you need that little bit of extra help when shooting in the dark, there is a built-in video light.

Scene Modes - The HF S11 has the usual set of scene modes, with the single addition of Low Light mode. The full list of available options is as follows: Portrait, Sports, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Night Scene, Low Light, Spotlight, and Fireworks. This is a decent amount of scene modes, and both the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-XR520V have a similar array.

Other Auto Features

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Higher noise levels than many competitors.

Handling

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The Canon HF S11 has the same design elements of the HF S10 and HF S100 released earlier this year. Compared to last year's models, there's just a couple of new features. The most significant of these upgrades is Canon's new custom control dial, which gives users a smooth and more exact method for making focus, exposure, and audio level adjustments. We're big fans of the new dial, especially compared to Canon's tiny joystick controls of yore.

The control dial really streamlines the image adjustment process, giving you easier access to your most commonly used option. Unfortunately, it isn't quite as simple to use as we would like. In order to switch the dial's function, you have to delve into the admin menu. That means you can't just switch controls on the fly, as you could with the lens ring on last year's Panasonics or the dial on 2008 and 2009 Sony models.

This year's Canons have more than just the dial to set them apart from the 2008 lineup. The form factor has also changed significantly, with a new, larger lens that completely dominates the body. This makes the HF S11 a very comfortable camcorder to hold: the absence of a bulky hard drive means that it fits nicely in your palm, while the large lens barrel give you something substantial to grip. The contours aren't as pleasant or comfortable as those on the Panasonic HDC-TM300, but it's an enjoyable handling experience nonetheless.

This design makes the HF S11 easy to hold, but like the HF S10 and HF S100 before it, the resulting location of the accessory shoe is inconvenient. The front of the camcorder may be a common location now for accessory shoes, but we prefer the position that was on last year's Canon models: pushed further back, your accessories won't be quite such an obstruction to proper grip and won't weight down the front of your camcorder.

Rounding out the excellent grip on the HF S11 is Canon's nicely padded hand strap. The soft suede lining on the interior and a decent amount of cushioning should make long shoots easy on the hand.

We have few complaints with the button layout of the HF S11. Most of the switches and buttons respond well and are conveniently located. The joystick, however, is one area that could use improvement. It may be better than some joysticks we've seen, but it is still small and finicky. With a menu structure that's already a bit more complex than it should be, this tiny joystick doesn't help matters.

Portability

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In practice, the Canon HF S11 is as portable as any other consumer camcorder: it's too big to fit in your pocket and small enough to slip into a camera bag or purse. If you're the sort of person that carries your camcorder around on a regular basis, however, you will notice that the HF S11 is larger than many of its competitors. This is thanks, in large part, to the sizable lens barrel dominating the body of the camcorder. It's a larger lens than anything you'll find on the top-of-the-line models from Sony, Panasonic, or JVC.

As a result, the Canon is slightly larger than the Panasonic HDC-TM300 or the JVC GZ-HD300. The result is a camcorder that's not quite as comfortable to hold as the TM300, but fits better in your hand than the slim HD300. It is certainly more comfortable to hold than most hard drive camcorders this year, especially the Sony HDR-XR520V. On the other hand, the 64GB of internal flash memory can't quite compete with the 240GB of hard drive space on the XR520. The difference really shouldn't impact portability, since we would recommend you backup your footage at least every 64GB anyway.

Battery Life

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The Canon HF S11 didn't have a very impressive battery life with its provided battery, but its performance was average for a camcorder of its class. It lasted for 99 minutes and 43 seconds in our test (1 hour, 39 minutes, 43 seconds), which is slightly worse than the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and a bit better than the Sony HDR-XR520V. The JVC GZ-HM400 trounced the competition in this test, lasting for 163 minutes with its supplied battery pack. More on how we test battery life.

This is also nearly identical to the battery life on the card-only Canon HF S100, which went for 98 minutes in our test. All these camcorders do have the benefit of open battery compartments. This means you can purchase and use larger battery packs that should give you increased battery life when recording. Canon specifically sells the larger BP-819 and BP-827 battery packs, both of which are compatible with the HF S11.

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LCD

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The Canon HF S100 has a 2.7-inch LCD screen with a 211,000-pixel resolution. The camcorder has no electronic viewfinder, so you'll likely run into trouble framing your image on a bright, sunny day. The LCD's design is rather interesting. It is completely flat and glossy, which means the entire LCD panel is a single, even pane. Most camcorders, including Canon's mid-range models (like the HF20), feature an LCD screen that is recessed by a few millimeters. We feel this indentation helps to protect the screen from aggressive glare, whereas the glossy surface of the HF S11 attracts more glare.

Still, the LCD panel on the HF S11 looks very sleek, and, in most lighting conditions, it doesn't pose a problem with glare reflection. There are a few buttons at the bottom of the panel that serve dual purposes. In playback mode, the first three buttons represent VCR controls. In shooting mode, the first button will start/stop record, while the next two can be used to zoom. The button farthest to the right switches between shooting mode and playback mode. We like the design of these buttons very much and they are some of the best LCD panel buttons we've seen on a consumer camcorder.

One more button and a joystick are located to the far left of the LCD panel. The Function button brings up—unsurprisingly—the Function menu, and the joystick is used to navigate through menus and access the joystick guide.

Stabilization

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The HF S11 didn't perform tremendously well in our stabilization testing, even with its new stabilization setting. The camcorder is equipped with an optical image stabilization system (OIS). The two settings are Standard (the same stabilization that was featured on the HF S10 and HF S100) and Dynamic (new to the HF S11). The Dynamic setting is said to accommodate for more intense camcorder shake and, according to Canon, should work better across the zoom range.

In our low shake test the camcorder managed to reduce 23% of the shake using Standard OIS and 30% using Dynamic OIS. When we cranked things up to high shake, the Standard OIS reduced 21% of the shake and the Dynamic OIS reduced 27%. These aren't horrid numbers, but we expected better from such a wide, bulky camcorder that is equipped with two levels of optical image stabilization. More on how we test stabilization.

The charts above show how much the HF S11 shook during our stabilization testing. The blue lines represent the movement of the image without stabilization, while the orange lines show the movement with image stabilization turned on (in Standard mode). As you can see, the OIS didn't do a very good job in correcting the shake.

The video above is an example of the Canon's stabilization capability at low shake levels. When watching this video you can notice a slight improvement with Dynamic OIS engaged as opposed to Standard, but the difference is very minimal. Overall, the stabilization system on the HF S11 didn't perform as well as the JVC GZ-HM400, Panasonic HDC-TM300, or the Sony HDR-XR520V.

Manual Focus

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Manual Exposure

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Miscellaneous Controls

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Image Effects

4 Presets: Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, and Soft Skin Detail

Custom Image Effects

Allows for direct control over brightness, contrast, sharpening, and color depth

x.v. Color

For recording in the expanded xvYCC color gamut

Tele-conversion

Digitally enlarges the center of the screen by roughly 1.7 times—essentially producing the same effect as a tele-conversion lens.However, this is a digital image effect that lowers the effective pixel count from 6.01 megapixels to 2.07 megapixels.

Color Bar

Displays an original set of SMPTE color bars that can be recorded and used for calibration later. The camcorder can also produce an audio reference tone with the color bars.

Zebra

Zebra is a common professional feature that assists with manual exposure adjustment. With the setting activated, black and white stripes will appear in overexposed areas while you are shooting (the stripes won't end up on your final footage). This helps you manually adjust exposure levels to make sure nothing in the frame is blown-out from over-exposure. You can set the zebra sensitivity to 70% (slightly overexposed) or 100% (very overexposed).

Onscreen Markers

Onscreen markers, or guide frames, can be displayed on the HF S11 as a single horizontal line in white or grey, or as a nine-quadrant grid also in white or grey. These lines won't be in your recorded footage and are simply used to assist with framing.

Audio Controls

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The Canon HF S11 has the same audio features as Canon's previous high-end camcorders, the HF S100 and HF S10. For starters, it includes a 3.5mm external mic input near the front of the camcorder (on the right side) and an AV-output that can double as a headphone jack. These are important features that are must-haves for any high-end consumer camcorder. Unfortunately, the mic jack has no port covering whatsoever, which leaves it fully exposed to the elements. It is well-placed, though, so at least you don't have to contend with annoying cables when you connect a mic to the camcorder.

The HF S11 has a Dolby Digital 2-channel microphone that isn't particularly well-placed, but it is better than some of the top-mounted mics we saw on models from Panasonic and JVC. The HF S11's mic is located on both sides of the camcorder, near the very front of the lens. Wandering fingers can definitely find their way into rubbing up against this side-mounted mic placement, particularly when you use the custom control dial on the left (located just beneath the mic). On the right side, the mic is more out of the way, even if you have large hands.

Like Canon's other camcorders, the HF S11 has a manual audio level adjustment option. When adjusting audio, there is no numeric or incremental display of how much you are raising or lowering the levels. Instead, a small line in the lower left of the LCD expands and contracts as you raise and lower the audio levels (almost as if you're turning a volume knob). Still, the manual audio adjustment is a terrific feature to have. The camcorder includes an audio level display with markers for -40dB, -12dB, and 0dB. By checking out the display you can figure out where your audio is peaking and adjust levels accordingly.

There are a number of additional audio features on the HF S11 that the casual videographer is likely to ignore. There's an audio test tone that can be used for calibration or testing audio equipment, a microphone attenuator that can be engaged to limit audio levels, and a wind cut feature for reducing noise associated with rustling wind. The HF S11 has Canon's proprietary Mini Advanced accessory shoe that is protected by a sliding cover on top of the camcorder. This is the same accessory shoe as featured on all of Canon's consumer HD camcorders—except for the Canon HV40, which has a regular-sized shoe.

Editing

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The Canon HF S11 comes with too many discs. If you're easily intimidated by technology, the four discs that ship with this camcorder might set your head spinning. There's the 'transfer utility' disc, the 'video tools' disc, the 'video software' disc, and the instruction manual. The latter might be self-explanatory, but you'll probably spend too much time figuring out what the other three are.

Our suggestion is to slog through installing all three. When you first plug the HF S11 into your computer, you'll probably also have to install a driver, which Windows will hopefully help you do. Once all this has been completed, you're ready to try out ImageMixer 3 SE.

The most important task handled by ImageMixer is transferring your files from the camcorder to your computer. You can't simply drag and drop AVCHD files. This program, however, makes the transfer process very easy (see screenshot below). This is especially easy when you're working with internal memory camcorders that should be backed up from time to time. ImageMixer also allows you to transfer footage from your computer back onto your camcorder.

The Editing/Authoring portion of ImageMixer is a little more complicated to use, but it has several options that intermediate video editors will welcome. You can adjust the volume of your video, add your own audio files, add text/titles, or do some basic splicing and trimming.

Though ImageMixer is at the heart of the HF S11's software, it also comes with a separate photo viewer/editor and a program for transferring your own audio files onto the camcorder (for use with playlists and Video Snap). For an overview of the software that ships with this and other camcorders, see our article: Video Editing Software For Your Camcorder{{product.brand.name}}-Included-Software.htm.

Features

Compression

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As with all high definition flash memory camcorders, the Canon HF S11 records video using the AVCHD codec. Though AVCHD started out as a proprietary Sony/Panasonic compression method, it's now the chosen format for Canon and JVC as well. That means that AVCHD is more common and, therefore, more widely compatible with video editing programs. However, it still requires a powerful computer to manage the files—AVCHD files are much more processor-intensive than HDV files. If you're considering making a transition from standard definition or HDV, make sure your computer can handle it first.

With the announcement of last year's HF11, Canon became the first manufacturer to produce a consumer camcorder that recorded at a 24Mbps bitrate—the maximum bitrate allowed by the AVCHD codec. The latest models from Canon continue this trend, with the HF S11 offering two 1920 x 1080 recording at either 17Mbps or 24Mbps. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various high definition compression types.

Media

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The HF S11 offers very few upgrades over the HF S10 released earlier this year. One of those upgrades is recording media: the HF S11 has 64GB of internal flash memory—twice that offered by the HF S10. With 64GB of internal memory, you can record about six hours of the maximum quality footage. If you buy some SD/SDHC memory cards, you can extend that to about three additional hours per 32GB card. That's a lot of footage, even for a long vacation or a wedding.

We like flash memory a lot, especially when it's built into the camcorder. Flash memory has no moving parts, so it's a bit more rugged than hard drives. It's also more reliable than memory cards, which take a beating every time they're swapped in and out of the camcorder or thrown in a camera bag. Flash memory might not be up to the huge capacities offered by some hard drives, but you can fit an awful lot of footage on the HF S11. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various media types.

Slow Motion Modes

Still Features

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The HF S11 has the same extensive set of still features as the other top-of-the-line camcorders from Canon. It can capture 8-megapixel still photos natively (at a resolution of 3264 x 2456) and offers numerous smaller photo resolution options. In comparison, the JVC GZ-HM400 can take native 9-megapixel photos, the Panasonic HDC-TM300 hovers around 7 megapixels, and the Sony HDR-XR520V can capture 6-megapixel photos natively.

In addition to its photo size options, the HF S11 also has a built-in flash, three metering modes (evaluative, center-weighted, and spot), and a couple of continuous shooting options. The continuous shooting modes can be set to normal, which takes 3 photos per second, or high-speed, which does 5 photos per second. Both modes can take up to 60 photos in a row if you hold down the shutter button. There's also Auto Exposure Bracketing on the HF S11 that takes three photos at three different exposure levels (dark, normal, and light in 1/2 EV steps). This is a high level of sophistication for any consumer camcorder.

You can capture photos in any of the camcorder's shooting modes—Dual Shot, video mode, or still mode. Still mode obviously gets you the most photo options, while Video Mode only allows you to capture still images at a 3264 x 1840 or 1920 x 1080 resolution (to match the 16:9 aspect ratio of HD video). In Dual Shot mode, photo size is more of a mystery: you don't have access to the camcorder's menus, so photos are captured in the size that was last set in still mode. That means that you can be recording video one moment, then be capturing maximum resolution 4:3 photos the next. We wish this weren't so confusing in Dual Shot, but we also wish you had this degree of flexibility in regular video mode.

In photo playback, you can use the zoom toggle to digitally magnify your still photos up to 5x. You can also cycle through your photos, view them as thumbnails, start a slideshow, and delete photos— either individually in groups. The camcorder has direct to printer options and photos can be captured from a recorded movie as a sequence (up to 100 photos) or as single images.

The HF S11 put up slightly better numbers in our still color testing than in our bright light video color test. The camcorder earned a color error of 3.87 with a saturation level of 93.7%. These are certainly good scores, but the three other camcorders we used as comparison models all were better. Topping the charts was the Panasonic HDC-TM300, which managed a 2.65 color error.

All the camcorders have above-average still image capabilities and their excellent color performances show off this fact. Both the JVC and Panasonic models show more color depth than the Canon and Sony, but all the camcorders render strong colors in their digital photographs. The Canon does appear a bit washed out due to its higher automatic exposure level, but this can be manually adjusted to your liking.

The HF S11 averaged 1.06% noise in our still image testing, which is a disappointing score. Unfortunately, this also seems to be a common trend; most of the high-end camcorders we've tested have done poorly with with still noise. The JVC GZ-HM400 had 1.14% noise and the Sony HDR-XR520V had 1.07%. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 (0.79%) is one of the few flagship camcorders to have good still noise scores this year.

Still sharpness is the most important still image test because it lets you know how much detail and how crisp of an image your camcorder will be able to capture in a photograph. The Canon HF S11 did fantastic in this test, measuring a horizontal sharpness of 2886 lw/ph with 5.2% oversharpening and a vertical sharpness of 1477 lw/ph with 6% undersharpening.

The Canon even outscored the JVC GZ-HM400 in this test, despite the fact that the JVC has a higher effective pixel count for still images (9 megapixels vs. 8 megapixels). The Panasonic and Sony, while still having decent sharpness scores, were well behind the Canon and JVC. One reason we do this test is to show that camcorders are rarely capable of producing actual line widths per picture height (lw/ph) that match the resolution of the image. So, even though the Canon HF S11 is capable of taking still photos at a 3264 x 2456 resolution, its sharpness isn't nearly that high.

Lens & Imaging System

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If you were expecting Canon to upgrade its lens or imaging system, prepare to be disappointed. The HF S11 features the exact same 10x optical, f/1.8 Canon lens and the same 1/2.6-inch CMOS sensor as the Canon HF S10 and Canon HF S100, released earlier this year. Fortunately, both lens and sensor offered excellent performance on the earlier models. If there is a difference in performance with the old and the new, it will be a result of internal processing—not lens or sensor.

LCD

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The Canon HF S100 has a 2.7-inch LCD screen with a 211,000-pixel resolution. The camcorder has no electronic viewfinder, so you'll likely run into trouble framing your image on a bright, sunny day. The LCD's design is rather interesting. It is completely flat and glossy, which means the entire LCD panel is a single, even pane. Most camcorders, including Canon's mid-range models (like the HF20), feature an LCD screen that is recessed by a few millimeters. We feel this indentation helps to protect the screen from aggressive glare, whereas the glossy surface of the HF S11 attracts more glare.

Still, the LCD panel on the HF S11 looks very sleek, and, in most lighting conditions, it doesn't pose a problem with glare reflection. There are a few buttons at the bottom of the panel that serve dual purposes. In playback mode, the first three buttons represent VCR controls. In shooting mode, the first button will start/stop record, while the next two can be used to zoom. The button farthest to the right switches between shooting mode and playback mode. We like the design of these buttons very much and they are some of the best LCD panel buttons we've seen on a consumer camcorder.

One more button and a joystick are located to the far left of the LCD panel. The Function button brings up—unsurprisingly—the Function menu, and the joystick is used to navigate through menus and access the joystick guide.

Connectivity

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The connectivity options on the HF S11 are essentially identical to the Canon HF S100 and HF S10—with one notable exception. The HF S11 is compatible with Canon's newly released RA-V1 remote adapter, which plugs into the camcorder's accessory shoe and gives the camcorder a LANC (wired remote) terminal. The RA-V1 is sold separately for $120 and does add a significant bulk to the top of the camcorder.

There's also been some discussion as to whether the RA-V1 is compatible with older models. We tested it with the HF S10, HF S100, and HF20 and found that the camcorder recognizes the RA-V1 and allows you to attach a wired remote. However, Canon has informed us that the RA-V1 has been known to cause audio frequency interference in older Canon models, particularly when using an external microphone. If you plan to use the LANC controller and an external microphone, we recommend you do so only with the Canon HF S11.

The ports on the HF S11 are located in a number of different places. On the right side of the camcorder, behind the hand strap, is a plastic door that tilts open to reveal a Component-out, USB, and HDMI port. The placement of these ports are a bit annoying, as they can be difficult to access behind the thick hand strap. Also, the port cover doesn't open very far.

Two more ports are located on the back of the camcorder: the AV/headphone-out port and the DC-input. Both of these terminals feature their own, dedicated port covers that are tethered to the body of the camcorder. These covers feel quite strong and do match the body of the camcorder very well. They can sometimes get in the way, however, particularly when you have cables connected to both ports simultaneously.

Inside the LCD cavity is the camcorder's SD/SDHC memory card slot. The slot is well protected by a hard piece of plastic that folds down towards the bottom of the camcorder. This design does make it difficult (or impossible) to swap out memory cards when the HF S11 is mounted to a tripod.

We discussed the camcorder's Mini Advanced accessory shoe earlier in this section. From what we can tell, the shoe is identical in every way to Canon's previous Mini Advanced accessory shoes, and its placement is the same as on the Canon HF S100 and HF S10. The shoe is protected by a sliding piece of hard plastic that provides adequate protection.

Battery

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This is also nearly identical to the battery life on the card-only Canon HF S100, which went for 98 minutes in our test. All these camcorders do have the benefit of open battery compartments. This means you can purchase and use larger battery packs that should give you increased battery life when recording. Canon specifically sells the larger BP-819 and BP-827 battery packs, both of which are compatible with the HF S11. Find out how the product:model/product:model performed in our battery life test.

Media

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The HF S11 offers very few upgrades over the HF S10 released earlier this year. One of those upgrades is recording media: the HF S11 has 64GB of internal flash memory—twice that offered by the HF S10. With 64GB of internal memory, you can record about six hours of the maximum quality footage. If you buy some SD/SDHC memory cards, you can extend that to about three additional hours per 32GB card. That's a lot of footage, even for a long vacation or a wedding.

We like flash memory a lot, especially when it's built into the camcorder. Flash memory has no moving parts, so it's a bit more rugged than hard drives. It's also more reliable than memory cards, which take a beating every time they're swapped in and out of the camcorder or thrown in a camera bag. Flash memory might not be up to the huge capacities offered by some hard drives, but you can fit an awful lot of footage on the HF S11. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various media types.

Still Features

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The HF S11 has the same extensive set of still features as the other top-of-the-line camcorders from Canon. It can capture 8-megapixel still photos natively (at a resolution of 3264 x 2456) and offers numerous smaller photo resolution options. In comparison, the JVC GZ-HM400 can take native 9-megapixel photos, the Panasonic HDC-TM300 hovers around 7 megapixels, and the Sony HDR-XR520V can capture 6-megapixel photos natively.

In addition to its photo size options, the HF S11 also has a built-in flash, three metering modes (evaluative, center-weighted, and spot), and a couple of continuous shooting options. The continuous shooting modes can be set to normal, which takes 3 photos per second, or high-speed, which does 5 photos per second. Both modes can take up to 60 photos in a row if you hold down the shutter button. There's also Auto Exposure Bracketing on the HF S11 that takes three photos at three different exposure levels (dark, normal, and light in 1/2 EV steps). This is a high level of sophistication for any consumer camcorder.

You can capture photos in any of the camcorder's shooting modes—Dual Shot, video mode, or still mode. Still mode obviously gets you the most photo options, while Video Mode only allows you to capture still images at a 3264 x 1840 or 1920 x 1080 resolution (to match the 16:9 aspect ratio of HD video). In Dual Shot mode, photo size is more of a mystery: you don't have access to the camcorder's menus, so photos are captured in the size that was last set in still mode. That means that you can be recording video one moment, then be capturing maximum resolution 4:3 photos the next. We wish this weren't so confusing in Dual Shot, but we also wish you had this degree of flexibility in regular video mode.

In photo playback, you can use the zoom toggle to digitally magnify your still photos up to 5x. You can also cycle through your photos, view them as thumbnails, start a slideshow, and delete photos— either individually in groups. The camcorder has direct to printer options and photos can be captured from a recorded movie as a sequence (up to 100 photos) or as single images.

The HF S11 put up slightly better numbers in our still color testing than in our bright light video color test. The camcorder earned a color error of 3.87 with a saturation level of 93.7%. These are certainly good scores, but the three other camcorders we used as comparison models all were better. Topping the charts was the Panasonic HDC-TM300, which managed a 2.65 color error.

All the camcorders have above-average still image capabilities and their excellent color performances show off this fact. Both the JVC and Panasonic models show more color depth than the Canon and Sony, but all the camcorders render strong colors in their digital photographs. The Canon does appear a bit washed out due to its higher automatic exposure level, but this can be manually adjusted to your liking.

The HF S11 averaged 1.06% noise in our still image testing, which is a disappointing score. Unfortunately, this also seems to be a common trend; most of the high-end camcorders we've tested have done poorly with with still noise. The JVC GZ-HM400 had 1.14% noise and the Sony HDR-XR520V had 1.07%. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 (0.79%) is one of the few flagship camcorders to have good still noise scores this year.

Still sharpness is the most important still image test because it lets you know how much detail and how crisp of an image your camcorder will be able to capture in a photograph. The Canon HF S11 did fantastic in this test, measuring a horizontal sharpness of 2886 lw/ph with 5.2% oversharpening and a vertical sharpness of 1477 lw/ph with 6% undersharpening.

The Canon even outscored the JVC GZ-HM400 in this test, despite the fact that the JVC has a higher effective pixel count for still images (9 megapixels vs. 8 megapixels). The Panasonic and Sony, while still having decent sharpness scores, were well behind the Canon and JVC. One reason we do this test is to show that camcorders are rarely capable of producing actual line widths per picture height (lw/ph) that match the resolution of the image. So, even though the Canon HF S11 is capable of taking still photos at a 3264 x 2456 resolution, its sharpness isn't nearly that high.

Other Features

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Digital Effects

The HF S11 has a few digital effects: black & white, sepia, and art. The camcorder also has a regular fade feature and a wipe fade. All these effects are found in the function menu and can be activated using the joystick menu once they are selected.

Video Light

The video light is a bit hidden on the HF S11. It is located on the top of the camcorder, in front of the accessory shoe. When you turn on the light from the joystick menu (or activate the flash, which is located in the same spot), it pops up from its underground lair to provide you with lovely illumination. The light isn't fantastic and it will eat up your battery life, but its good to have if you do lots of filming in the dark.

Pre-Record

Pre-record is a useful new feature on this year's Canons. When the setting is turned on, the camcorder will constantly record footage in a 3-second memory buffer. This means, whenever you press record you've already captured three seconds of video. Pre-record can be very useful if you're recording a sporting event or trying to capture an unpredictable event. Like the video light, pre-record does use up a lot of battery power, so don't turn it on if you're going to be away from a power source for a long time.

Video Snapshot

Video Snapshot is also new to this year's Canons, but it doesn't do all that much. When you press the Video Snap button, a blue border appears around the LCD screen that will begin to illuminate when you press the record button. After roughly 4 seconds, the blue border will have made its way around the entirety of the LCD screen and recording will automatically cease. Essentially, the video snapshot feature is useful for making short 4-second clips one at a time. These clips can then be organized in a playlist, have music added to them, and viewed as a short little film on the camcorder.

Panasonic HDC-TM300 Comparison

The GZ-HM400 is an interesting new entry from JVC, presenting significant performance improvements over the HD300 and provided a much fuller feature set than the X900. This is the camcorder for more serious videophiles and it is actually worthy competition for the Canon HF S11. In fact, the HM400 outpaced the HF S11 in all the bright light testing, proving itself to be a powerhouse of color accuracy and sharp, smooth footage.

Unfortunately, this was only true when recording in ideal conditions. In low light, the HM400 really floundered, capturing incredibly dark images riddled with a haze of noise and washed out colors. If you plan to shoot in dimmer lighting, the HF S11 is no champion, but it fared much better than the flagship from JVC. The Canon also provides the user with 24p and 30p frame rate alternatives, which significantly improve low light performance.

The Canon is also a meatier choice for advanced videographers, giving users a more fleshed out array of manual controls. The new compatibility with Canon's RA-V1 LANC adapter is also sure to draw experienced users.

Where the HM400 does come out on top is in the stabilization department. Even the HF S11's new Dynamic stabilization mode can't match the testing results of the HM400, which showed significant improvement with its single optical stabilization level activated. If stabilization is important to you, the HM400 is certainly an interesting model to consider.

And what will compel most users to select the top-of-the-line JVC over its Canon counterpart? Price. A savings of $400 is considerable in this day and age. For people less interested in the bells and whistles offered by the HF S11, that may be $400 you can't turn down.

Sony HDR-XR520V Comparison

For the extra 32GB of internal flash memory, you'll need to pay $100 extra for the Canon HF S11. Aside from that, however, the HF S11 and the Panasonic HDC-TM300 are very similar models. They each represent the flash memory flagships from their respective manufacturers and they each offer a slew of manual controls and features to please advanced users.

Though the two models are very similar, the TM300 has a slight edge in just about every respect. It has slightly better color performance and slightly better low light performance. It is slightly more comfortable to hold and has slightly better optical image stabilization.

In some areas, it's very difficult to pick a clear winner. We think it would be hard to find a more comfortable camcorder than the TM300, but the side mounted accessory shoe is an unusual design and the HF S11 does a better job of keeping its built-in microphone hidden from stray fingers. This might be a matter of personal choice.

Another personal choice: do you prefer the cam control dial of the manual control lens ring? We have a small preference for the lens ring, which has a smoother, wider range of action. If you're using the viewfinder instead of the LCD, the features controlled by the lens ring can be swapped on the fly. Speaking of which, the TM300 has an extensible electronic viewfinder, while the Canon has only its LCD. On the other hand, the HF S11 is now compatible with Canon's RA-V1 LANC adapter. These are both features that advanced users yearn for... just remember that you have to fork over $120 for the adapter that will let you connect a wired remote to the HF S11.

For still photography, neither model is perfect. The Canon HF S11 is inferior in color and noise, but is a clear winner in sharpness. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 doesn't have as much in the way of still features, but it has more size options and no confusing Dual Shot mode.

And that brings to mind the greatest advantage that the Panasonic has over its rival from Canon. In terms of ease of use, the TM300 is light years ahead. The HF S11 has this confusing Dual Shot mode, which essentially hides auto mode from the people that would want it the most. The TM300's manual button is also tucked away, but at least the function of this button is easily understood. When in auto mode, the TM300 offers a lot more to make videography easier: the company's great iA features and a helpful info button to explain many of the menu's options. Even in manual mode, the TM300 is easier to use, with a less divided menu structure that makes it easier to find the feature you want.

More savvy users might be tempted by some of the advanced features of the Canon, but the TM300 certainly has its share as well. Perhaps more importantly, the TM300 delivers a more pleasant user experience, especially for less experienced users.

COMP 3

The Sony HDR-XR520V is more expensive than the HF S11 and is certainly much bulkier and more uncomfortable. For many consumers, those disadvantages will be outweighed by the root cause: an enormous 240GB hard-drive. That gives you practically infinite capacity. We think the 64GB of internal flash memory on the HF S11 is plenty—plus it has the advantage of being more stable than the moving parts of most hard drives.

In terms of performance, the two camcorders are roughly equivalent. It's less noisy, but also less sharp. And neither gives an impressive performance in low light. Both also rely on a small dial at the front of the camcorder for adjusting some manual controls. We do like that the XR520's dial is easier to change on the fly, but the Canon simply offers more options. There's AGC limit, shutter-priority and aperture-priority modes, 24p and 30p frame rates, and more still photography features. It's true that the Sony has a viewfinder, but we think most videographers will choose manual image controls over a viewfinder.

There is one significant advantage the XR520 has over the HF S11: an incredibly effective image stabilization system. Like the HF S11, the Sony model has two levels of stabilization, but the Sony is significantly better at reducing camera shake. The XR520 is also a little easier to use for beginners, especially thanks to some helpful tool tips.

We think this means that newer consumers will lean towards the models from Sony, but experienced users might opt for the savvy offerings from the Canon HF S11.

Conclusion

The Canon HF S11 (MSRP $1399) is another excellent contender among this year's high definition camcorders. Its bright light video performance rivals just about anything you'll see from any manufacturer in 2009. In low light, however, the HF S11 does struggle—just as its predecessors did.

What's more, the few upgrades that it received from the HF S10 aren't all they're cracked up to be. Sure, you have 64GB of internal flash memory, but you have to pay $100 for that privilege. (And the original 32GB was a substantial amount of memory.) There's the compatibility with Canon's new RA-V1 LANC adapter, but that's sold separately at a steep price of $120. And finally there's the new Dynamic image stabilization option. This second level of stabilization does, in fact, improve stabilization, but only very slightly. The HF S11 is still among the worst of the competition when it comes to stabilization—at least when it comes to our testing methodologies.

Even more importantly, Canon has done nothing to correct the few flaws that we reported on the HF S100, released earlier this year. There's no viewfinder, aperture and shutter cannot be independently controlled, easy mode is confusingly disguised as Dual Shot mode, and the three-tiered menu system with no tool tips or help features is an intimidating obstacle for less experienced consumers.

That might seem like a whole lot of negative, but our disappointment is really a result of wanting perfection from an already impressive camcorder. The update doesn't add much to the Canon lineup—unless you really yearn for LANC compatibility. The final verdict? If you are an experienced videographer and rely heavily on manual controls, the HF S11 may be a compelling product. The vast majority of consumers, however, will be content to either save $100 and purchase the HF S10 or look to other manufacturers for simpler to use and/or more affordable camcorders.

Photo Gallery

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