Canon Digital Camcorder
Canon is a venerable camera company whose video equipment – cameras and camcorders – has always been highly-regarded. Canon Digital Camcorders are made for both the consumer and the video professional.
Canon camcorders for the consumer can be divided into several categories. Canon lists VIXIA High Definition (HD) camcorders, Standard Definition (SD) flash memory camcorders, SD DVD camcorders, and one model of SD miniDV camcorder. Manufacturer’s suggested prices range from approximately $250 to $1000.
Canon Vixia HF200
The Canon Vixia HF200 (also known as the HF S200) is a camcorder that gets great reviews. CNet loves it. Customer reviews on Amazon are all raves. Even Newegg, a site that is highly technical and critical in its reviews, calls this camcorder “outstanding” and “amazing.”
It is singled out for its very fine picture quality, especially for its price. Reviewers call the picture quality “cinematic.” Wow! Minor criticism include that the battery life isn’t all that great and picture quality isn’t very good in low light. All this for a camcorder that retails for under $1000!
The MSRP of $999 can be beat at any number of retailers, and you could walk away paying $500 or less. This is a flash memory camcorder, and records in HD to two SD memory cards. You can copy video from one memory card to the other. The Vixia HF200 can also be used as a 8.0 megapixel still digital camera.
Navigation of its menus is easy and there are all sorts of smart features, such as face detection and optical image stabilization.
The camcorder has a 15x zoom lens and a 3.5 inch wide LCD screen. It has a convenient touch panel. It uses a lithium ion battery. It is 2.8 inches wide by 2.4 inches high, small enough to fit into a jacket or purse, and it weighs only twelve ounces.
Canon FS300 Flash Memory Camcorder
If the Vixia HF200 is too rich for your blood, the Canon FS300 Flash Memory Camcorder is one of the best budget camcorders you can find! It’s low cost, and because of that has few fancy features, but for a first-time user or someone who wants a cheap camcorder option, this is a great choice.
The Canon FS300 Flash Memory camcorder provides fine-looking video and its compact package is user-friendly. It is only 7.9 ounces, and hardly bigger than a cellphone – you can take it everywhere you go! The FS300 uses Canon’s Quick Charge technology for greatly reduced charging time. Don’t be without your camcorder for long!
The FS300 has no internal memory, instead using an SDHC (XC compatible) card slot. It has a 2.7 inch widescreen LCD, dynamic image stabilization, and a built-in video light as well as a headphone terminal.