Canon's New 'Vixia' Camcorders: A Quick Look
Canon this week introduced a lineup of new consumer camcorders with the moniker "VIXIA". This line includes a dual solid state (no hard drives or moving parts) unit that on the face of it is quite impressive.
The HF10 Dual Flash Memory camcorder uses both a 16 gigabyte internal flash drive and a removable SDHC memory card to store your captured video and still images. Flash memory is good because unlike a hard drive, optical disc, or video tape, there are no moving parts in that part of the camcorder mechanism, so it requires less energy and has less chance of failure (with normal use). The internal memory can capture up to six hours of high definition video.
The HF10 and another unit, the HF100 (which only has the SDHC card slot), both feature 24p cinema mode for capturing movie-like images and a 30p progressive mode, which is good for capturing fast-motion action like sports.
The HV30 HD camcorder introduced here seems almost quaint in that it uses MiniDV cassette tapes, although its predecessor, the HV20, did a nice job with high definition video capture.
The HF10 Dual Flash Memory will be available in April for $1,099. The HF100 is also coming in April and will carry an $899 price tag. Finally, the HV30 is coming out in February and will set you back $999.
We'll let you know what we think once we get our hands on the set for testing.
Related links:
- New High Speed, High Capacity Memory Cards On The Way
- World's Smallest HD Camcorder from Panasonic
- A Video Cam No Bigger Than a Pack of Gum!
