Canon Legria HF S100 Camcorder Review

by Kaitlyn Chantry and Jeremy Stamas
Published on Apr 10, 2009 10:55 PM

 
Intro
 Product Tour
colour & Noise Performance Motion & Sharpness Performance
Low Light Performance Compression & Media
Manual Controls Still Features
Handling & Use Playback & Connectivity
Audio & Other Features Sony HDR-XR520 Comparison
Panasonic HDC-HS300 Comparison JVC GZ-HD320 Comparison
Conclusion Photo Gallery
Specs and Ratings


Introduction
The Canon Legria HF S100 is one of Canon's 2009 flagship camcorder. Canon has added some major improvements this year, which will probably keep Canon's strong market share rolling along. This includes the 8.59 megapixel sensor, a large lens, and the marvellous new custom control dial, just to name a few. The video performance of the HF S100 was also enhanced, but its remarkably sharp videos, come at a price: the performance in low light is not as good as expected. Regardless, we think you'll like this one.
    (Page 1 of 17) Product Tour

 

Section The Good The Bad
Product Tour New lens and sensor, sleek design Nothing of note
Colour & Noise Performance Colour accuracy is good, plenty of colour modes Noise level in bright light very high
Motion & Sharpness Performance Very sharp pictures; alternate frame rate 25p Motion shows a slight trailing
Low Light Performance Nothing of note Colour and noise performance in low light were not very convincing
Compression & Media AVCHD compatible with most software AVCHD files can be large and unwieldy to edit
Manual Controls Offers numerous manual controls and a manual control dial Nothing of note
Still Features 8 megapixel stills, simultaneous video and photo capture Noise levels in photos are higher then average
Handling & Use Manual control dial is convenient Three-menu system is annoying; no viewfinder
Playback & Connectivity Camcorder has all necessary jacks, some great extras in playback
 Location of some connections awkward
Audio & Other Features Better audio control; pre-record is useful and convenient Video Snap does not do all that much



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