Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

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.

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.

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.

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....

I got this as a wedding present and it got some immediate use as it was used to film both our wedding and subsequent honeymoon. The low lit church was not a problem although we could have benefited from an external microphone. The picture quality was magnificent and I was extremely happy with it! The honeymoon came next and we charged off to New York City for a week with two 16GB SDHC cards (Great Buy: Transcend 16GB SDHC CARD (SD 2.0 SPD CLASS 6) with Compact Card Reader).

New York in all its glory on sunny days this camcorder just kept me happy. It was put to the test as well. Time Squre at night, views from the top of the Empire State Building, from ferries, during meals ... it was great and the resulting picture quality was outstanding even coverted to regular DVD instead of Blue Ray. Image stabilization was a major boon. At one stage we were on the ferry going to visit the Statue of Liberty and a dragon fly landed on my wife's purse. She zoomed right in it and the pictures we got afterward were quite stunning. From a distance shot to almost macro quality close-ups in the space of 60 seconds ... fantastic.

Even the stock battery has served us well - the upgraded batteries were out of stock everywhere when we purchased this camera (kind of a bummer) but we never had a problem with the original ... seriously how often do you really shoot hours a day even on holiday?

I figure when we upgrade to fanatical parents we'll get the the beefier battery.

The gotcha for me was the software that came with it -- it is basic and to be honest rather crappy but it gets the job done. The puzzler however was that I was having a hell of a time burning DVD's and it took a significant amount of time to realize that the software would not burn to DVD+R disks, only DVD-R! Once I had bought a punnet of these I was good to go and have not looked back since!

You'd be a fool to buy a standard definition camera in this day and age, just in terms of future proofing. This camera appears to be one of the best, if not the best currently available and I for one have absolutely no complaints at all!