Product Description
Adding to the success of the VIXIA HF10 and HF100, canon introduces the HF11 which captures stunning High Definition video with even greater detail and tonal reproduction, with its innovative 24Mbps capability, and a higher internal Flash drive capacity of 32GB plus an SDHC card slot that allows extended recording time. And, like all canon VIXIA camcorders, the HF11 features: a canon HD video lens, FULL HD CMOS Sensor, and canons exclusive DIGIC DV II image processor. Create the look and feel of Hollywood movies with the HF11s 24p Cinema Mode and even use canon’s Photo Grabbing function to capture still images from previously recorded video. If online video posting and sharing interests you, the HF11s 30p mode provides the perfect frame rate for the web and delivers clarity for fast-action subjects. The HF11 offers the unparalleled combination of canons exclusive SuperRange Optical Image Stabilizer to stabilize a wide range of movements, Instant AF for accurate focusing thats critical for HD, a built-in video light to easily shoot in dark settings, and a 2.7-inch Multi-Angle Vivid Widescreen LCD that allows you to view from various angles with true color representation and contrast. The HF11 features the latest HD technology, excellence in canon optics and engineering in a compact, sleek design to deliver the high level of performance you’ve come to expect from canon.
This camera is awesome… the picture quality is amazing and the features it packs into such a small package is hard to believe… the only criticism is the nickel and dime approach to accessories that should be included with an $1,100 MSRP camera — the special mini-HDMI to HDMI cable and wider angle lens… it is easy to get too close to your subject and not be able to fit everything in the frame…
This is a great little camera for the price. Full 1080p (1920 x 1080) at multiple frame rates. Great color, great optics. Crystal clear picture if the lighting isn’t too low. Takes great stills. 32GB of internal memory–plenty of room for taking video even at the highest quality settings (about 3 hours).
Some things to consider for Mac users: you need an Intel-based Mac to import AVCHD. Most Macs users are up-to-date but just a friendly reminder in case you’re still using older Macs.
I use this camera as a static B-cam on a tripod to complement my Canon XH-A1. The color matching is great they come together well in the editor.
I wish I it had better controls for manual mode–they’re kind of clunky if you like to ride them in dynamic situations. That’s my only negative comment.
It’s small, discreet, and silent (if you turn off the bleeping beeps).
The image quality is great in well lit situations. Motion is crisp in the 30p mode as long as the subject is walking and the camera pans slowly. A subject running or fast pan will cause blurs and grainy image; But still better than an interlaced camera. With any camera, holding it very steady or on a tripod is the #1 most important thing to get good quality video.
In a bright room with indirect sunlight, images are crisp. At night with 100 W incandesent direct, stills are mostly clear but noticeable graininess with any motion. In a darker room with single 60w bulb, image is noticeably grainy even on the low-res viewfinder.
If using an attached lens be sure to set Instant AF to [AF]. The lens interferes with the instant focus sensor. This seems to fix my focusing issues.
Be sure to take 10 minutes and read the booklet for all the camera settings, especially for FUNC menu, the settings button, and the Camera Settings. Be sure to set the frame rate to 30p or 24p; and to set image quality to FXP or MXP. Also read how to do manual focus, and the special scene recording mdes.
As noted in the other reviews, the 32GB internal flash is not a feature, its a major annoyance. You have to have the AC adapter plugged in and the USB transfer is much slower than uploading directly from the SD card.
The widest angle is relatively narrow, although many other camcorders are similar. To capture all of a person 6ft tall, the camera must be 11 ft away, or 8 ft with the 0.7 wide angle lens. With the wide angle lens, any vertical lines on the sides of the image will be curved. The wide-angle lens is pretty much mandatory for any indoor shooting, unless you just want head shots.
Great camera loved using it on vacation, now I’m just trying to get my video to DVD I’m not very tecnologically minded so this could take me a while but hopefully once I figure it out everything about the camera would be perfect, it actually took better still photos than our high dollar digital camera does, loved it excellent choice for a family video camera
Purchased this product for my mother birthday celebration party. Pictures and videos taken we’re astonishingly clear in high definition. I did not give it a 5 star rating due to battery capacity. They should have it bundled with the higher capacity battery like the BP-819 or BP 827 to match it with it’s internal high capaity flash 32 GB memory. I bought the extra capacity battery BP 819 even though it was expensive to make sure of continuous use of the camcorder especially on longer hours. Overall it’s a great product for the price.
While Adobe Premier Elements 7 is a big joke for the MP4 AVC/H.264 formats…it is a superstar with the AVCHD / .mts files this Canon HF10 generates.
Before I bought my own HF10 I was asked by a buddy to edit and burn some youth football footage from his newly acquired Canon HF10 with SDHC card. I was excited. Although I had no clue what an .mts file was Adobe PE 7 not only recognized it and imported it quickly…but I proceeded to edit both video and audio (together and separately)as well as burn to a regular DVD (not BluRay). My jaw just dropped and I said WOW!
I will add that while I am not a big fan of the GUI of Pinnacle Studio Plus 12 it also handles the AVCHD / .mts from the Canon HF10 just fine…and also handles those other MP4’s just fine too.
The really important part is that while I have a nice amount of ram (4GB) my computer is nothing special at all. I am running Vista Basic on a Celeron 1.60Ghz processor (Dell Inspiron 530 desktop) with the 4GB of ram.
Now that I have purchased my OWN Canon HF10 AVCHD camcorder Adobe PE7 is my go-to program for this type of footage. Again, it handles the AVCHD / .mts file format flawlessly. Check out my other reviews for some other programs I have tried like Corel VideoStudio X2 and Magix - Movie Edit pro 14. If you are going to be working only with AVCHD, specifically from any of the Canon HF series camcorders that put .mts on sdhc flash cards…then I believe Adobe Premier Elements 7 is the best option.
Warning: If you are going to rely on ONE software solution for multiple formats other than AVCHD, Adobe PE7 is not the way to go! I use several little camera/camcorders other than the HF10. They all use the MP4 AVC/H.264 format…while the previous version of PE handled them fine, Adobe PE 7 HATES the MP4 format! You can’t even add them to the time-line without it crashing! If you are looking for a single editing program to handle not only the AVCHD from the Canon HF10, HF11 or HF100 but other formats as well…specifically the MP4 AVC/H.264 format then I would go with Pinnacle Studio Plus 12. Like I said before, the interface and work flow is nothing like Adobe’s but it works fin with the multiple formats.
So I did a lot of research on which camera to buy and yes the HF-10 would have been cheaper and more economical, but sometimes one always goes for the newest.
I got a price that was about $400 less than what I thought I was going to pay and man I am excited. The Sony Hard Drive cameras were attractive as their menu system is still the best, but proprietary features made it less attractive for use with an iMac. The JVC and Panasonic camcorders in the same price range had some better features and some that were not as good but their prices were very attractive, I ended up with the canon simply because I like the brand i suppose.
I transferred my first video using the 24p cinema mode to my iMac 24″ and struggled with it at first. The weird thing was that the photos did transfer over but the video would not. Then I realized you need to have the camera plugged into the outlet using the AC adapter in order to have the transfer occur. I am not excited about this requirement, I mean if I have the battery power available why can I not do it. I can imagine that if I did not have the power though would the video breakdown or corrupt itself somehow. It is a minor issue simply because I plan on doing 95% of my video transfer at my main computer at home, but if you need to travel and transfer video DO NO forget your AC Adapter.
You do have the option to transfer your video to the SDHC card and then transfer video that way, but i am not sure if this is possible with only battery power.
Visually I have been impressed with 24p cinema mode. It is like we are filming a low budget documentary with a hand held device. The light feature for night shots has also been useful and works well.
The camera is OK. It is nice to have and also great to have the wide aspect, but it does not replace a 10 MP point and click device. It is just convenient at this point.
I know there is more I could say but I want to spend more time filming and less time writing.
Great device. Shocking how small it is for the punch it packs. Be sure you have a late model very capable computer if you wish to edit the files. They are large. Get an extra battery and the wall charger to make life less hassle.
You can burn about 35 minutes of high res video to a standard DVD. The is about all of your vacation that was great anyway. Get one and have fun making and recording memories.
Overall, this is an excellent 5 star camera. I bought it with the intent of recording in-car HD video at track events. Unfortunately, the OIS on this and other HD canon cameras interfere with the stability. After careful research on various forums, I found that any camera with optical image stabalization will have this problem. (please note that it is not a “you need to turn on/off image stabilization” problem) I am still searching for an HD in-car camera, but in the meantime, I’m using the Canon SD750 (Canon PowerShot SD750)–one of the latest non-OIS PowerShot cameras that record up to an hour of video. (grab one while you can-Cannon just depricated the 750.)
I bought this camera in October 2008 for a trip to South America. I did extensive research on compact high quality camcorders and the Canon Vixia HF11 look like the best bet. I was not wrong. I really like this camera.
The Vixia HF11 is compact, very light but feels super sturdy, the reach of the 12X zoom lens is excellent and the built-in optical stabilizer is superb!!! The quality of the recording is great for such small camera and its price point. The HF11 pretty much fits in your palm which is great when you want to use it, not be noticed, and have full control with a single hand.
The 32GB built-in memory is more than enough for most vacation trips. I was afraid to run out of memory in the middle of my vacation and decided to buy an extra 32GB of flash storage. I have been recording and recording and recording at the max resolution of 24mbs and I am still not using the extra memory I bought. I guess I may have gone overboard with it.
On the other hand, I would strongly recommend buying the bigger battery. The one that comes with the camera it’s not even enough for 3 hours of usage (whether you record or not). The bigger battery can last up to two days of heavy recording and 1 full heavy day if you like to review your video constantly.
Another great purchase is the Canon set of lens filters which include a polarizer and a clear filter. I use the clear filter to protect the original Canon lens from dust, water and finger prints. I have to say that a lens protector is a MUST if you want to protect your investment. And don’t forget to get a camera case to carry it around (Canon does not provide one in the box). I bought mine at Best Buy because I wanted to make sure it had a tight fit, be small and padded enough for all situations.
The camera includes a USB cable to do transfers to a PC or Mac for video editing and a HD component cable to view the video directly from the camera to any TV. Even with the component HD video out the quality of your video will look amazing on any TV set specially if the TV is HD. I am sure an HDMI cable will increase the viewing quality but I have not bought one yet.
So far I have not transfer the video to my Mac but once both my flash storage cards are full my plan is to convert all the video to H.264 files and upload them to an HD Apple TV or make a Blu-Ray dvd to watch my recordings in full HD. Or, you can just buy more flash memory cards and store your video for later viewing from your HF11 through an HDMI cable.
Overall, I can’t be happier with this camera. Canon has definitely surpass my expectations withe Vixia HF11. This is not a really cheap camera but it’s not an expensive one either. The Amazon price is right on the money for this high quality camcorder. I strongly recommend it.
About Canon VIXIA HF11 AVCHD 32 GB Flash Memory Camcorder w/12x Optical Zoom detail
- Amazon Sales Rank: #119 in Camera & Photo
- Brand: Canon
- Model: 3079B001AA
- Dimensions: 2.95 pounds
- Display size: 2.7
- Included Software: Yes
Features
- 24Mbps offers the highest bit rate in AVCHD for High Definition video - enabling improved color reproduction and tonality
- Record Up to 12 hours 15 minutes of High Definition Video on an internal 32 GB Flash drive
- Includes a genuine Canon 12x High Definition video lens
- Comes with a 3.3 megapixel full HD CMOS sensor (1920 x 1080) and a DIGIC DV II image processor
- Features Canon’s SuperRange pptical image stabilizer
Read more Canon VIXIA HF11 AVCHD 32 GB Flash Memory Camcorder w/12x Optical Zoom
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Tags: Canon