Canon Vixia / Legria series - pros and cons

[RandyQ]

Hi folks,
I am considering buying a new camcorder for a shoot i will be doing out on the Pacific ocean later this year, and I am wondering if one of these Canon Vixia and Legrias will be a good idea?

My interest in these cams are due to low cost/small size and tapeless HD format. I'm hoping I can squeeze pro results from them, but the environments are not friendly (humid, wet, very hot). I will also be shooting alone the entire time.

Some questions I have:

1. How is the low light performance? Is this similar to PD170/DVX100, or much worse?

2. How are the manual controls? Are they really useable in the field?

3. The HFs100 has a big 1/2 sensor - is the depth of field nice and shallow?

4. Can they be zoomed / framed quickly? I dont zoom much, but I DO use the manual zoom ring to quickly frame shots.

5. Do they handle humidity well? Canons I have seen do not.

6. Are they durable and can they take shock well?

If anyone has extensive experience in these cams, please share, thanks!

rgds/ RandyQ

[MX3]

Once you've decided on and tried the Vixias out, would be interested to know how they performed. I almost got a Vixia HF200 a few weeks ago were it not for some lousy customer service from an online seller. Thanks!

[g5i]

Just like to update the thread and get some inputs re this video cam. Is there any difference between the 2009 and 2010 models?

[Dimension]

I have an HF200 for about a year now. It is a good HD cam for its value and it was one of the best in its price range back when I got them (last year). It was a nice camera, except in very low lights and in very fast moving objects. It is acceptable but if you are picky about the quality it is very noisy, unless you set it on Cinema mode then there is no noise but then the video is darker than the actual lighting condition.
In bright light situation, I think it is an excellent camera. It is light and feel right on my hand.

[theybid]

any updates regarding this thread?

i'm currently looking for a camcorder which captures HD and records continuously (about 2-3 hours) without overheating and stoping at 4GB (fat32 issues canon HDSLR) that has a memory card (SD or CF.. is it called flash memory?) slot that i can use right away in editing softwares without a need for file conversion..

is the vixia a good choice for my need?

thanks in advance to those who can share inputs regarding this topic.. :-)

[kenobiz]

any updates regarding this thread?

i'm currently looking for a camcorder which captures HD and records continuously (about 2-3 hours) without overheating and stoping at 4GB (fat32 issues canon HDSLR) that has a memory card (SD or CF.. is it called flash memory?) slot that i can use right away in editing softwares without a need for file conversion..

is the vixia a good choice for my need?

thanks in advance to those who can share inputs regarding this topic.. :-)

I have a canon vixia m30 (last year model) and I don't have problem recording 2-3 hours or more in a day. Be sure to get high capacity and high speed SDs like 16GB and additional battery.

[theybid]

I have a canon vixia m30 (last year model) and I don't have problem recording 2-3 hours or more in a day. Be sure to get high capacity and high speed SDs like 16GB and additional battery.

thanks for the reply!

what is the file format of the recorded video? does it have an option to write in .mov format same with the canon DSLR's?

[kenobiz]

what is the file format of the recorded video? does it have an option to write in .mov format same with the canon DSLR's?

The format is in AVCHD format which is also the format used by other HD-based camcorders. It can be easily converted to any format you want.

[theybid]

The format is in AVCHD format which is also the format used by other HD-based camcorders. It can be easily converted to any format you want.

Is the converter software bundled with the purchase? Do you know what model the latest vixia or legria is? And lastly, what is the difference of the between a legria and vixia? Thanks.

[Ikon]

Vixia = NTSC (30fps)

Legria = PAL (24fps)