Canon VIXIA HF200 HD Flash Memory Camcorder with 15x Optical Zoom

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Takes great video but hard to work with it
I have owned several Canon camcorders through the years and have been consistently happy with them. The HF 200 follows this trend. The camera is really compact and easy to take basic video with. I have played with a couple of the quality settings and I find even with a relatively small 8MB card, I get an hour or two of video with really good quality. The still camera is a nice feature as well but I would compare it to a decent phone camera in quality (not for those really important shots you might want to enlarge). The menus are manageable but not nearly as easy to use as Sony’s touch screen models. You can get low light video with the mini spot built into the camera or you can take the grain and shoot without. Neither is really that great and like every other video camera I have had this one gets the really good results out in the sun or in very bright rooms. Under the right conditions the video is stunning. When you connect to a decent HDTV with a high def cable the picture really blows you away (everyone I have shown video this way is amazed and ready to buy one).

The downside for me is working with the video files. First off, the instructions for getting the video from the camera to your computer are non-existent. It implies that you have to use the bundled software (which is very poor). I am pretty sure if you figure out the folder structure the camera uses you can just drag the appropriate files to your computer but for me (fairly computer savvy but not very HD video savvy) I spent a lot of time struggling with this. By comparison, a non-HD Sony I had for a while was as easy to use as a digital camera taking Jpeg files (but the video was so disappointing I returned it).

Once you do capture the video, it seems there are still not many applications with which to edit it. I have been avoiding the bundled software as much as possible so the best option I found so far was the new Windows Live version of the windows video editor (free download for Vista and Win 7 I believe). It is enough to get you by but I have not had enough time to really get it figured out. On top of that my 1.5 year old “multimedia” powerhouse HP laptop just barely can work with the HD video. Apparently you need more than a 200 GHz Pentium Duo Core with 2 GB Ram and a decent Nvidia graphics card. I have read reviews from folks who just plan to save all their files on hard drives or SDHC cards but that fills up pretty darn fast, even with the lower storage costs now. My last issue is it is really hard to find 16 MB SDHC cards around (for a decent price at least) and even harder to find 32 MB cards.

Regardless, I like the camera and need to get out and use it more (the file management/editing definitely slows me down). I also need to get the larger battery but then it will not be as pocket sized as it is with the 1 hour battery. I guess the bottom line is that there are a lot of trade offs to be made with HD camcorders and this one is no exception.

3 Stars Beware of short warranty and no repair
My Mino HD died after a year and Flip says outside the warranty so they won’t fix. I have been vaery very careful with it sovery disapointed that f it breaks they can’t fix it

5 Stars A sight to behold
Got it for a few days now and shot a few test video clips and couple of photos. Video is fantastic, everything it’s claimed to be. Having stepped up from an old Hi8 tape camcorder, the video is phenomenal. You need to take the time initially to go through the manual and the full menu functions on the camcorder. The default video and photo modes may not be what you want (not at the highest settings) so it may need to be adjusted. Also, you may need to know how to initialize a memory card if you stick in your old one. My 4GB SDHC memory was not recognized initially, a new one had no problems. Also, buy a class 4 or higher SD card to take full advantage of the camcorder.

The software that comes with the unit is a very basic video transfer and editing program and WILL NOT work very well with Windows 7 (tried it on Vista and works ok). Somewhat disappointing that Canon don’t have a upgrade to Win 7 compatible yet. Regardless, the software is NOT good enough if you want to do a lot of editing and slick video work. I’m looking at upgrading the software to either Sony Vegas or Corel Video (used Pinnacle software before and found it to be very buggy). I’ve used similar software before and be forewarned that these software are computer resource hogs, temperamental, and can be agonizing slow to complete a video project.

Please don’t complain about the camcorder if your real problem is inadequate computer hardware and software. You definitely will not get the full power of HD if you are not somewhat computer savvy. I’ve rendered a 3 1/2 minute video clip shot in FXP mode (step below the highest setting), into a 1440 HD clip and it took 20 minutes in Corel Videostudio to accomplish this. So take note, it’ll take hours to render a 1/2 hour video (if the computer don’t choke first). I will say though that the outcome is awesome.

The camcorder is small, easily handled but the small size increases the shakes when shooting, especially when zoomed in (the included optical image stabilizer is a necessity). Mounting on a tripod is a must if you must have steady scenes. The complaints about the power on-off light is correct – don’t know why the light is red when on and green when off. The built in mini video light may help on indoor closeup but seems pretty useless for longer shots. At least the camcorder has a attachment for external flash or mike (most other vendors don’t have this in this price range).

Also took some pictures at the highest setting. Very good but not as good as what I get from my Sony 7.2 megapixel camera. The colors seem a little muted and is not as sharp. The ability to shoot both great video and very good still pictures means that for most purposes, I don’t need to carry a separate camera anymore, especially when the size of this camcorder is smaller than my camera.

I got this camcorder for $520 from Amazon, a good 8 GB class 4 SD memory costs about $20, a good video editing program cost $60, and if you must burn to blue ray disk, I have no idea what that would cost. Finally, if your computer is old then you need to upgrade your computer system. So consider all this before you plunk down your hard earned money for this camcorder, even though it’s a great unit.

5 Stars Excellent features for the price!
I bought this camera for many purposes, primarily was to record my daughters’ B-ball games. It was rated very highly on [...]. I’m no professional, but I do want a quality picture with enough features to satisfy. I record the games in standard quality, mostly because I don’t think the Full HD would be noticeable to justify the added file size.

Pros

-Lightweight

-Canon quality

-Feature rich, but simple to use

-Great picture (even in standard mode), great audio

-Plenty of add-ons (if you want, you don’t need them for regular shooting)

-Inexpensive for feature set

-Flash memory is cheap (and getting cheaper!)

-Great connectivity options- PC to download, or direct to TV for viewing

Cons

-File type- records everything in .mts format, the standard for HD camcorders. It will need to be converted for playing on a DVD/Blu-Ray player. If you are looking for playback on a PC w/o the included software, the best player would be VideoLan Player (google VLC). The software that comes with it is limited, and does include a player as well.

Bottom Line

If you want a great camcorder for regular recording, this is it. Simple to use, great quality picture. Price is very competitive, especially for HD functionality. I didn’t really need HD quality, but it’s very quickly becoming the standard. Better to avoid obsoletion on the front than pay for it later. Just remember to get some flash memory first, nothing worse than having a toy you can’t play with.

2 Stars Prosumer camera, emphasis on the Pro
The camera is great. Very easy to use. Lots of features. We use it mainly to document our new baby and we love how easy it is.

Until we try to get the video off the camera.

As others have noted, the codec (the avc in the avchd) is more advanced than a lot of software can handle.

Warning to Mac users: you can only import the native .MTS files (the format the camera saves in) if you have an Intel machine AND if you are running Leopard AND if you have the latest version of iMovie or Final Cut or Final Cut Express. My Intel iMac running Tiger with FCE 3 and iMovie 2008 is useless without 3rd party software that I’ve found to be very suspect.

Bottom line is that this camera was designed for one group of people (consumers with high standards and an interest in controlling the elements of their video) but can only be used by another (professionals with the latest hardware and editing suites). If you’re in the sweet spot, go for it. Otherwise, this is a very bad purchase.

Buy/More Info