Canon Vixia HF100 Camcorder

So I'm expecting a new addition to the family soon and I decided it was time to pick up a new HD camcorder. I ending up buying the Canon HF100 (which is just the HF10, but minus the internal memory). The HF100 has some awfully nice features that it shares with the HF10.

Key Features (At least what I consider the key features, more features listed on the product web-site):
-1920x1080 resolution with frame rates of 60i, 30p and 24p.
-It also supports 1440x1080 resolution with the aforementioned frame rates.
-All videos are recorded in .m2ts AVCHD file format.
-Flash based memory. Standard SDHC memory cards.
-12x optical zoom
-Optical Image Stabilization
-Component and Mini-HDMI out for connection to TVs or Receivers

My Thoughts:
One of the key things I like about the HF100 is the fact that it records onto common SDHC cards, there is no proprietary media format like on Sony products for instance. If you want to use the memory card on other standard devices, there is no issue (as long as they support SDHC). I bought a Transcend 8 Gig card for ~ $40 through dealram.com. This gives me around an 1 hour of footage at the highest supported bitrate. There is no cassette tape (Mini-DV), hard-drive or optical disc. I like flash memory simply because it is easier to store and it is more rugged and longer lasting than either Mini-DV or hard disc. The optical drive isn't bad except that it doesn't support anywhere near as much storage space and it requires the camcorder to be bulkier. The AVCHD format is nice from an efficiency standpoint, it'll record full resolution HD using a reasonable amount of space. It is still going through some growing pains, but if you have a Blu-Ray player, it should allow you to playback these files in their original formats without having to recode them to some other format. If you do want to recode them as I do so that I can stream them to my TV using my 360, there are free methods of doing this, which I'll go into for a later post. All in all, I am very pleased with the video and audio quality that I have seen using this camcorder. Even in what I consider low light (dimmed room lights or around dusk) I have been pleased with the results. It's a hell of a step up from the standard definition Canon Mini-DV camcorder that I was previously using. I can't say that it's necessarily better video quality than the competition (Panasonic, Sony, etc), but the lack of proprietary memory, the reasonable editing software that comes with, and the decent price tag makes it a winner in my book. The MSRP is $899, but you can find it from reliable places online for around $625.

Pros:
Pretty much all the Key Features listed above
Good price when compared to the competition
Slightly better editing software than the current competition

Cons:
AVCHD format still in its early stages
Significant processing power required to playback AVCHD format smoothly

Rating:
-Excellent
-Great
-Good
-Needs Work
-Steer Clear

P.S. Pics coming soon...