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Canon Drops Five New Vixia HD Camcorders, Imaging and Storage Upgrades Across The Board

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tsf14
01/05/09

In reply to Canon Drops Five New Vixia HD Camcorders, Imaging and Storage Upgrades Across The Board
HF S10 looks awesome! its clearly aimed for budget-minded professionals and amateur filmmakers. i was waiting for something in between hf100 and an xh-a1!

btw, it looks like they put back viewfinders back on the vixia line with the hf s10. yay!
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tsf14
01/05/09

@tsf14:

oops, my bad! those r not viewfinders on the back, its the mode dial.

but i wish i was right.......
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frigg
01/05/09

@tsf14: i just wish we knew when they were shipping them and how much they cost, damn it!
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ripfire
01/05/09

In reply to Canon Drops Five New Vixia HD Camcorders, Imaging and Storage Upgrades Across The Board
24p is not all that. It still has the inherent problem of juddering. Variable frame rate would be nice.
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beekerstudios: you are inane and stupid
01/05/09

@ripfire: juddering is that a technical term, I know I don't need to remind you that FILM is 24 frames a second, but I agree in D-Cinema many have suggested that old carry over could get an obvious and useful bump, some have suggested that magic number is 60fps (progressive 8k of course)
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ripfire
01/05/09

@beekerstudios: "I know I don't need to remind you that FILM is 24 frames a second"

I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that film is not immune to the same problem. Professional cinematographers are also aware of this and knows how to avoid it. However, average consumers may be disappointed.
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frigg
01/05/09

In reply to Canon Drops Five New Vixia HD Camcorders, Imaging and Storage Upgrades Across The Board
Cool - I've been interested in a new camcorder.

I'd be interested to know when they ship and how much!

Also, is the only difference between the HF S10 and HF S100 the onboard memory (and shouldn't the "100" refer to the better model? It seems reversed)

While it mentions the zoom on the 200 series (15X) it doesn't mention it on the 100 series. But the model naming seems consistent, the HF20 comes with onboard flash, the HF200 doesn't.

Is the implication that anyone who gets these things at this point just uses cards like they'd use a tape, and never use the onboard flash anyway, so why not get the "empty vessel" 100/200 models?

I guess the real questions everyone will have is how much better is this generation of AVHCD than the last (does it rival tape yet, or is it still a consumery step down)? And is the HV40 a nod to tape stalwarts, representing Canon's grudging obligation to continue what for consumers is a dying format with little change over the HV30 (which had little change over the HV20)?
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Tim Sarquis
01/05/09

@frigg: I really think tape is here to stay for a loooooooooooonnnngg while. True....it has it's limitations BUT its more safe for consumers and pros alike. After you shoot you instantly have a backup of your footage. For the digital field (AVHCD) its just too risky. Especially for HD because of the large file sizes. You need loads of external storage just to store all your footage which gets expensive. Its interesting, if you look at Canon's pro line up of video cameras, they are all tape based systems. None of them are tapeless. BUT they have the ability to bypass the tape system for uncompress HD if you have to equipment. That just goes to show that tape will be here for a long time before it dies.
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ctthoqqua
01/05/09

@Tim Sarquis: I agree. For the professional and semi-pro markets, tape and firewire aren't going anywhere. There are too many tape-based post-production devices and workflows to cause a see change at this point.

It's all about archiving, for me. There *still* isn't a cost-effective method of offline archiving of digital data beyond DV tape. I can't believe that some people are actually suggesting buying hard drives to store backups *offline*.

Blu-ray needs the economies of scale to happen sooner than later. An improved AVCHD codec + Blu-ray offline storage *might* cause me to revise my workflow. Until then, no way.
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frigg
01/05/09

@ctthoqqua: One of the new features of Roxio Toast 10, just announced the other day, is the ability to archive AVCHD to DVDs. Don't know how well it'll work, but I think the intention is exactly what you describe - to provide an easy method for consumers to backup their non-tape movies.
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Husar
01/05/09

@frigg: I consider on board memory a negative. Much easier to take the card out to get the video off in a reader than to connect the camera to get it off.

Also, tapes are terrible for work flow. Yes, they give you instant backup but you have to play them to get the video off. Grrrrr. That is my biggest complaint. All the moving parts of a tape device are bad as well. They are always the first to go.

But I don't see tape going away any time soon either.

For the average semi-pro-weekend-warrior-shooter... flash memory is just too good to pass up.
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frigg
01/05/09

@Husar: Thanks -

As far as onboard vs. card flash, that makes sense. I guess the onboard version is a safety net in case you don't have an extra card, and also for people who just want an all-in-one and don't consider using a reader. But for anyone with a modicum of tech smarts, cards are the way to go.

I guess my big question is how good (or bad) does AVCHD get. If you shoot something with it that's really really good, will you wind up wishing you used tape instead because the picture quality on tape still smokes AVCHD?
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frigg
01/06/09

@frigg: Sounds like the HF S10 finally boosts AVCHD up to a tape-like level. From another site that reviewed actual footage:

"When Canon showed us real footage taken with the Canon Vixia HF S10, it was difficult to discern between its footage and footage taken with Canon's $3,000 XH A1 prosumer cam. We think Canon is going to shred the competition in 2009 with the introduction of these highly promising models."

[www.infosyncworld.com]
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John Mahoney
01/05/09

In reply to Canon Drops Five New Vixia HD Camcorders, Imaging and Storage Upgrades Across The Board
Yeah you guys are right re: 24p, thanks for pointing that out.
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