My family lives in another country, so I wanted a camcorder to take family videos that I could burn to DVDs and mail to them. I picked the FS100 because of the price, SDHC support, and because it uses MPEG2 and stereo AC3 to encode the video files--meaning you can put them on a video DVD without having to re-encode anything.

I don't use the included ImageMixer 3 SE software (preferring to use the open source Avidemux and DVDStyler applications instead), so I can't comment on that.

If you plug the camera into your computer using the included USB cable, it shows up as a removable drive, which is nice. However, it won't do that unless you plug in the camera's power adapter at the same time--this means if you want to copy files to a laptop while on the move, and you don't have access to a power outlet, you'll need to read the data off the SD/SDHC card directly instead. This isn't a big deal for me since I find that using an SDHC card reader is a much easier solution that plugging the camera in every time anyway. You can get USB SDHC readers for around $7 on Amazon.

I've never owned a camcorder before (digital or otherwise), so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I can say I am very happy with this one. It's small, light, easy to use, and produces quite acceptable video quality, even at the medium 6mbps setting.

It is useless, however, as a digital still-photo camera. It doesn't have enough megapixels for any kind of serious work, doesn't have a flash, and photos will usually end up blurry if you don't use a tripod to stabilize it.

If you're looking for an affordable, decent widescreen standard def camera with direct-to-dvd burning in mind, this is fantastic.

My first video camera since vhs. Removed cds from box and tryed to load.
Image Mixer 3 SE would not accept serial number of camera and therefore
aborted install. Called Canon Tech support on Friday. Said I would get a call on Monday. Went back to second cd in box, Digital Video Solution,
loaded ok but only works on stills, I think. Obviously, I don't have a clue. No documentation in box. No instructions. So, have shot some short
videos but can't down load. Operating camera by trail and error, lots of error. What to do? I just expected instructions and I am very disappointed that it may be a long time before I will ever get it.

I've had this vidcam for 24 hrs. As the Unhappy Camper pointed out, there are issues. One involves the red and blue models only. Easily resolved: to install Pixela, replace the first three digits of the camcorders' serial number with 808. (Tech support was quick with this solution, though it's odd that they don't provide this info anywhere else.)

Another quirk: the "Digital Video software" (from the included "Digital Video Solution Disk") is for still images only. It cannot import or edit digital video. Go figure.

To work with video, you need the aforementioned Pixela, included on a separate cd. It's bare-bones, so if you already have video editing software, you'd be better off without it (See the customer discussions posted with the silver model for other import options.)

After Market Lenses: No, it's not threaded to accept filters or lens attachments.

FPS: You can set the video shutter speed, but that's NOT the same thing. The Canon Vixia HF100 has the 24p Cinema Mode.

Photo: With a max res of 1152x648, why bother? On the other hand, with a range that starts at 1 cm, you can get some eXtreme close-ups.

Manuals: Be prepared to cross-reference 3 separate manuals to learn everything you need to know. The main one spends way too much time on the basics and glosses over the advanced features.

Shipping: Ordered when it was listed as "in stock". Amazn sent it (free) in a huge box with a few air pillows--apparently not enough to keep the camcoder box from bouncing around on its 11-day journey from Lexington to Albuquerque. Camcorder seems intact.

Bottom line: Video quality. Once I get a chance to examine the results, I'll be back to let you know, and perhaps adjust the stars accordingly...

I have had the mini DV tape, and mini DVD camcorders and I like this SD card camcorder much better. Gone are the hassles of tape sticking and skipping, DVD finalizing and being limited to 30 minutes of recording plus the expense of tapes and mini DVD's. This FS100 has a zoom to kill for. The video it takes is as sharp as any I've seen on a camcorder. It's small and easy to carry around and starts up instantly. The Joystick control on the outside edge of the viewing screen is very easy to get used to for accessing various menu items. Yes, the included video editing program sucks, but don't all camcorders come with bare bones editing? I own editing programs as do most experienced camcorder users for decent editing. I find I must edit what I've shot using the included editing program or the video is distorted, everybody looks tall and thin on the raw video. The included video editing program corrects this distortion without loss of any detail. You will need a tripod or mono pod when using the big zoom that it has. The picture taking feature on the camera is just so-so. Not of good printing quality but OK for e-mailing, but do you honestly buy a camcorder to take pictures? Get a Canon SD1000 for that. In conclusion, shoot the video, plug in the charger, plug in the USB cable from the camera to your computer, after the computer opens the software, transfer the video then edit and save it under a new file name, its really that easy. All in all I'm very pleased with my Canon FS100 and I wholeheartedly recommend this great camcorder.