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(More customer reviews)This is a long review because I took a lot of time in researching the camcorder I wanted, so I think my knowledge and use of this thing should be beneficial to SOMEONE out there. I had my eye on this thing before it was out, and saw reviews from some lucky people who got their hands on it before its release. Once I was able to order, Amazon shipped it in a not very well packaged box, but everything worked. It comes with a little remote, by the way, which came in handy when I connected the camcorder to our TV.
Preface: I am an intermediate video editor. I use Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5, sadly not CS3, and I easily figure out menus of electronics without needing to read manuals. So with that said, this camcorder was perfect for me. For beginners, it is still easy to use, but the more advanced features take some button pushing to access. Still, the basics are out in the open.
(By the way, I purchased the sapphire blue and it's more pretty in person than in the photos.)
I researched for a long while online, and after using the in-laws' Panasonic DV, I knew what I really, really wanted right now in a camcorder.
These were my requirements that I wouldn't budge on:
Small and Lightweight
Microphone input
Less than $500
Records to Flash Memory (Card)
As-close-to-great quality footage
These were optional:
High Definition
Cold/Hot Shoe Attachment
Ability to add other lenses
Digital Camera
So, the FS100 is compact. I knew it would be small, but I had no idea that the whole thing could sit in my hand. It also fits in my purse (and my purse isn't a huge "hobo" bag that many girls carry around these days). Because there are no "moving parts" and everything is recorded to a little memory card (SD), the camcorder is also very light and quiet. If it's still not quiet enough for you because you're in an extremely quiet surrounding, use an external mic.
I required an input for a microphone because, in the future, I'll want better sound for commercial purposes. Especially for when I want to upload my videos to the internet for promotional advertising (or perhaps Amazon reviews?). Or maybe for recording footage of my first child's birth - curses and all. ;D This is one of the very few "consumer" camcorders that allows mic-in.
DV is said to still be of great quality, but SD memory cards are just too cheap and reusable to pass up nowadays. Unless you're a pro editing video for professional purposes, your end-user isn't going to notice the difference between DV and flash memory. Memory cards are also lighter, smaller, and quiet. They make it easier to actually get my footage onto a disc, or stored on a NAS (Network Attached Storage) so that I don't have a stack of unlabeled DV tapes that haven't been watched since they were recorded.
Because the FS100 uses flash memory, recordings are stored as separate digital clips. Do you know what this means? This means my footage WON'T GET RECORDED OVER. You don't know how many times this has happened to me because someone picks up the camcorder and thinks the tape is blank.
The clips can also be placed into a playlist; you can choose where you want the clip to start, and voila - some basic playback editing without ever leaving the camcorder interface. You won't have to waste an entire DVD (or bore a viewer with vacation footage of your spouse snoring).
I used the FS100 *all day* in Hollywood, CA during an outing with two little girls and my friend. We were indoors, outdoors, in overcast, sunny, and shady areas. I also tested out the camera around our house and home office. I set the camcorder to its highest setting (using a 16GB card) and widescreen format. I fiddled with the lighting options depending on where I was so that I got the most natural color. It handled like a champ and I will go into quality details in a bit.
Zoom works amazingly well, obviously still has a bit of a shake in the end, but the stabilization seems better than other camcorders.
I worried about the battery life because it seemed short on paper, but using it all day without its Quick Start option (letting it hibernate so you can just open the screen and instantly record something), was dandy. The battery used up about 25% of its power! (By the way, you can view how the battery is doing without turning the camcorder on by a press of a button.)
Okay, CONS:
The programs it comes with are...crap. Sorry, but don't plan on using them for much unless you need very, very basic editing capabilities. Don't even consider using the still-photo camera. I don't know why Canon even bothered with it at all. Some cell phones take better pictures.
Since I have Premiere, I just wanted to use my reader, but a 16GB SD card requires me to purchase a newer reader because it's so large. I tried USB direct to my computer: WAY. TOO. SLOW. So I thought I would install the program for now just to transfer my footage, but that also was too slow. I ended up purchasing the Transcend reader on Amazon for ~$9 and it worked great.
The footage comes in .MOD files, which you can supposedly rename to .MPEG, but I downloaded SDCopy and it does this for me, as well as marks the footage as widescreen so that they play in Windows Media Player *in widescreen*. Without SDCopy, WMP plays the files in 4:3 format, which means everything looks squashed.
BUT, my Premiere doesn't see the files as widescreen at all. Windows Movie Maker does, but I really don't want to use that for editing. I tried Avidemux, and it didn't pull in the audio. So, I still have a problem to figure out.
My Premiere also didn't recognize the audio - in the MOD or MPEG files. I searched online and my version (Pro 1.5) picked up the audio once I uninstalled PowerDVD. (I know if you have Premiere CS3, then you can add a .DLL file that recognizes the audio.)
The camcorder doesn't like low light. Quality goes a bit downhill. It does have a light you can turn on, but it doesn't make that much of a difference.
I haven't played with the settings to see if I can fix this, but the camcorder also meters for the brightest thing it's looking at - which means a person in front of a window, or even if the window is off to the side, will be very dark. The light through the window just gets blown out, so I had to angle the camcorder away from such "direct" light to catch my subject-in-shadow nicely.
SUMMARY:
Great camcorder with lovely features, but complicating issues with retrieving files, so I couldn't give it 5 stars. Still love it.
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Canon FS100 Flash Memory Camcorder with 48x Advanced Zoom (Silver)Product Description: The FS100 is one of Canon's first Flash Memory camcorders. In addition to the advantage of added recording time, Flash Memory offers quick response time, because it doesn't have to wait for moving parts. The FS100's lower power consumption rate allows your battery to last longer. Measuring only 2.3" wide, 2.4" high and 4.9" deep, it combines big video storage capacity in a small, easy to carry body. The 2.7" Widescreen LCD on the FS100 lets you see more of what your camcorder is recording. With the FS100 you get a powerful 1.07 Megapixel CCD image sensor. The video you shoot will be sharp, clear and more true to life, as will your still photos. The Genuine Canon 48x Advanced Zoom on the FS100 extends the power of your zoom. In both wide angle and telephoto positions, there is virtually no loss in image quality throughout the range. The Canon DIGIC DV II Image Processor is the next generation of Canon's exclusive DIGIC DV signal processing technology to ensure optimal image quality for still images, even though video and still images have different color requirements. Focal Length - f=2.6-96.2mm Minimum Focusing Distance - 10mm (wide)/1m (tele) White Balance - Daylight, Tungsten, Auto, and Manual Programmed AE - Auto, Program, TV, Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, and Fireworks 2-channel Dolby Digital Audio (AC-3) 3.5mm Stereo Mini-jack Microphone Terminal Dimensions - Width 2.3 x Height 2.4 x Depth 4.9 (58x60x124mm) Weight - 9.2 ounces (260 grams)
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