Canon Legria HF G10

Still Features (8.45)

Canon made the focus of the HF G10 on video recording, and that means still image controls take a back seat on the camcorder. You can still capture photos, but there's only one size option (1920 x 1080) and the camcorder has no dedicated still image mode. All the traditional options are there—simultaneous video/still capture, a continuous shot mode, and a self timer—but the G10 does not have a built-in flash.

Honestly, we don't think this is a big issue, and that's what Canon is banking on as well. The company thinks that most buyers of the HF G10 will be concerned about video quality first and foremost, hence they designed the camcorder to work best at capturing video rather than photos. Anyway, if you're serious about still image photography, you should be using a dedicated digital camera or DSLR rather than a camcorder in the first place.
 

Still Colour (6.72)

Even though Canon did not emphasize still image performance on the HF G10, the camcorder was still able to put up some reasonable numbers in our testing. The G10 managed a color error of 5.21 and a saturation level of 110% in our still color tests, both of which are decent numbers, yet a bit worse than the camcorder earned in our video testing. (More on how we test still color.)

The still photography color error map: the length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular color.

Canon HF G10 Still Colour Comparisons
Canon HF G10	Canon HF S21
Panasonic HDC-TM700	Sony HDR-CX550V

Still Colour Score Comparison		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Canon HF S21
		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Panasonic HDC-TM700
		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Sony HDR-CX550V

Still Noise (3.24)

Noise levels weren't bad on the HF G10, but they were definitely higher than what the camcorder averaged in our bright light video test. The HF G10 registered 0.95% noise in this test, which is a middle of the road score in this category. (More on how we test still noise.)

Still Noise Score Comparison		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Canon HF S21
		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Panasonic HDC-TM700
		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Sony HDR-CX550V

Still Sharpness (2.0)

Since the HF G10 doesn't have a large pixel count, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the camcorder didn't put up strong numbers in this test. What is surprising, however, is that the camcorder didn't fall completely flat in still sharpness. In fact, it actually put up some so-so numbers. The camcorder measured a horizontal sharpness of 946 lw/ph with 8.4% oversharpening and a vertical sharpness of 828 lw/ph with 4.4% oversharpening. These numbers are clearly worse than the competition, but that's all due to the HF G10's sensor design that puts video quality ahead of still image performance. (More on how we test still sharpness.)

Still Sharpness Score Comparison		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Canon HF S21
		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Panasonic HDC-TM700
		Compare the Canon HF G10 to the Sony HDR-CX550V