This is my 4th camcorder purchase (in ~20 yrs), and the 2nd which records a digital signal. Overall, it is the fastest to respond, the cleanest and brightest in full daylight, and somewhat portable. There are negatives however, which had I known before, I wouldn't have purchased this camera. These are:1 - Very very poor low and existing light image quality - terribly noisy!
(I haven't experimented much with manual mode to find a workaround.)
2 - Poor dynamic range, i.e. whites washed out and blacks muddled with noise
3 - A very reflective screen. In daylight, in certain reflecting angles, it is impossible to see anything but your own face reflecting back to you. When this happens, I can't even see the small red/green dot to see if in recording or standby mode!
4 - Uses the AVCHD format, the nature of which which is fraught with processing hurdles... meaning $$ to solve. Mo tape storage either.
5 - No optical viewfinder, which coupled with the reflective screen (no. 3 above), makes some outdoor situations near impossible.
6 - No output format other than 1920x1080. A 720 or an SD output would have been usable. (Note: There is a component output available at 480i. This doesn't help me tho.)
7 - Neither the SD card or the battery can be changed while this camera is attached to a tripod (and in my case even to the tripod plate.)
8 - The Canon wide angle lens blocks ~1/3rd of the light output from the small built-in light on this model. The external mount is not a standard mount, so my existing Canon external lights are not compatible. (I knew this going in tho.)
10- The built-in flash burns the skin of faces etc.
11- The ergonomics need much improvement (too long to get into in this review.)
That's it.
P.S. Hate being so negative, since I own several other Canon digital cameras (still cameras) which produce technically great shots.Canon VIXIA HF S100 HD Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom
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