Canon Legria HF S21

Auto Mode (10.22)

This slider switches between manual and auto controls.

With its new touchscreen interface, the HF S21 is loaded with a number of automatic controls that have previously been unavailable on Canon camcorders. The most noteworthy is an AF/AE tracking feature that is very similar to the tracking feature on Panasonic and Sony camcorders. Canon's tool allows you to track any object, however, instead of just being able to track faces. The tool works decently, but it is far from perfect. If your subject leaves the frame for more than a few seconds the camcorder often lost the ability to track (until you select the subject again), and if multiple faces are present on the screen the system can become easily confused as to who (or what) it should be tracking.

The other exciting new feature on the HF S21 is touch focus and touch exposure options, which allow you to simply tap the portion of the screen you want to focus or expose correctly. This feature has been around for a while on Sony camcorders, and it appeared on last year's high-end Panasonic models, but it makes its first appearance for Canon on the HF S21.

Overall, the auto controls on the HF S21 worked well. Canon continues to offer both Normal and Instant autofocus, with the Instant option producing a more snap-like focus effect. Auto white balance worked effectively and the camcorder has a number of preset white balance settings to work with (as well as a manual option). We did notice a problem with the camcorder's auto exposure system, however. When moving from a very bright scene to a darker one, the camcorder didn't always produce a gradual exposure transition. The exposure levels often changed abruptly, as if an exposure boost was kicking in all at once. This only occurred when we went from shooting very bright scenes to dark scenes—not the other way around.
 

Zoom (7.5)

Zoom can be controlled on the HF S21 using the top-mounted zoom slider, or you can adjust zoom using touchscreen buttons on the LCD ( you have to select zoom from the menu first to do this). The slider works well enough and its default setting allows for variable speed control (you zoom faster or slower depending on how hard you push the slider). You can also set the slider to one of three static zoom speeds if you want to zoom at a steady, constant pace.

The zoom toggle can be set to variable speed control or one of three constant zoom speeds.		The secondary zoom buttons are part of the camcorder's touchscreen interface.

Zoom Ratio (3.77)

The Canon HF S21 has the same 10x optical zoom lens as last year's Panasonic HDC-TM700. You can also use digital zoom on the camcorder in the form of 40x or 200x. Keep in mind, however, that using digital zoom can make your videos look like crap—it's best to stick with optical zoom if you can.

Zoom Comparisons
Wide Angle	Mid Zoom	10x Zoom

Focus (9.5)

The HF S21 has a number of ways to adjust focus manually. You an use the front-mounted control dial—which is great—or you can tap touchscreen buttons on the LCD. You can also use the spot focus feature we talked about in the Auto Mode section of this review. When setting manual focus on the HF S21 there are a variety of focus assist features available. Peaking gives you little coloured specks around the edges of your subject to assist with focusing (the specks can be set to red, blue, or yellow). You can also turn on a magnification assist (digitally magnifies the image to assist with focusing), or you can set the LCD to display in black and white (some people find it easier to focus with B & W images).
 

Manual focus adjustment on the Canon HF S21		The control dial can be used to set a variety of manual controls.

Exposure (9.0)

Basic exposure adjustment on the HF S21 is rather simple—you can do it either with the control dial or with the touchscreen LCD. The touchscreen can be a bit difficult as you need to drag your finger up or down to set the exposure (kind of like a fake scrolling wheel). If you use the control dial it is easier to get a precise adjustment. There's also a spot exposure feature that is just like spot focus—you just touch the part of the screen you want to expose correctly.
 

Exposure control on the Canon HF S21

Exposure Control Comparison Canon HF S21 -11 to +11 (23 increments overall) Panasonic HDC-TM700 -11 to +11 (23 increments overall) JVC GZ-HM1 -5 to +5 (11 increments overall) Canon HF S100 29 manual increments, -4 to +4 auto exposure shift

Aperture (6.5)

The HF S21 doesn't have a full manual mode, but aperture can be set in aperture priority mode (called Av in the menu). Aperture can be set using the control dial, or by sliding your finger along a list of f-stops on the LCD touchscreen (after selecting Av as the Record Program in the menu).
 

Aperture control on the Canon HF S21

Aperture Control Comparison Canon HF S21 Aperture Priority Mode: 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, f/8.0 Panasonic HDC-TM700 Manual Aperture: f/1.5 (open), f/1.7, f/2.0, f/2.4, f/2.8, f/3.4, f/4.0, f/4.8, f/5.6, f/6.8, f/8.0, f/9.6, f/11, f/14, f/16 JVC GZ-HM1 Manual Aperture: f/2.8, f/3.4, f/4, f/5.6 Canon HF S100 Aperture Priority Mode: 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, f/8.0

Shutter Speed (6.8)

Like aperture, shutter speed can only be adjusted manually in shutter-priority mode on the HF S21 (abbreviated as Tv on the camcorder). You can use the control dial or touchscreen buttons to set shutter speed. When shooting with either of the HF S21's 25p frame rates, the shutter speeds available are slightly different in order to match the frame rate. For example, instead of a 1/30 shutter speed the camcorder has a 1/25 option in 25p mode.
 

Shutter speed control on the Canon HF S21

Shutter Speed Control Comparison Canon HF S21 Shutter Priority Mode: 1/6, 1/12, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000 Panasonic HDC-TM700 Manual Shutter Speed: 1/50, 1/100, 1/120, 1/180, 1/250, 1/350, 1/500, 1/750, 1/1000, 1/1500, 1/2000, 1/3000, 1/4000, 1/8000 (plus 1/25 with Auto Slow Shutter) JVC GZ-HM1 Manual Shutter Speed: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/80, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, 1/4000 Canon HF S100 Shutter Priority Mode: 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, f/8.0

White Balance (9.5)

As you can see from the comparison table below, the Canon HF S21 has more white balance presets than the JVC GZ-HM1 and Canon HF S100 (the Canon does have a WB shift option, though). All of these models have a simple manual white balance option, however, and that's the setting you should be using if you're really concerned about colour accuracy.
 

White Balance options on the Canon HF S21

White Balance Control Comparison Canon HF S21 Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom Panasonic HDC-TM700 Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Indoor 1, Indoor 2, Manual, WB Shift JVC GZ-HM1 Auto, Manual, Fine, Cloud, Halogen Canon HF S100 Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H

Gain (4.0)

While the HF S21 doesn't have complete manual gain control, the camcorder does allow you to set an auto gain control limiter (AGC). You can limit how much gain the camcorder uses by selecting a decibel level from 0dB to 24dB (in 1dB increments). This is different than complete gain control because you aren't specifically setting a gain level—you're only setting a limit on what gain level the camcorder can go up to.

Setting the AGC limiter on the HF S21

Gain Control Comparison Canon HF S21 AGC Limit can be set to: Auto, 0dB - 24dB in 1dB increments Panasonic HDC-TM700 Set only when aperture is fully open: 0dB, 3dB, 6dB, 9dB, 12dB, 15dB, 18dB JVC GZ-HM1 AGC on/off, ISO control in still image mode Canon HF S100 AGC Limit can be set to: Auto, 0dB, 6dB, 12dB and 18dB

Colour & Image Controls (9.0)

The Canon HF S21 doesn't provide any new manual colour or image controls that weren't featured on last year's Canons.
 

Other Manual Controls (3.5)

Manual Controls Summary
Control	Canon HF S21	Panasonic HDC-TM700	JVC GZ-HM1	Canon HF S100
Focus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Exposure	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aperture	Aperture-priority	Manual	Manual	Aperture-priority
Shutter Speed	Shutter-priority	Manual	Manual	Shutter-priority
White Balance	Manual	Manual, WB Shift	Manual	Manual
Gain	AGC Limiter 1dB - 24dB	Manual (only when aperture is opened fully)	AGC on/off	AGC Limiter 0dB - 18dB