Canon FS100

[raptorcrew2002]

I’m looking at the Canon FS100 SD Camcorder and wondering if anyone has used one? I’m really not concerned with it not being HD by any means. My last video camera was a mini dv years ago so not sure what to expect in quality compared to that one.

 

I love the size, and features. Really like the SD storage, and it comes in blue

 

But I am concerned with the small lens and possible quality in night and action/motion shots not to mention the focus. I just want something I can grab video and stills, yet still secure it in my cargo pants pocket at the park.

 

So any advice or experience using one is much appreciated and thanks in advance.

 

FS100

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=2544&modelid=16185

 

 

*** Found another one, what about this one?

I think for the 290 in difference I might just get this. Only 5.1" long roughly 2.9 x2.5" h/w. Less then 1 pound.

Vixia HF100 899 retail / 649 @ newegg. 1080HD, SD mem.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830120239

[Angry_Gumball]

Personally, I'd probably prefer recording onto Mini DV as you're getting quality at it's fullest. On any solid-state camera (using memory cards, hard drives, etc) you've got video compression going on. A Mini DV cassette I believe stores 18 gigs of info. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty positive that these tapes store that much...seeing that with an 8 gig card, (less than half the capacity of a MDV tape) you get double the time. Compression. Now, I actually haven't seen that particular camera's output so I can't really judge that camera...my statement's just a general knowledge of camcorders and video formats. Compression is why I stay clear of DVD camcorders as well...plus those things are always sketchy! We get 'em in at work to be copied to a full-size dvd and usually have to go through some pretty ugly steps/off-the-wall ripping methods just to make a single copy.

 

Back to this camera, as any memory-based camera, the nice thing about this is there is no real mechanical parts other than the zoom to have to worry about...no eating tapes, failing to eject tapes (like my camcorder just pulled on me) and no failing mechanics due to 1-to-many coaster POVs. Actually, you've now got me curious about this camera as if my camera can't get repaired (it's under warranty) maybe I'll consider upgrading...not sure yet. I would actually like to see a sample clip from it...

[raptorcrew2002]

^ Thanks for the reply.

 

Yea the compression had scared me and I knew to stay away from DVD & Hard Drive based units, but figured TPR advice would be the best for this decision “Screw consumer reports”

 

I fully agree the mini dv’s are awesome for price and quality and I loved the Samsung I had for a long time, but chassis size is still an issue. Same reason I had finally gotten rid of my Canon Rebel 2k, it was just too big. I just got to the point where I was shooting more and more video out of my digital cams so figured why not find a DV cam that can do both without having to spend their life in a locker.

 

So I bit the bullet and went ahead and ordered the VIXA HF100 . Size wise it will fit secured in cargo pants like a Sony Cyber shot cam only thicker and slightly longer.

 

I figured for 290 difference in price, no tax, free ship and it seems like a camera that will be usable for some time. 650 (Best buy wanted 859) for a 900 camera and 2 year extended warranty was only like 70, and 60 for a 16 gb sd card. Just seemed silly to get the FS100 at 359-399 when this one was pretty loaded up and fractionally larger.

 

I’m really digging the prospect of having flash memory for storage!

 

I have it coming in for Sat. delivery so I will play around and get some test video and stills up for you to checkout and see if I made a wise or moronic decision!

 

Thanks again.

[Angry_Gumball]

I'm planning on upgrading my camcorder, probably sticking with the Mini DV route as I have tons of tapes...don't want them to become useless/unwatchable. In the meantime, I want to go HD. I'm considering going with the HDV route as they take HD Mini DV cassettes, and are backward compatible with standard definition Mini DV..so my existing tapes and blanks would not become useless.

 

Good luck with the compression that will happen...not saying that it's a bad thing, but is converting to MPEG4. I'd actually like to see a comparison of HDV vs the HD MPEG4 clips.

[darklingscribe]

Personally, I'd probably prefer recording onto Mini DV as you're getting quality at it's fullest. On any solid-state camera (using memory cards, hard drives, etc) you've got video compression going on. A Mini DV cassette I believe stores 18 gigs of info. Someone correct me if I'm wrong,

 

You've got compression going on as well on a Hd camcorder that uses minidv tapes. and minidv tapes only hold 12gb of info.

 

raptorcrew2002 is that $859 including tax? The reason why I ask is that Costco online has the same camera without warranty for $729.99. I find i prefer buying from Costco than Best Buy and I find that American Express will offer warranties on my purchases.

 

I, myself, just bought the Canon HV30, not because I prefer minidv but because I have so many unused tapes that it would be a waste to switch to another recording format.

[Angry_Gumball]

^How is HDV compression compared to flash memory compression? And how is the HDV quality compared to flash? Have you had any experience with either or both sources? I'm mainly leaning towards HDV as previously mentioned, I want something in which I can still view my Mini's...unless I take 'em to work and transfer them to DVD if I ever wanted to view them.

 

Flash memory is infact real tempting as I do fear that the mechanical parts will leave me with a stuck tape again...plus, flash memory (not using a hard drive) should be able to withstand the g-forces whether I'm shooting POV or if the camera's just chilling in my pocket or pouch...no mechanical parts to worry about being knocked loose. Is there somewhere where I can see a sample of HD MPEG4 clips at full quality?

 

Again, downside, Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 doesn't like MPEG4...meaning I'd have to convert to a larger file size (MPEG2) before even thinking of editing, resulting in a duplicate file and more HD space taken.

[darklingscribe]

I'll try to go through your list of questions as best I can.

 

I assume when you say HDV you mean Mini DV Tapes versus Flash memory. The picture quality depends on two things mostly, the quality of camera and the codec in which the video is compressed. We are getting to the point that the recording medium of digital camcorders doesn't really matter anymore. Flash memory has the advantage of being smaller, no moving parts, and it is faster to transfer your files off of (Mini Dv can only move your video files to your computer in real time). Mini Dv does have it's advantages too, it is a much cheaper recording format and because of this you can afford to keep hard copies of all of your raw footage rather than erasing and risk losing all of your videos to a hard drive malfunction.

 

Codecs are another story. All consumer Digital cameras compress the video in camera using a codec. For the longest time the North American codec for recording standard definition digital video onto a Mini DV tape was NTSC. With the advent of HD camcorders NTSC has been left by the wayside because it was not enough to shrink down 60min of hd video onto a Mini Dv tape. Most camcorder manufacturers have substituted their own more compressing codec to be used with HD video. To ensure best picture you can get ideally you should not compress your footage at all and there are really high end digital cameras (I'm talking in the $5000+ range) that give you this ability, but the problem with shooting HD without compression is that it takes up a lot more space than economically feasible for the average consumer.

 

Generally the easiest rule to follow is that the smaller the video file is compressed, the worse the image will become. So if you are recording 60 min on to a 4gb sd card rather than 60 min on to a 12gb mini dv tape, the tape is more likely to have better quality footage (as long as you know both codecs used to compress the video file are recent, the more recent the codec the more likely it is to produce a better picture quality).

 

The chips inside of cameras also play an important role. There are two chips out on the market today. CCD chips and CMOS chips, CCDs are more expensive to make but they produce better video than CMOS chips in low light. CMOS chips are cheaper and use less battery power. Then there is also the number of chips in the camera to consider. A three chip has one chip dedicated to each of the three primary colors, because of this a three chip camera had a much more realistic color scheme than a one chip camera. Though now it could be different between the whole three chip/one chip thing, technology changes so fast.

 

Really, all I can say is do your research, there are better sites out there than consumer reports, I would first go to http://www.consumersearch.com/ a website that compiles the information from most other product preview sites (though their conclusions tend to be six months to a year old). From there I usually head to CNET, they offer good videos of reviews. Look for the features you want and don't be afraid to go into a store and see how the camcorder feels and operates. I prefer Costco for my electronic purchases because of their 90 day return policy, no restocking fees or anything.

 

I do think that a flash hard dive camcorder would be best for your needs, I would have gotten one if I didn't have so many blank Mini Dv tapes lying around.

 

I don't know much about Adobe Premiere, I use Final Cut Pro. Did you try searching for plugins that could make Adobe handle MPEG4?

 

Oh and please excuse this post if it seems somewhat rambling, it's 2am and I can't sleep.

[Real]

CCD's also DO NOT like fast motion as much. CMOS in my experience works much better with faster motion capture than CCD. CCD can produce ghosting - though not totally common - does happen and when it does you probably dont want it.

[raptorcrew2002]

CCD's also DO NOT like fast motion as much. CMOS in my experience works much better with faster motion capture than CCD. CCD can produce ghosting - though not totally common - does happen and when it does you probably dont want it.

 

Def. agree on CMOS.

 

The HF100 exceeded what I had expected.

 

I just added a couple stills set on mid resolution from this weekend, and no advanced settings. I'm pretty please. I grabbed tons of video this weekend but until I get some time to render them all out these are my only outputs to share right now.

 

Right now, this cam rocks for video and stills. Very impressed. I will add some video shots once I get the compression thing figured out for size and quality.