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| Product | Canon Vixia HF M41 (Black) | Canon Vixia HF G10 (Black) | Sony Handycam HDR-CX130 (Black) | Canon Vixia HV30 |
| Price | $1,499.99 | $1,079.00 | $244.00 to $541.42 | $899.99 |
| CNET editors' rating | 3.5 stars | 4 stars | 3 stars | 4 stars |
| Average user rating | 3.5 stars | 5 stars | 4 stars | 4 stars |
| Release date | March 15, 2011 | March 15, 2011 | March 15, 2011 | March 1, 2008 |
| Bottom line | A fine follow-up to last year's M3xx series, the Canon Vixia M4xx series should please most home-movie-oriented videographers despite its relatively high price. If you don't need the EVF, the M400 is your best buy, but if you'll be shooting a lot in sunlight, it's worth it to step up to the M41. | While it's got a great shooter feature set and good video quality, the Canon Vixia HF G10 still feels a bit expensive for what it offers. | Typical for their price class, the no-frills Sony Handycam HDR-CX130, CX160, and XR160 produce generally subpar HD video, but if you're not picky you'll probably be fine. The CX130 is the best buy of the three, as long as you go cheap on the memory card. | An extremely minor upgrade from the HV20, the Canon Vixia HV30 remains a quality HDV camcorder with a couple of performance issues. |
| Video input type | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder |
| Digital zoom | 200 x | 200 x | 350 x | 200 x |
| Optical zoom | 10 x | 10 x | 30 x | 10 x |
| Optical sensor type | CMOS | HD CMOS Pro | Exmor R CMOS | CMOS |
| Image stabilizer | Optical (Dynamic SuperRange) | Optical (Dynamic SuperRange) | Optical (Steady Shot with Active Mode) | Optical (SuperRange) |
| Lens aperture | F/1.8-3.0 | F/1.8-2.8 | F/1.8-3.4 | F/1.8-3.0 |
| Manual focus | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic |
| Media type | Flash card | Flash card | Flash card | Mini DV (HDV) |
| Weight | 12.7 oz | 19.2 oz | 8.8 oz | 1.2 lbs |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
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