Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

It is probably a good camcorder for most of us. I only want to list problems here.

1) It is died completely on 20-th month (which means no warranty repair or replacement). I was very careful with it but it still died and Canon service is nothing better than others: flat repair estimation of $222+ whatever they charge over it.

2) Bad in low light (compare to some Sony or even other Canons)

3) Ridiculously dumb location for LANC remote connector - you cannot use it without opening the display door

4) Onscreen menus are not intuitive nor conventional - after 20 month of intense use I still have to think before reaching the right item especially frustrating is scrolling.

5)Photo mode doesn't have manual exposure (BULB)

6) display glare is very bad almost always but in dark (in dark - see #2)

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

I used this camera for a wedding. My primary camera was 5D mark II and this camera had such superb quality and detail that it became alot f my primary shots. Highly recommend this. The only thing this camera is missing is wide angle so i recomend buying a canon 0.7X wide angle lens as a add on.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

I have been shooting wildlife (especially grizzly bear) videos in Grand Teton National Park for the past few years, and I had the Canon Vixia HF 100, and then I accidentally dropped it. I bought this camera to replace my long lost love. (This camera was the closest thing I could get to it.)

I love the touch screen window viewer thingy. (I didn't think I would) It's quick and easy to review video/photos, and edit them with the touch screen. The videos are coming out great, and this camera is easy to use, and manage. So, now I am in love with my new camera! Thanks!

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

I am an amateur (always use auto focus), but also a bit of a picture quality snob & I am very impressed with the quality of the recordings. I purchased this camera to tape school events because my other cameras always produce dark photos in the school gym. But the Vixia produced clear, crisp, well-lit recordings, even from the back of the gym, that look great even when played back on the tv without the HDMI cable. I had not planned to invest this amount in a camcorder, but all of my research kept leading me back to the Vixia HF S200. I am so glad I followed my research - it is definitely worth the investment.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

great camera

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

Exelent video quality, sound is fine but I use an external mic. and It works great, best of all, this is really hig definition

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

I've used this a bit since I got it. There are a lot of features to adjust to get some pretty good footage.

With all the frame rates available, there can be many different ways to make your shots look quite different.

This camera has the best picture quality I've ever had. You can make your footage look as professional as you want it to be.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

use the camera to film in the outdoors. Great secondary camera for huntong takes good quality video. Worth the price!

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

I am admittedly a novice at this kind of thing. I bought this camera to document family events and my childrens' lives. I am a complete nerd and love toying with things like this. I will get better at it, and wanted the manual options that come with this camera. I found the camera easy to use for the most part. The image quality is awesome, color is great. I felt the sound was terrible through the included mic. I have heard it through an optional mic that can be connected to the camera it was MUCH better. I am not sure why but with the mini HDMI connected to my TV it says "Anynet Device" and would not read the cards (TV is 6 month old 1080p Samsung). It would however connect through component. I switched to HDMI ooutput in the menu, no luck yet. It is probably my own ignorance, I will eventually figure it out. I took off a star for no mini HDMI cable included and the horrible battery life of the included battery. I purchased another one with the camera, because of reviews I read. It was a good thing I did too. All said I love the camera!!!

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

We operate a pro photo and video business, this camcorder gives us a light and mobile unit that's has great HD quality. for weddings and sporting events it purfect.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

I really love this new camcorder. It is easy to use and the results are mindblowing when played back on my HDTV. The sound quality is phenomenal for a built in micraphone. I have the camcorder set for highest quality which is 24 fps non-interlaced and 24Mbps. I have two niggles about this system. One: the manual. It stinks. In traditional japanese style its thorough, but is impossible to read. Someone needs to write a manual on how to get "up and running" with the camera and just talk about the important things you need to know skipping everything else. The second thing I don't like is that 'touch screen' on the camcorder. To navigate through the menus you have to touch the screen on the far right to make the menus scroll up/down. Its tedious and often doesn't work making you have to start over again. They actually have a knob on the back of the camera that you can assign different functions to. I have mine set on focus. It would have been nice to assign it to menu scrolling. Other then these two issues I really like the camera.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

Camera is easy to operate. I especially like the touch screen.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

its very lite weight, easy to carry and so on...

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

I use this camera along with 2 other hf s200s to videotape live events such as bands and school plays as well as weddings. In auto mode it seems to work pretty well, I am impressed with the focus follow. In low light and 1/24 shutter you get very usable video, To put it in full manual mode is a pain but it it doable. I mounted this camera on a stabilizer and it works well. With 2 32 gig sd cards and a big battery I can record for up to 6 hours straight without stopping, a definite plus for what I do. I think the "pro" version with manual control and focus ring would be much better as an A camera and these would work well as the B cameras. The only other thing I did not like was the zoom range is only 10x optical and the widest zoom still usually needs a wide angle lens for some shots.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

I haven't learned everything this camcorder can do, but it's great so far. Love the video quality and the touch screen.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

Purchased here at B&H after detailed research (mostly bang for the buck) for a wedding that needed to be documented. Purchased with class 6 32GB cards, extra battery and mini HDMI cable. It was easy in just a few hours to become comfortable with the camera and the vast feature set - Once I got the base settings I wanted (using some defaults and additional tweaks to my specific situation / outdoor wedding, indoor reception), settings are retained for instant start -

I shot in the highest quality mode and the camera did a outstanding job even in limited / low light (I'm surprised how many people mention poor low light performance - I have not seen a camera at this price range that did any better, plus there are settings available to limit the gain added by the camera which allow you to set an acceptable noise level in low light which is pretty nice), and overall quality of the video in all cases was about the best I've seen for the money. - Ability to shoot 8M stills while simultaneously shooting video also adds to use case. I mean, this is a very good still camera with reasonable feature set considering its a camcorder. Image stabilization as well was excellent.

I had no issues using the highest quality settings and later editing these files with PowerDirector 9 or AVID Studio to render SD, DVD or BlueRay quality disks.

Menus are clean and well organized once you get use to them and the LCD is bright with terrific quality - I'm use to my iPhone screen touch sensitivity and it takes some time to get use to the less sensitive / more deliberate actions required on the LCD screen but not really an issue once you get use to it.

Battery life reasonable, though I recommend a second larger capacity battery to have handy. Keep in mind the battery changes in the camera (no separate charger supplied though Canon makes one for purchase separately) so without a spare battery you need to park the camera near an outlet to charge the battery which can take considerable time.

Sound from the on-board mic was much better quality then I anticipated in almost all situations, but in long zoom, you may loose detailed audio (they have accessory add-on mics I will be looking at) - I suspect this is no worse then most other cameras.

I've since started to make more use of the manual features (it offers real shutter and aperture-priority shooting modes)and there are a lot of creative possibilities available.

Only real drawback is the wide side of the zoom is still narrow in some situations (small rooms) - Again, there are additional attachments that can be purchased but they will add additional weight and cost.

Overall, a five for five -

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

This time we had to buy this camcorder as requested by our family freind from India and the only place that came to my mind to purchase it that came to my mind was at B&H...we logged it at the website and voila we got what we were looking for and that it had a $250 discount that day...we made the purchace and we are very happy...

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

For the price, this is unbeatable. Very good low-light performance (for a consumer model) and extremely sharp. Some have complained that the touch-screen builds up fingerprints. Well, it does, but it's not a problem as you really can't see them when viewing your subject. It's a non-issue.One small complaint: In order to use 2 SD cards in "continuous" mode, you actually have to set this as an option, and you have to do it every time you turn the [*] thing on. This is sort of unbelievable. (and a real PITA) Why would you ever want this function defeated?

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

This product's main use is in videography, taking vacations, or trips with friends, and heavily editing the end result into something entertaining, engaging and short enough for people to want to watch it.
The product has 2 SD card slots, so it has amazing recording capacity, a built in light, a nice touchscreen, the ability to accept tons of add-on accessories, and records beautiful full 1080i. I love the 8 MegaPixel stills it can take, and the manual features, including easy focus with the forward assignable knob, a wide range of F-stops, and many shutter speeds. The audio records very nicely, and it has a decent windfilter that works the way I have always wanted them to, to get rid of wind instead of muting all the audio.

The things I would have liked to see that it didn't have: for example, you have to use the touchscreen to activate many features, which shakes the shot, I would have liked to see more buttons in ergonomic locations. The default angle of the lens is also not quite wide enough for close quarters shooting, so you need to purchase one of the wide angle lens adapters in order to film in tight kitchens, or bedrooms.

Overall I love the product, and am extremely satisfied with it!

Comments about Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder:

Small but significant improvements over the HF S100. The manual control extends further away from the body so that it can be gripped with two fingers... makes it easier to control. Takes Class 10 SDHC whereas the previous version would only accept up to Class 6 for MXP recording. Repositioned SDHC slot so that it no longer can interfere with any quick release plates. Has two SDHC slots. Indoors with theater lighting the image quality is outstanding. Outside in bright light need a shade over the LCD since this model does not have a viewfinder. Professional sound needs external mics though internal sound is very good.