works but has issues
(1 of 1 Found this Helpful)
December 1, 2008
Basically, it works as advertised. But with a few hiccups.
The image stabilization is poor. Combined with the light weight of the camera, it's hard to hold without jitter, practically impossible at maximum zoom. Walking with the camera makes the picture jump all over the place. And these fast movements don't make the compression algorithm happy. As a comparison point, my old Sony Hi8 camcorder can handle even the vibration in a race car without any of it showing on the screen.
Light sensitivity is poor. In low light it drops the frame rate and the video looks funny, blurred and stepped.
If you just leave the camera on without shooting, it still eats the battery like it is shooting. Turning it off and on takes a while, a few seconds. You'd think that this should not be the case in a device without mechanical moving parts but it is.
The file format is weird. There is a good reason why they sell a special DVD writer as a separate (not cheap) option. You can't just copy the files to DVD and expect them to work on normal players, you need some weird codec (I had a whole pile of them already installed on my computer, so I don't know which one did the magic). The format must be converted. This means that postprocessing and editing of the material is mandatory, I'm normally too lazy for this kind of stuff.
The editing program just hangs every time when trying to open the file, but this might be because of some conflicts with the codecs I had installed. I haven't looked deeply into it yet.
For playback, there seems to be no way to set the screen ratio, and the picture looks compressed horizontally on the normal (not-wide-screen) TV. And it has no digital output that my DVD writer could understand (it understands I think DV but not HDMI).
I don't know how does it compare to the other digital camcorders, maybe all of them have the same issues.
If you wonder, it has no inputs for external cameras (such as something you could mount outside the car), not that I had any expectations for that.
There was also a minor issue with the battery, that after a couple of days started reporting all the time that it's running out but otherwise worked fine. This issue went away by itself after a week or so. The larger extra battery I bought separately didn't have this issue.
Quality is high and easy to use
November 24, 2008
The image quality is prety good, and it is very easy to operate. its weight is very light,I like it. The battery usually can last 80-90 minutes, if you want to take a long time video outside, you may need a spare battery.
Great pictures for all occasions
November 24, 2008
High definition put a new level in home video quality after I've been using standard definition for the past 8 years with my Sony camcorder. What I do appreciate is the absence of moving tape mechanism and spinning disc. This would reduce noise and hopefully, improve on reliability. My last camcorder failed due to the tape mechanism. However, speaking of reliability, the battery that came with the camera failed in less than one month of usage - it just refused to be charged.
Totally satisfied with the HF100!!
(3 of 3 Found this Helpful)
November 24, 2008
I was a little skeptical at first. This camera seems too good to be true while reading all of the specifications listed. But I really have to say that it lived up to all of my expectations. In a well lit area the picture is absolutely stunning--a sharp and true-to-life image. In darker rooms the picture doesn't get grainy at all from my experience. Obviously a darker room isn't going to be quite as stunning as a brighter one but I'm still impressed. The mic picks up wind but not to a distracting point. Burning to DVDs/Blu-rays is actually pretty easy as well. I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio and it imports the video and is easily edited. My computer isn't the most amazing, so the video may take a second or two to buffer before I can preview it but I've been cutting videos and burning them easily since I bought the camera just a couple months ago. The battery that comes with the camera doesn't last all that long (probably an hour+). I would buy the extended battery for something like $85.00 but it's only made in black and the HF100 is silver. Kind of funky if you ask me. I may just buy a second smaller battery. The memory cards used are SUPER cheap to buy making this the camera to get!!
In summary (i.e. the only part everybody will probably read):
PROS:
- Sharp HD picture.
- Small camera size.
- Easy to edit and transfer video.
- SDHC cards are CHEAP to buy.
CONS:
- Supplied battery has a short life.
- Mic picks up some wind noises.
- You really should purchase a different editing program.
A little on the pricey side
(1 of 12 Found this Helpful)
November 23, 2008
Great camera but: this camera takes just wonderful video but: it seems that in order to view the pictures on tv you must first buy a dvd recorder hw100 for $177.00 and then in order to play this dvd you must purchase the blu-ray dvd player $299.00. i guess it was worth it but: i guess i would have bought these items anyway but: the camera just made me do it. if you are ready for high def? this camera is the way to go....
