Customer Reviews:
 Great Camera, Crummy Software November 3, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
A company I work for bought this camera to be able to use in our training division. The idea was to get a camera that could take some good still pictures, good video footage, be small and compact, and easy to use. We really liked the idea of no clunky video tapes since all the footage goes on a small SD card that you can pop in most any newer computer. For the record I would consider myself an fairly advanced user of digital media and editing software. No genius for sure, but I've spent many hours in front of a screen editing pictures and video and puting together many training videos. After using the camera for the past two months, many hundreds of pictures and several hours of video clips later, here is what I found.
The camera itself is awesome. The still pictures it takes are great quality and it's about as simple to take pictures on as a regular digital still camera. The video operation is similar to other video cameras and the quality of the video is stunning. The quality and ease of use in capturing the media you want just can't be beat. Anyone can operate this camera without any problems at all, regardless of your technical "know how".
Now for the reason I rated this camera so low... Once you have that stunning video inside the camera, there is no simple, easy, user friendly way to get it back out onto something you can pop in your 2 year old DVD player and show the family. The software that Canon packages with the camera to install on your computer is absolute junk. It's software that is comparable to what you'd find in a Dollar Store somewhere. The user interface is so poor that even advanced users will be pulling their hair out to get the thing to work what little features it has. No problem you say (like I did), you'll just use one of the easy programs like Windows Movie Maker to make your video....Sorry, Movie Maker isn't able to work with the format of video that the camera records. And that is the root of the problem. The AVCHD format that the camera uses has very, very, very few programs that will work with it and they all cost a hundred bucks or more to buy.
So, in conclusion, from an average guy that is pretty tech savy...stay away from this camera and any like it that use some special wiz-bang format to record with (specifically like AVCHD). The technology is good but the software to work with it still has a few years to go. Go with a good quality Mini-DV camera that you can actually use to make videos on with your home computer....and you'll save pulling your hair out!
 An Amazing Little Camera November 2, 2008
This was an experiment for me as I had never played with a flash memory video camera. But I have used several tape based cameras, including professional equipment. The size is perfect it just fits in you hand and the unit is light. In fact it is so light you have to remember that it is there and avoid moving the camera too fast. A couple of minutes practice and I could smoothly and slowly zoom the 12x lens. Far better than any other tape camera I have used other than a $50K PROFESSIONAL SONY camera.
The camera comes on quickly.
A 16 GB SDHC class six card gives over 4 hours of video. Need more switch to another card.
The standard battery last 80-90 minutes. You may want a spare or a larger battery.
That "usability" which is great is still not the best feature. The actual video is stunning. I transcode the video into Final Cut Express for editing and I can create beautiful HD videos. I haven't played with the PC video software yet but when I get time I will write another review. Meanwhile, I rate this camera A for Amazing.
 HF100 - Excellent HD Camcorder November 1, 2008
I must admit, this is my first HD camcorder, but I have not ceased to be impressed since it was first purchased. On the "Pros" side, the video quality is amazing (actually looks better than some of the lower quality HD-DVDs I have seen, and low light performance is the best I've personally seen), the ergonomics are great, and the removable SDHC card is very convenient and never an inconvenience. Also, the navigation of the controls and settings screens are intuitive. The only "Con" is the battery; for a camera in this price range, I'd like a battery that can last more than an hour on the highest quality setting. However, I do understand the power consumption at such high data transfer rates.
Overall, I'd recommend this camera to anyone. I'd also recommend one of the higher capacity batteries :)
 Not for an average consumer due to lack of editing options October 30, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Clearly the people who gave this camcorder 5 stars are either techies who are good at , super users who want to pay a few hundred dollars for editing software, or have a lot of money
This camcorder is ahead of its time. I'm resentful that both for my Mac and my PC I have to buy new software or learn all about transcoding, freeware, and all sorts of other "hacks" to get this to work.
I wish I'd known what a huge pain and expense this would be before the 30 day return policy was up.
I use this to record my wedding.... October 30, 2008
After much research b/t different brands, I got this camcorder so I can have a friend record my wedding in High Def.
I got these to go along with this camcorder:
TIFFEN 37mm UV Protector Filter
Transcend 16GB SDHC CARD
These arrived in a few days and I open the box. It came with a remote, charger which plugs in to the back of the camcorder (not a separate charger), and the video cables so you can watch on your tv. 2 cables, 1 for hd and one for rca.
I inserted the card, put on the lens filter for protection and starting testing the recording.
The recording in bright day light is beautiful. But, then I brought it into the house in darker areas, the picture comes out very pixelly/grainy. This is the only reason for the 4 star instead of 5.
Luckily, my wedding is outside during the day which this camcorder did a great job of capturing my wedding in HD. I looked at it and its wonderful crisp and the sounds is amazing.
On the new battery, I am able to get 61 mins per charge. This is with out any viewing in the middle. Just record. Hope this helps you plan out the amount of batteries you will need.
Now, if I have hire a videotographer , it would have cost me between 700 - 3000 dollars depending on the package. I got this on Amazon for 625 and I get to keep the camcorder at the end. Its a worthy purchase.
GL.
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