I had the award-winning HDV (tape-based) HV20 prior to this, and the HF10 is almost indistinguishable in terms of image quality. Given the dramatic difference in image data between an HDV image and an AVC image, that means this is one heck of a camcorder. I have tried out other AVC camcorders and have been really disappointed. Not so here, and I purchased this one. It has 24p and 30p recording, in addition to 60i. (Don't be confused by Canon's nomenclature, it is true 24p, just recorded in interlaced 60i.) The cinema mode has a bit of a wash-out effect on colors. The camcorder is surprisingly small. Power save mode is great, and is virtually instantaneously on when the LCD screen is opened. One warning about AVC in general, if you don't have a fast computer, it will grind it to a halt. I have a quad-core with 4 gig RAM and editing is fine, but I wouldn't want to use an old computer. Sony Vegas works great with the files. Wish the camcorder automatically saved to the SDHC card when the internal storage was full. Otherwise, this is the best thought out camcorder since my DVX-100. Nice to occasionally see consumer products worth their expense.

This is my first HD camcorder so I can't really compare it to others. But my expectations of what a full 1920x1080 camcorder should be have not been met.

I have shot scenes in both 1080/60i and 1080/30p at the highest quality possible - 17Mbps. The images seem softer than I'd prefer even with the digital sharpening enabled. This must either be the lens or the sensor based on my experience with digital still cameras. Either way I was disappointed. The compression artifacts and/or noise reduction being performed also degrade the video quality to a point below what I would expect. Even in ample light, the texture of fine hair and textiles is lost lending to a plastic appearance. In low light, noise levels are about what I expected. It is not terrible like I've seen in samples from older AVCHD cameras and other small flash cameras like the Sanyo Xacti. Notably, noise levels and exposure were markedly improved in 30p mode vs. 60i mode.

The built-in video light is next to useless. I couldn't get the right color balance, the throw distance is poor and it's too narrow. The built-in flash is too bright without manual adjustment. The camera's ports are all hidden behind plastic doors attached with thin plastic strips that ruin the otherwise solid-feeling build of the camera. There are several functions that are only accessible by scrolling through menus for which I would have preferred having dedicated buttons to manipulate (auto/manual focus, exposure compensation and manual white balance in particular). The placement of the some controls is awkwards. I have small hands so I felt a small camcorder should work well. But it is difficult for me to reach the power button with the hand holding the camera. I can't actually bend my thumb back far enough to activate the start/stop button with the pad of my thumb - it hits rights around the inside of my thumb's knuckle. The zoom lever is sensitive and smooth. The mode dial is difficult to operate with the hand holding the camera.

I do like the weight of the camera. I like the appearance. I like how quiet it is. My previous Mini-DV camera produced videos with wonderful whirring tape motor and zoom motor background sounds. This one has no noticable background noises aside from when on-camera controls are manhandled. I like being able to transfer the recordings directly to my computer in a fraction of the time that the recordings represent. My Mini DV camera transferred at a 1:1 ratio.

I don't like that the software I use (iMovie) can't read the recordings directly unless they are on camera. I have to trick it by putting a previously transferred recording onto a memory card and inserting it while iMovie is running. The recordings take several times their length to import into iMovie on my Intel C2D 2.16 GHz iMac because it converts them into an intermediate format for editing. These are issues with my software, not the camera, but Mac users should be aware of this since besides professional level editing software iMovie seems like to only option for handling AVCHD video on the Mac.

I am considering returning or selling the camera in the hope that something better will come along. I don't have a need to capture HD video so I can wait.

I got mine Wed. 9 April ..took only a 2min vid to see what it looks like. I've been running Macs for 15+yrs ..currently an Intel iMac with latest OS and most popular apps: iMovie, Photoshop, etc.. and recently upgraded Final Cut Express (FCE) v.4 in anticipation of this new cam. Canon provides a subset of the PC app - EOS Utility - for the Mac.

Plug the camera in via USB and it give you a RED warning: 1) You must use aux. power (so much for laptops in the field..) 2) You cannot disconnect as there may be damage to the camera. Then, the code budget ran out, because there is no way to turn the camera off or disconnect?! I left it on overnight so I could get to the forums to ask what to do?! The answer: a hard disconnect - which we are trained not to do... I dragged the desktop image to the trash - nothing else to do..

But first, where's my footage! It's in a .mts file. The EOS utility stayed inactive(*), did not see the camera on the desktop .. you cannot drag/drop an .mts file into any Mac application .. you cannot open a .mts file in any Mac app. It took a tip from one of the forums: you need to 'Log and Transfer' within FCE. How many people who want to make simple HD flicks for their flatscreen; a) want to spend $200 for FCE ..and b) want to 'learn' it...

The images from this camera may make movie history, but the other video cam I've run for the past year was like most other Mac-friendly products - 2min out of the box - it was plug-and-play. I have Canon's DSLR and their fancy L lens', but this is a let down of the first order.

...'May as well pile on: the zoom is jerky. (there may be a speed control that I didn't read about yet..)

Jim

* in fairness: one of the people in the forum did say this utility worked for him. I didn't read what he did with the .mts file.

I have owned this camcorder now for 2 weeks and have loved it since I got it. The video quality is amazing. In full HD the the detail and color accuracy really shows. The camcorder also auto focuses incredibly fast even while zooming and panning. The quick record mode is very nice (especially if you have children). When the quick record mode is on the camcorder will come out of sleep mode and be ready to record in about a second. Literally by the time you flip the lcd open, it's ready to record. The still shots are ok, but I wouldn't get rid of my stand alone digital camera. The transfers of files to pc requires the use of the included software. There is a quick burn option with the software that can create either an AVCHD dvd or a standard definition dvd. I also tried using the software for editing and authoring but found it cumbersome for that usage. I personally use Nero 8 and it works perfectly with the files created by the Canon. The drawbacks to the camcorder are the battery and the awkward menu. The included battery barely last hour with normal recording. I'll be buying the BP-819 2.5 hour battery by summers end. The menu has a few awkward sections. For example, to fade in or out when recording you have to select the fade effect from the main menu. But to use the selected fade while recording, you have to use the joystick to activate the fade effect assigned before recording. Overall, this camcorder is very good. It has great video quality. The software package, though a little cumbersome, is pretty decent. I don't regret this purchase one bit. It seems pricey, but once you see the differnce on a HD tv compared to SD mini dv, you won't regret it.

I will begin by saying that I am not an audiophile, a videophile, or a techie of any kind. I'm just an old geezer who loves to shoot event,travel,family,and video in general. My first video camera was a Sony Betamax about thirty years ago and I have owned many camcorders since. This is the best ever. Easy to set up,easy to use, great picture and easy transfer to disc.---I love it and the DW 100 DVD burner that I purchased at the same time make it a joy to transfer my Grandson's baseball games to disc. Great battery life, great recording capacity and nice not to have worry about tape.

I like the camera alot. However, the camera is no good without software to download, transfer and edit. The Imagemixer software is terrible - it is very difficult to use, it comes with no documentation, and the Pixela technical support is awful. I am an experienced Movie Maker user and was surprised that Canon would supply such mediocre software.

While I wanted to like this camera (and use it to replace my Canon HV10), the growing list of annoyances and downright bugs are making me doubt this purchase. I can't find too many faults with the technical aspects of the camera (which all the reviews on the web seem to focus on). But trying to use it gives me a lot of frustrations. Notably:

1) As mentioned in another comment, you cannot extract video over USB without the camera also being plugged in to its AC adapter. Period. Yet you can extract pictures without external power. This makes no sense and is quite a drawback to anyone who wants to pull video off it in a hurry or to a laptop away from an AC outlet.
2) The ability to take still pictures during video recording is greatly hindered by the fact that it will often (always?) not let you take more than one picture until you stop recording and let everything get written out to memory.
3) Many aspects of the interface are maddeningly slow (particularly when displaying picture/video thumbnails). With only a dozen still pictures saved in my camera, switching to "view pictures" mode takes 10+ seconds, and flipping between pictures takes several seconds. Expect to see a lot of "READING MEMORY" messages. I've even had it hang up entirely just when switching between modes, requiring me to pull the battery.
4) The "premium" of built-in memory in the HF10 doesn't seem worth it. The camera treats it and the SD slot as distinct storage areas you have to manually select and switch between. Unless you are going to use the internal memory exclusively, you might be better off with the less complicated HF100 and a big SD card.

This is a nice camera in many technical respects, but in my mind falls flat in the implementation. The interface is littered with various "DO THIS/DON'T DO THIS" messages; too bad they didn't spend the time to eliminate the need for the messages instead.

Had the HF10 for about a month now. Here's a few things that dont get talked about much:
1. The built-in memory is basically useless. Its very slow and hard to get images and video off it. Go for the HF100 instead and buy some big SD cards.
2. If you have a mac, get ready to pull your hair out. repeatedly. Even though Apple lists this as a supported device, you cannot get photos or videos off the camera via usb at all. It does not mount as a volume when you plug it in. Quicktime cannot access avchd files.
3. The assinine avchd directory structure means that ZERO of the existing photo and video editors find the files on the camera/cards by default - you have to go and find them yourself. Or subject yourself to the horrors of the bundled Pixela Imagemixer software.
4. Canon's bundled software for getting images off the camera for macintoshes doesn't handle video _at all_ !!!
5. The images that are captured when in video mode are not saved as jpg's - they are in some bizarro avchd thumbnail format which nothing on the planet seems to be able to access.
6. the resolution of the stills is really poor compared to cameras a 1/3 of the price.
7. it's really slow (enumerating a completely empty memory card takes about 5 seconds)
8. the selection of photo mode/video mode and video view/photo/view is really really irritating
9. the menus are confusing and inconsistent.
10. the battery does not last long at all.

The Canon HF100 is the same as the Canon HF10, except it has no internal memory (the HF10 has 16GB) and the HF100 is $200 cheaper. For $75 I can buy a 16GB SDHC card which works great with the camera;... you do the math.. ~ three 16GB cards for the same price has the HF10 which only has 16GB of memory (but can take external cards also)
Records video at Standard Definition (SD), 720p and 1080p (also takes still shots) This is a must for those that have upgraded to an HD TV and want to watch their home movies in HD.

Here Be Dragons...
If all you want to do is watch your videos directly from the camera, no problem; comes with composite and component cables (will take HDMI sold seperately) However, if you actually want to save your videos, without buying new SDHC cards, then there are a few hiccups. The camera will download to your PC, but only in the format filmed; no filming in HD then downloading in SD. It will capture the HD you filmed in, but the software will not edit the HD format and you will be hard pressed to find a codec that will play the H.264 format nicely.

Here's my problem. I want to film my son's soccer games in 1080p for viewing on my 57" TV, so I film in 1080p. His coach, along with 1/2 the parents, want SD because they still use DVD players, while I can play the HD via my PS3. I tried many video capture/editting software to capture the HD I film in; nothing recognizes my camera. If I film in SD, everything works great, but this defeats my primary reason of wanting HD (so I can view on my 57" TV, thereby justifying to the wife that HD is worth it...) So, here's what I do. I film in HD, 1080p, use the Canon DVD burner that connects directly to the camera (sold seperately $250) to capture 1080p source (by the way, no blue rays reqiured, a 1 hour soccer game fits nicely on 2 standard DVDs; 1 half per disk - that can then be played back via my PS3) For the coach, and the rest of the parents, I use a Pinnacle 500-usb Video Capture box (about $50) This little device was intended for turning VHS tapes into DVDs. But just plug into the composite output of the camera, and into the usb of your PC, and your PC DVD burner will make the 1 hour of 1080p video into 1hour of 480p on a normal DVD; plus the Pinnacle software also allows you to edit anf make menus and all the good stuff that the HD software hasn't really caught up with yet.

First I want to say that I'm an average Joe when it come to shooting video, I'm not a videophile or pretend to be an expert in filming. With that being said, here's my thoughts.

Nice camera for the money. Video looks great! I think the indoor performance is very adequate.

Don't care for the fact that you have to plug in the camera to an electrical outlet in order to transfer video from camera to computer.

Wished the camera came with a batter charger, had to buy a separate charger for $75, ouch! HOWEVER, you can charge the battery while it's plugged into the camera and the camera plugged into the wall. Battery that comes with camera only lasts a little over an hour, you'll want to buy an extended battery (which obviously won't sit "flush" with the camcorder, but it doesn't stick out too far).

I have big hands and the camera is almost too small for me! :) Really though, great size and doesn't weigh too much.

I haven't tried taking a still photo with this and probably won't, typically all the video cameras out there today don't come close in taking the quality of digital photos as a good digital SLR, so not going to knock Canon on that one. I bought a video camera for video and not photos.

Quick start mode is great!

I did have a standard def panasonic before this one and I think the image stabilization worked just a little better on my Panasonic than on the Canon HF10, but that being said, OIS isn't bad.

Overall I think it's worth the money I paid for it. Would recommend to my friends.

Having read 4 EXCELLENT professional reviews (just google it to see them for yourself) on the HF10 before buying, I completely agree with what was said about this camcorder. It is simply amazing, in virtually every measure of performance! Beats ALL OTHER consumer AVCHD camcorders in the market including the more expensive Sony, Panasonic and JVC counterparts. It even outperforms CANON's own intimidating HV30 in real-world testing in terms of resolution, artifacting, low light performance.

My only complaint is that the HDMI output doesn't work with all 3 of my 720P HDTVs (whose manuals state that they accept 1080i signals). I think the TV has to have a native resolution of 1920 X 1080 in order to display the HF10's signals.

In short, this camcorder can't be beat, especially at this price.

Best,

Advanced Amateur

There are only a few software packages which can be used to manipulate the video output from this camcorder on a PC

When I read the Canon website, I figured that this little camera would give me superb FULL HD video. But if you are expecting the same quality of full HD 1080 video that you see on your big screen tv set, you'll be disappointed. I have been very happy with Canon video cameras in the past and currently own an Optura 600. The Canon HF10 (set to Full HD) is quite a bit better than the Optura 600 (set to widescreen mode 740X480) but nowhere near the quality that I have seen from miniDV full HD Canon video cameras. Perhaps the AVCHD compression is the problem. After trying many different settings and filming in different lighting conditions, I was unable to get the crispness of detail that I was expecting from this FULL HD camera. It does in fact record in 1920x1080 resolution, but there are artifacts and jaggedness to diagonal lines that shouldn't be there. I have returned the camera and will try to find a better choice, or simply wait until the technology improves.