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- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 6 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Picture not stunning - but great usabilty"
Pros: Ease of use - the manual functions and the effects are actually useful and easy to implement unlike on many camcorders. Browsing clips you have shot is also a pleasure as everthing is very intuitive. Very small and light. Mic in socket. Battery life
Cons: The video quality isn't knockout when viewed on a big screen. Highlights tent to bleach out in sunlight. Low-Light performance isn't great either - though I thought it was better than some reviews have described it as being.
Summary: This camera is a well-made and well thought out product as you would expect from Canon. I'm very impressed with it's operating system.
However, when I first got it home I shot a little video out in my garden and was quite disappointed with the quality. I have some DVDs I burned from analog video8 that I shot with a mid-price Canon I had about 17 years ago, which always amaze me with how good the quality of them is. I sort of expected this to impress me too, but I can't say that it did. However, I recently purchased a large screen television so it was a much more critical viewing environment than I've been used to and when I played the shots back on a smaller screen they did look much more impressive. It is a standard not a high definition camera after all.
I've seen a lot of criticism for the FS10's low-light performance, but when I compared it to my old Hitachi digital8 camcorder it was substantially better. I found that by turning a few more lights on, I was getting reasonable results. You have to remember that although it looks like one, it's not an expensive camera and most other cameras at this price don't have great performance in this field either.
I was also a little disappointed that the files it saves (.mod) wouldn't directly play on either a Mac or a PC, but it turned out that after updating imovie 08 it interfaced with it very well even when using a card reader insted of hooking the camera itself up.
In summary, it's the features, its size and its usability that make this camera a winner - anyone who's waited five minutes for a tape based camera to wind from one end of a tape to the other will appreciate how quick and easy the SD system is. Also the battery life is fantastic because there is only the zoom motor to drive. Having a mic in socket is a definite plus and the sound quality is excellent. All in all its got a lot going for it - but the picture quality won't blow your socks off. There are many applications - such as shooting for use on Youtube, or for general family use - where it's more than good enough though and I'd definitely reccommend considering the FS series if this is the area your budget is in.
Where to buy
Canon FS10:
$199.99 - $498.95
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$199.99 | Yes |
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$199.99 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$498.95 | Yes |
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