Canon Legria HF G10

Auto Mode (10.47)

Get ready for a lot of information in this section, as the HF G10 is absolutely loaded with auto controls, manual controls, and key features. It has nearly all of the auto controls that you'd find on the Canon HF S21, plus a bunch more. Canon expanded the Smart Auto scene selection to include more scene modes (38 different modes, to be exact), added a new medium autofocus speed, and employed a boatload of zoom speed controls.

The AF/AE tracking feature is still present, as are single "touch" options for focus and exposure. All controls on the G10 can be manipulated with the LCD touch-screen and most of them can be set with a small, rotatable dial on the back of the camcorder. This small dial is one thing we hate about the HF G10. We don't like the way it feels, nor do we like the roundabout manner in which it works.

The auto controls on the HF G10 function very well, although we did notice the auto exposure wasn't always smooth when moving from light to dark scenes (we saw this issue with the HF S21 too). With the camcorder set in its dedicated auto mode you cannot access many controls: only zoom, decoration, story creator, and video snapshot are available. You can also take still photos in auto mode and the camcorder's stabilisation system is automatically engaged.

The Cinema mode on the HF G10, which we talk about in more detail later in this section, is like an advanced auto mode. You pick a certain filter (there's nine options) and you can adjust basic controls to set their look and style. You still have options for controlling most of the features that you find in Manual mode, but a few are not available in Cinema mode.

Zoom (9.0)

The HF G10 has a wide zoom toggle on the top of the camcorder and two zoom buttons that exist on the LCD touch-screen (when you activate that option). The zoom toggle and touch-screen buttons aren't anything special (although it is great that the touch-screen buttons allow for variable zoom speed control, just like they did on the HF S21). The really cool stuff comes in the form of the G10's variety of zoom speed controls. There's three zoom speed levels (fast, normal, and slow) and 16 zoom speed settings—as well as variable zoom speed control. You can also set the zoom speed for the wireless remote control that comes with the camcorder. Lastly, you can turn on something called Soft Zoom Control that will enable the camcorder to slow down zooms as they finish or begin (or both).

The zoom toggle can be set to many different zoom speeds.

Zoom Ratio (3.77)

The HF G10 has a 10x optical zoom. If that zoom ratio sounds familiar, that's because it is the same amount of zoom Canon featured on the HF S21 (and the rest of its flagship models) last year. A 10x optical zoom isn't bad, but it also won't allow you to get many extreme close-ups unless you're physically able to move the camcorder closer to your subject. Most mid-range HD camcorders have higher zoom ratios (in the 25x to 35x range), so if zoom is of utmost importance, perhaps you should check out some of those models instead.

If you don't mind losing some image quality, you can also use a digital zoom up to 40x or 200x on the HF G10. This feature will not work when the camcorder is in Auto or Cinema mode, but it works in manual mode. Like we said, though, it will degrade your video quality when used—and the more digital zoom you use, the worse your video will look.
 

Focus (11.0)

The HF G10 has an excellent autofocus system, complete with a "one-touch" focus adjustment. But the camcorder also has an extensive set of manual focus options, including a large lens ring, peaking, and even a waveform monitor to assist with focusing properly.

Let's start with the lens ring. We love its size and we love how it feels, but the ring's placement is a bit frustrating. Since the lens on the HF G10 doesn't jut out at all from the camcorder, the ring must rest in close proximity to the LCD panel and the front of the G10. We often found our fingers bumping into the back of the LCD panel when we rotated the ring with our left hand, particularly when the LCD panel was tilted back a bit. This isn't terrible design, but it is noteworthy. Of course, this issue isn't a problem if you use the HF G10's viewfinder instead of the LCD.

The lens ring can only be used to adjust focus manually.

The focus assist options include peaking and magnification, both of which Canon employed on previous consumer camcorders. They work well, but we wish there was a way to cancel the digital magnification after it has been activated. You can turn the feature off entirely, but we want to be able to use it to help focus, and then have a button that quickly turns it back off so we can see the whole frame again. As is, you have to stop focusing and then wait a few moments before the digital magnification shuts off.

The waveform monitor is a fun feature and it actually does assist with focusing in a unique way. Its something you really have to try to understand, but we'll just say that it looks cool (it also greatly helps with exposure adjustment). Another new feature is a focus lock that allows you to set a specific focal length and have the camcorder return to it with the press of an on-screen button. A great feature if you're switching between two focal distances.

The only problem with having all these focus options is that the focus menu screen can become extremely confusing. There's a lot of buttons, icons, and settings that will certainly overwhelm a novice user. Canon does provide a good amount of detail in its instruction manual, but the best way to figure out all of the HF G10's quirks is to just play around with the darn thing.

Exposure (9.0)

There aren't quite as many exposure controls on the G10 as there are focus controls, but there's still quite a few. You can set the exposure in 1/4 EV increments from -3 to +3 values. There's also a zebra pattern setting to keep an eye on overexposure, an auto-exposure lock feature (AE Lock), touch exposure with the touch-screen, and a waveform monitor.

We love all these options for basic exposure adjustment, but we don't like the implementation of the rear-mounted control dial that can be used to set the exposure controls. The dial is small and not nearly as precise as the large lens ring that is dedicated to focus (nor is it as good as the control dial found on the Canon HF S21). You can set exposure by tapping touch-screen buttons as well, and we may actually prefer this method to the tiny, hard-to-reach control dial on the back.

Aperture (8.5)

Like exposure, aperture can be set using the touch-screen or the control dial on the back of the camcorder. Aperture is a bit more confusing with the dial, though, as you must first go into the camcorder's menu and select aperture-priority (Av) or manual (M) mode first. That is, you must select a manual aperture mode before you can set the aperture with the rear mounted dial. This set-up is roundabout and silly. Why put the effort into including the dial in the first place if you must use the touch-screen anyway?

Also confusing is Canon's use of ND filters in the aperture adjustment range. When setting the aperture, you have f-stop options from f/1.8 (open) to f/4. Then, the values stop at f/4 and three ND filters are listed (1/2, 1/4, and 1/8). After the 1/8 ND filter, the f-stops continue from f/4.8 onto f/8. Having ND filters built-into the camcorder is great (and having them available for manual control is great as well), but the adjustment screen is downright confusing.
 

Shutter Speed (8.8)

Adjusting shutter speed on the HF G10 is basically done the same way as adjusting aperture. You can use the touch-screen or you can use the dial on the back of the camcorder. Remember, though, before you can use the dial you must put the camcorder in shutter-priority (Tv) or manual (M) mode. It's confusing, we know.

As for the shutter speed range, we love the fact that Canon includes some really slow shutter speeds like 1/8 and 1/15, but we'd like to see a few more on the higher end. The Panasonic HDC-TM700 goes up to 1/8000 and the Sony HDR-CX550V all the way up to 1/10000. Those are very fast compared to Canon's measly 1/2000.

White Balance (11.5)

Canon added some new features for white balance on the HF G10—features that have previously been found on the company's professional camcorder line. There's the same white balance presets, but the G10 has two custom white balance settings (for quick access to two different custom white balances) and it has a manual Kelvin color temperature option. The way you set a custom white balance is no different than it was on the HF S21: you just point the camcorder at a white or neutral image and press either of the two "one-touch" white balance buttons. Adjusting Kelvin color temperature is just as easy, just select the option and scroll through the numbers that range from 2000K to 150000K. You'll see your image go from cold (bluish) to hot (reddish) as you do.

Gain (6.0)

The HF G10 has the same AGC Limiter that was found on the Canon HF S21, except the feature on the G10 is essentially full-on gain control when the camcorder is in manual exposure mode. You can set the gain limit at any time, but in full manual mode you can actually set the specific gain level. The difference between the two is a bit confusing, so let us explain. Setting the gain limit would make it so the camcorder cannot use any gain above the set limit (e.g. setting the limit to 10dB allows the camcorder to use any amount of gain less than or equal to 10dB). Setting the actual gain is telling the camcorder to specifically use that much gain, which may result in overexposure if you set it too high. Having this full-fledged manual gain option is cool and it is something we don't expect to see on a consumer camcorder.

Colour & Image Controls (15.0)

Other Manual Controls (6.0)

Manual Controls Summary
Control	Canon HF G10	Canon HF S21	Panasonic HDC-TM700	Sony HDR-CX550V
Focus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Exposure	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aperture	Aperture-priority and Manual	Aperture-priority	Manual	Aperture-priority
Shutter Speed	Shutter-priority and Manual	Shutter-priority	Manual	Shutter-priority
White Balance	Manual, Custom Kelvin selection	Manual	Manual, WB Shift	Manual, WB Shift
Gain	AGC Limiter	AGC Limiter	Manual (with aperture opened fully)	No