Features and Design

When I took the HF10 out of the box, I was pleasantly surprised just how small and attractive it was. Much more compact than even the JVC HD6, it owes its svelte style to the fact there’s only a sliver of flash memory and a card slot for saving videos and stills. Friends, just like the iPod and music, solid-state camcorders will take over from tapes and discs in the years ahead. It’s just a fact of life—not as much fun as the birds and bees but still enjoyable.

The HF10 is dressed in black with gloss and matte finishes. It measures 2.9 x 2.5 x 5.1 (WHD, in inches) and weighs 13.4 ounces without the battery, 15.2 with, practically the same as the Sony CX7 which is 15 ounces and slightly larger in volume (2.75 x 2.75 x 5.25). The camcorder fits neatly and comfortably in your hand. Your index finger rests right on the zoom switch and the record button is under your thumb. Very nicely done, Canon. Note: we’re getting pretty small here so those with large hands definitely need to pick it up and play with the controls.

The lens takes up most of the front real estate. The HF10 has a 12x optical zoom (versus 10x of the HD6), offering a range of 42.9-514.8mm in 35mm terms. This gives you plenty of options to frame your subjects but I found myself wanting a wider opening focal length. The lens has a built-in cover that opens and closes when you power on and off. Nice features are a built-in flash to help with your stills and a small video light. This light won’t help illuminate a dark room but it’s good for close-ups; it’s better than nothing. You’ll also find the Instant AF sensor and stereo mic.

The right side of the body has the adjustable strap and the main mode dial for recording videos and stills as well as playing them back. At the bottom is a compartment with a flimsy door covering the HDMI mini and USB outs. A mini connector is not supplied so put this on your shopping list or buy a specific cable for this task. There’s a low-key AVCHD logo and some nice detailing on the side as well.

The left has a gloss black finish with Canon and HD logos; other nomenclature is more subdued so it’s not too obnoxious. Flip open the 2.7-inch 211K pixel widescreen LCD and you’ll find a joystick four-way controller on the far left of the frame. This lets you walk through the menus and make adjustments. Under the screen are five controls: Function, Start/Stop, Wide and Telephoto zoom controls along with BLC (Backlight Compensation). Having BLC near at hand is great for when you’re shooting someone in a window or outdoors with a bright expanse of sun behind them. Four of the controls also do double duty in Playback for fast forward, rewind and so on.

On the body are just a few controls as well as the SD/SDHC card slot; a handy slider switch opens the slot quickly. The HF10 accepts any size cards but you need Class 4 or better to record AVCHD. Budget another $150 USD if you want to record an additional 120 minutes of Full HD video on a 16GB card. There are just two buttons—Easy and Display/Battery Info. Easy puts the camcorder into no-brainer mode while the other eliminates icon clutter and tells you to the minute/second how much recording space is left and battery life (to the minute). This is very important info to have at your fingertips. It also brightens the screen, if you need it. You’ll also find a tiny speaker and a compartment for the component video output.

The top has a hot shoe (yeah!) for accessory mics and lights, a shutter button for taking snapshots, the wide/tele zoom toggle and the power on/off which, although big enough, requires pressing in with your finger nail.

The rear of the HF10 is a fine example of good industrial design. The battery fits flush with the back panel. If only other camcorder manufacturers would just look at this, take a picture, hang it in their cubicles and copy it, I could stop complaining about poor battery design, the poster child being the Panasonic HDC-SX5. You’ll also find the record key and two compartments with variety of inputs/outputs. There’s mic-in, A/V out and DC-in for charging the battery but no FireWire. The bottom simply has the battery release and tripod mount.

The HF10 comes with most of things you’ll need other than HDMI connection and SDHC card. You’ll get a power adapter, battery, remote, component, A/V and USB cables along with two CD-ROMs with video and photo editing software.

Once the battery was charged and a Class 4 4GB card installed, it was time to use this solid-state video maker.

Image Courtesy of Canon