Canon VIXIA HF S11 hands-on
By Paul Miller 
posted Aug 19th 2009 1:13PM
posted Aug 19th 2009 1:13PM
posted Aug 19th 2009 1:13PM
The number of televisions estimated that sit unused in closets.
The EPA estimates that nearly 100 million unused televisions are currently taking up precious, beautiful space. (source: EPA, July 2008)
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nice, now all we need is to get this crammed into a cell phone and BAM, catch those lunatic loser high school educated nut job Pig cops in HD and sue them for millions no question...
dirty nubs.
your days are numbered pigs.
NEEDS MORE STICKERS
loving the camera fetish today engadget, lol
Perfect for the next Blair Bitch Project
they're only doing the canon's that were outed today...
It is bigger because it has a better lens and larger sensor that its smaller cousins.
Really?!
aargh. stupid comment system.
Canon is SO stupid...don't they know that NO ONE can afford that kind of money to waste it on a freakin' 1080i camcorder..
Why not just buy the Sanyo FH1...has better zoom and low light performance, sells for $420, and it records 1080p 60 frames..
Canon says it can record Progressive, but it doesn't ..it's a gimmick..it is actually saved as 1080i...
fuck u canon..! kiss my ass..and in ur face no one will ever buy ur shitty camcorders...
1080i camcorders ARE OUTDATED !!
Who wants 60p? Most of us would rather shoot at 24p, to my knowledge. 60 looks too "camcorder"-ish.
60 fps could be useful if you want to do some slow motion in the post-processing.
Because most Pro-sumer cameras shoot 1080i still. Also, Canon makes some of the better camera's out there. Sony's are good too (pro-sumer)
Hmmm..... I dunno. With the Sanyo FH1, you'll have to hold really steady to get any good video. Try watching on a big screen and it will give you headaches.
60 fps looks too smooth
60p shot at 1/60s downsamples really well to 24p post processing.
For ANY kind of post-effects shots, image stabilization is the WORST idea you can come up with. I admit it's a nice feature for some hliday or family shooting, but for trying out ideas in the post/fx world, it should always be OFF, no matter what. I bought a relatively cheap physical stabilisation unit for these purposes. Yes, it's big and clumsy and you have to drag it with you wherever you go. But, again, as I said, if you're shooting for later vfx/post work, it HAS to be done this way.
Other than that, I'm very satisfied with Canon camcorders, both price and performance. If this baby can do 24p, I'm sold! The one I have (HG20) can only do 24i, for reasons I don't understand...
Yes, all the HFS series do 24p. I have the HFS-100 and love it!
Ah! Great news! Thanks!
I have the HFS10 (the no internal memory counter part)
And that lense makes a huge difference in low light.
And yes it most certainly does do 24p
I also have the HG20. It does record 24p, however, it stores it in a format known as 2-3 pulldown. You get your 24 (actually 24*1000/1001) full--one instant in time--frames, however, you have to do a bit of work to get them out. The 2-3 pulldown makes the footage "visually acceptable" when played back at at 60i, but this is rather debatable. See http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2008/01/04/canon-avchd-24p-pulldown-removal/ for a rather long procedure for recovering your progressive frames.
Thanks Nick for clarification and the article, I appretiate it.
By no means am I calling this camera a semi-pro camera. Next to canon's bigger siblings. The XH G1S or the XL H1S.
I've used the HFS-100, the XH G1S, and the Panasonic AG-HMC150. if you compare any HFS model to a professional level camera, the result will almost always go with the latter models. however, there are times when a smaller camera with an incredible picture are infinitely more valuable. its easy to toss a HFS series camera into a backpack or go almost anywhere with it, something that you can't do with larger cameras. each has its place, I've been waiting for a while for this model to come out, once I have the cash on hand, I'm absolutely buying one.
Wtf?! The site says:
"24p Progressive (records at 60i)"
What the hell does this mean?!
inverse telecine
http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/inverse_telecine.cfm
It does not record true progressive...it's a gimmick feature..
canon is trying to fool us into buying their camcorders...
r u thinking of what im thinking ? it doesn't worth the money ?
Thanks for the info, NKT, however, I still don't get why they simply don't record at native 24p?
When I recorded on the 24p mode on my HG20, I got an interlaced mpeg! :( Which is a pain... Not unusable, but pain...
Using a Canon HF200 that also has the confusing 24p (Recorded at 60i) mode, I was able to get true 24p footage out of the camera using After Effects to interpret the footage. I would assume you can also do this with regular editing software, but I haven't tried it. Yeah, if you're shooting a lot of footage, processing it in After Effects doesn't really make sense, but it's not a gimmick as other posters have suggested. It actually does work.
Thanks Dan, unfortunately I don't work with AFX and Nuke can't read MTS files :(
However, I found a pretty good solution (not free though) by using CineForm's NeoScene software that does the pull down process very well and quite fast with added bonuses (like converting the chroma etc...), which has worked really fine for me so far.
As for running footage through post software, that's actually pretty common and not a problem at all for me as I explained what I use the footage for primarily, so... :)
Ethan..that's exactly what i meant...it DOES NOT shoot 24p videos...it's a gimmick !!
personally, i think 60p is far more superior than 60i...
and it's true, it looks gorgeous on an HDTV...
every fool knows that progressive is better than interlaced...
Progressive is Blu-Ray quality ! i'd rather have that when i spend $1300 on a camcorder !
Well, your generalization and over-simplification of progressive vs. interlaced is a bit... well... wrong.
The reason for interlaced comes mainly with bandwidth and synchronisation purposes of old TV sets. But nowdays, since we do have that kind of bandwidth and flat screen LCDs, interlaced became obsolete.
sa-wing and a miss!
I have a Canon HF11. What's the difference between this HF S11 and mine? (Other than the 64 GB internal storage vs. my 32 GB)
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
n/m, found this Canon camcorder comparison page:
http://lucienk.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!A4AE3FB12A26635!1108.entry
Been using an HFS10 for a few months now...love it.
View Finder?
Have you not looked at Canon's consumer camcorders lately?
> For ANY kind of post-effects shots, image stabilization is the WORST idea you can come up with.
You forgot to tell us why.
Needs at least 720P video support.
I'm a podcast producer based in Tokyo and last week took delivery of the HF S11. I would just like to say that this camera is stunning! The picture quality is simply superb, and the image stabilisation is unlike anything I've seen on a consumer camera before.
I shot a video of a traditional Japanese dance festival last week - all handheld, and much of it filmed from quite a distance (link below).
We use it with the DM100 Directional Stereo Mic - superb piece of kit.
The battery life with the included BP-807 is dissapointing - about one hour in reality (we have now invested in the BP-827). We will also be buying a wide angle lens as for interviews you have to get a fair distance between the camera and the interviewee.
Can't recommend this camera highly enough. Works wonderfully with Final Cut / iMovie too.
The version of our video we have on Facebook is the best quality upload we have, or there's an MP4 available for download. You Tube version also available. The page in question is
http://pokya.jp/japanpodshow/2009/09/video-special-tokyo-koenji-awaodori-traditional-dance-festival-2009/
Joseph