Earlier this year, Kodak released the Zi6, a mini camcorder supplying HD resolution. The whole HD spin upped the ante for Flip Video, the current market leader in the straight-to-Web mini camcorder category. While we like the Zi6, it has some small drawbacks that make it hard to fully endorse over the smaller Mino and less expensive Ultra. Still, there's been some pressure for Flip Video to put out an HD model. And now it has: the MinoHD.
The MinoHD looks identical to that of its standard-def sibling, the Mino, and we similarly appreciate it mostly for its pocket-friendly design. (For a comparison of the various models, the company provides a comparison chart.) Both models are supercompact and weigh 3.3 ounces. Unless you buy directly from the company, the HD version is only available in black; if you order it via Flip's Web site, though, you can get snazzier custom versions at no extra cost. The USB connector flips straight up, rather than to the side, for a smaller footprint that should fit better in a crowded USB environment. It has a smallish 1.46-inch transflective LCD display that enables you to still see what's on the screen even in bright daylight. The back navigation controls have responsive touch-sensitive buttons embedded into a shiny, flush surface; we like them, but on occasion you'll accidentally touch a button you wished you hadn't.
A tripod mount sits on the center of the bottom of the camera. The port for the AV output features the Mino's same lilliputian jack--it's smaller than the standard 2.5mm jack--and while Flip includes a cable for connecting to a TV, the AV jack outputs only standard-definition video. By comparison, the Zi6's output supports HD and it ships with a cable that allows you to connect to the component-video jacks on your TV. That said, the video you get out of the MiniHD's composite connection looks sharper than that of the standard-def Mino and Ultra. Along with the cable you get a chamois-style carrying pouch that doubles as a cloth to wipe down your MinoHD.
Like its siblings, the MinoHD is designed to be exceedingly simple to use, and it is. Unlike some of its competitors, it provides virtually no settings to fiddle with apart from setting the date and time. You shoot in one resolution and that's it. There's no choice to drop to a lower video resolution to store more video, but why would you want to? Really, the MinoHD is all about pushing the red button to start and stop recording and hit the playback button to see what you recorded. That's pretty much it.
The same nonremovable rechargeable lithium ion battery as the Mino's powers the MinoHD. However, it only shoots up to 2 hours, compared with the standard Mino's 4 hours or so of juice. That's obviously a big difference. In addition, to accommodate the bigger high-resolution video files, the MinoHD comes equipped with double the memory: 4GB, capable of storing 60 minutes of 1,280x720 resolution (720p) video. The MinoHD has been upgraded to Flip Video's Pure Digital Video engine 3.0 processor from Version 2.5 and incorporates a slightly bigger 1/4.5-inch HD CMOS sensor. Additionally, it's rated for improved low-light sensitivity and uses a 9Mbps encoding rate (vs. 4Mbps for the Mino). And finally, the MinoHD uses the H.264 video compression scheme instead of Advanced Profile MPEG-4 AVI.
What does that all add up to? Well, in our review of the standard-def Mino, we concluded that the video was pretty sharp with fairly accurate, vibrant colors. But it didn't scale well; to keep it sharp you had to watch the video in a small box on your computer screen (the Mino's video looks OK on your TV via the video outputs, but it's still low-resolution video). With the MinoHD, you can play a clip full screen with no significant degradation. Again, you won't confuse the video for what you'd get from a real high-definition camcorder, but the video quality is pretty impressive for a camcorder this tiny.
Video shot in both bright and low light looked pretty good. We took some footage at an event inside the American Museum of Natural History (of Night at the Museum fame), and the camcorder was able to capture video in a very dimly lit room. It didn't look great, but the video wasn't nearly as noisy in low light as we seen from other camcorders of this ilk. The sound was also decent and improved over the Mino's, though we felt the mic could use a little more gain up.
However, there are some caveats. The MinoHD does much better when held steady (Amazon is currently bundling it with a mini tripod for a reason). The camcorder also has some focus issues, such as choosing the ground rather than the animal scampering across it, and you can't get too close to your subjects or they will be out of focus. And you'll also notice that videos don't always play with the smooth precision of a true high-def video; there's just a slight bit of jitter. (Flip Video reps says it helps to have a more powerful computer and not have a lot of applications open when you're playing back videos, but we noticed it on an 8-core Mac with nothing else running).
One of the Flip Video camcorders' key selling points is how easy it is to get videos off the camera and distribute them, and the tradition continues here. You simply flip out the USB connector and plug it into your Windows (Windows 2000/XP or later) or OS X (10.4 or later) machine and up pops FlipShare, the company's newly redesigned software. You can play back one clip, string several together to make a movie, pull a single frame (still photo) out of the video, and share your clips with selected viewers via e-mail or the Web.
When sharing via e-mail, instead of attaching a large file--even short 20-second clips can result in a 25MB file--recipients are sent a link to your compressed video. It looks worse than your raw video footage, but it doesn't look bad and Flip Video has made an effort to preserve some of the sharpness and HD qualities. Aside from the fact that it can take several minutes to process the video, sharing a file is very simple. Click on the "Share Video" button in the software interface and it takes you to a screen that asks you to select a video clip and choose to share it via e-mail, share a greeting (send a private video card), or share it online.
To publish directly to YouTube, AOL, or MySpace, you'll need to create an account for each service and log in. But once you do, you can automatically upload your videos to the Web for private or public viewing with a click of a button. If you're allied to some other video-sharing site, a click of a button allows you to prepare the video for uploading, but you'll have to manually upload the processed file from a folder on your desktop.
Overall, FlipShare's got a cleaner look and seems easier to use. But the video trimming feature is a little buried and it no longer has the Movie Mix feature, which we really liked. Previously, you could select the clips you liked, click a button, and a few minutes later, the software spat out a movie complete with transitions and special effects and even some background music (you could choose to add your own background music). However, by sacrificing Muvee, which powered the Movie Mix feature, the MinoHD gained Mac and iMovie compatibility. Now you can trim your clips, string them together, and add titles and music. But there's no press-a-button a get a movie.
Pure Digital also offers a make-your-own-DVD service. You upload up to an hour's worth of video to a special Web site to have it burned to a DVD, which then gets distributed to your family and friends at $19.99 a pop. The company also claims you can "keep your videos archived forever," but remember that "forever" doesn't mean the same thing to companies as it does to people.
In the end, the MinoHD marks another step forward for Flip Video and mini camcorders in general. The device isn't without its drawbacks: a relatively high price tag, no memory expansion slot, and a short-lived, nonremovable battery. The big question, of course, is whether the Mino is better than the Kodak Zi6. We think so: though some may like the larger Zi6, with its bigger LCD, the MiniHD's video quality is a little better and its smaller design will appeal to people looking for a camcorder that barely makes a bulge in your pocket.
The Canon Vixia HG20 is an excellent HD camcorder that's reasonably easy to operate out of the box and looks good, too. It's almost identical to the company's Vixia HF11, but rather than recording mainly to internal flash memory, it records to a hard drive. As for performance, it's as good if not better than the Sony Handycam HDR-SR11. So in the end, it comes down to a preference for flash memory or hard-disk drive as your storage medium of choice. And if it's for flash, your willingness to pay extra for it.
In addition to the price differential--which varies quite a bit on the Web, so it pays to shop around--there's only a few spec variations between the flash-based HF11 and the HG20. The obvious is the HG20's 60GB hard drive versus the HF11's 32GB internal memory. In recording time, it's 5 hours and 30 minutes to 2 hours and 55 minutes at 24Mbps (and both can be supplemented with SDHC cards). Ironically, there's more differentiation between HG20 and its brother, the HG21: in addition to a larger 120GB hard drive, the HG21 offers an eye-level viewfinder.
Aside from capacity, it's really just a matter of size and weight separating the HG20 and HF11; the HF11 is smaller and lighter at 2.9 inches wide by 2.5 inches high by 5.1 inches deep and 15.1 ounces to the HG20's dimensions of 3.1 inches wide by 3 inches high by 5.4 inches deep and 17.6 ounces. Positions for controls and I/O jacks are slightly altered between the two as well. Most notably the dial to switch from video/still record to video/still playback is on the back for the HG20, on the side for the HF11. However, regardless of the model, the controls are large and easy to operate.
A five-way joystick and Function button--which navigates frequently needed shooting settings--live on the bezel of the camcorder's smallish 2.7-inch LCD. Putting the controls out on the LCD instead of under the thumb can make it difficult to simultaneously change settings and keep the camcorder steady. In addition, manually focusing with the joystick can be a pain, regardless of the zoom-view focus assist.
The HG20 records AVCHD video at a maximum bit rate of 24Mbps, and can hold up to 22 hours 55 minutes of video at the lowest bit rate of 5Mbps. (There are five quality settings in all, which I find excessive.) That higher bit rate goes to support the full 1,920x1,080 capture, the norm for most of this year's new models, compared with 1,440x1,080 for older AVCHD camcorders, which required only a 12Mbps maximum bit rate. You can record best-quality movies to SDHC cards as long as it's a Class 4 or better (Class 6 is currently fastest).
Its optically stabilized f1.8-3.0 12x zoom lens has a longer reach than the typical 10x lens available in this class, but the rest of its features are pretty common in Canon's prosumer models. For video, these include aperture- and shutter-priority exposure modes, 3 fixed/1 variable zoom speed options, a video light, Instant AF, and a wind-screen filter. You can also record in progressive 30 or 24 frames per second modes, as well as 60i. For still photos, metering, flash, and burst and exposure bracketing, options become available as well. The camcorder also supplies a complete set of ports and connectors: component or mini-HDMI out for direct-to-TV playback, mini headphone and mic jacks, and USB for downloading to computer.
The lens performs surprisingly well. Not only does the SuperRange optical image stabilization system work satisfactorily all the way out to the end, but the lens focuses quickly and holds the lock in both dim and bright conditions. Images look sharp, too. On the downside, high-contrast edges show more fringing than usual. The stereo microphone sits beneath the lens and generally delivers good audio quality. However, in recent models, Canon changed the wind-filter option from a forced-on to automatic, and ever since we've found it far less effective. The microphone attenuation (zoom mic) works pretty well, too.
Video overall looks quite good despite the use of a small, 1/3.2-inch 3.3-megapixel CMOS sensor. Recordings were properly exposed, nicely saturated, and sharp. As expected, in low light the video displays a good deal of noise and a somewhat compressed tonal range, but retains a significant amount of detail and fares above average compared with the rest of its class.
For the most part, the 24Mbps video is indistinguishable from the 17Mbps except in low light; when viewed on a large-screen plasma TV, the higher bit-rate video displayed significantly more luminance noise than the lower bit rate. The lower bit-rate video looked slightly softer, however. The difference between the two was still noticeable, but not as pronounced, when viewed on my calibrated CRT display. Even when extracting individual frames, I didn't really see any fewer artifacts that would affect video editing. On the upside, there were no software incompatibility issues with the 24Mbps files.
An excellent choice for hard-disk-based HD recording, the HG20 gives the Sony HDR-SR11 a close run for the money and is a clear champion if you don't like the Sony's touch-screen interface. However, the real question is do you want more storage at a lower price or give up some storage space and extra cash for the smaller, lighter HF11. The HG20 gets my vote in that scenario.
Canon may not have been first out of the gate with a flash-based camcorder--or second, or third--but one of its debut models, the high-definition Vixia HF100, gets it right the first time. A sleek, matte-gray compact model with a well-rounded feature set, great video, and excellent performance, the HF100 definitely deserves a spot on your short list of potential home-movie camcorders.
Unlike its brother, the HF10, the HF100 lacks built-in memory, including just a slot for SDHC removable flash. Aside from that and the color, the two models are identical. This review is based on our evaluation of the HF10. The petite HF100 weighs 15.1 ounces with SD card and battery and measures 2.9 by 2.5 by 5.1 inches--small and light enough to fit into a large jacket pocket, which is about as good as it gets on the horizontal designs. That's a hair smaller than its main competitor, the Sony Handycam HDR-CX7 and significantly more compact than its cousins, the hard-disk-based Vixia HG10 or tape-based Vixia HV30. The plastic body feels quite solid, too.
Fortunately, the HF100 doesn't seem to suffer from the usability issues that usually accompany shrinkage. The controls remain large and easy to operate, though Canon has relocated many of them. The Function button and joystick, which call up and navigate frequently needed shooting settings, now live on the LCD bezel. I'm not a big fan of designs that do this, mostly because I find it more difficult to simultaneously operate the controls and hold the camera steady when they're on the LCD than when they lie under my right thumb. In addition, manually focusing with the joystick on the camcorder's smallish 2.7-inch LCD can be a pain, regardless of the zoom-view focus assist. (For more on the design, click through to this slide show.)
It records AVCHD video at a maximum of 17 megabits per second (2 hours and 5 minutes of video), and can hold up to 6 hours and 5 minutes of video at the lowest bit rate of 5Mbps. That higher bit rate goes to support the full 1,920x1,080 capture, the norm for most of this year's new models, compared with 1,440x1,080 for older AVCHD camcorders that required only a 12Mbps maximum bit rate. You can record best-quality movies to the card as long as it's a Class 4 SDHC or better (Class 6 is currently fastest): the Class 4 16GB Kingston card I tested with worked fine.
Its optically stabilized f1.8-3.0 12X zoom lens has a longer reach than the typical 10x lens available in this class, but the rest of its features are pretty common in Canon's prosumer models. For video, these include aperture- and shutter-priority exposure modes, three fixed/one variable zoom speed options, a video light, Instant AF, and a wind-screen filter. You can also record in progressive 30 or 24 frames-per-second (fps) modes as well as 60i. For still photos, metering, flash, and burst and exposure bracketing options become available as well. The camcorder also supplies a complete set of ports and connectors: component or mini-HDMI out for direct-to-TV playback, mini headphone and mic jacks, and USB for downloading to computer. (You can find a complete list of the features in the product manual available via this PDF download.)
The new lens performs surprisingly well. Not only does the SuperRange optical image stabilization system work satisfactorily all the way out to the end, but the lens focuses quickly and holds the lock in both dim and bright conditions. Images look sharp, too. On the downside, high-contrast edges show more fringing than usual. The stereo microphone sits beneath the lens and generally delivers good audio quality. However, in recent models Canon changed the wind filter option from a forced-on to automatic, and ever since I've found it far less effective.
As is usual with compact designs, Canon provides a new 890mAh battery with the HF100, the BP-809, which is rated for about 55 minutes of typical recording time. The company offers an optional double-capacity battery, the BP-819. The larger battery likely ruins the svelte lines of the camcorder design, however.
Though the HF100 incorporates a smaller, 1/3.2-inch 3.3-megapixel CMOS sensor than the HV30 and the CX7, the video still looks quite good: properly exposed, nicely saturated, and sharp. As expected, in low light the video displays more noise and a somewhat compressed tonal range, but retains a significant amount of detail and fares above average compared with the rest of its class.
An excellent choice for flash-based HD recording, the HF100 gives the CX7 a close run for the money, and it is a clear champion if you don't like the Sony's touch-screen interface. But then the real question becomes which model is the better deal--the Vixia HF10 or the HF100. The cost difference between the two exactly reflects the current price of the HF10's internal 16GB of flash memory, which makes it tempting to recommend buying the cheaper model and springing for an additional card when the prices inevitably fall (or paying the same for a larger card, when they inevitably ship) later in the year. On the other hand, the HF10's black body is a bit more attractive than the HF100's gray. Decisions, decisions.
Panasonic wisely halved the price of its formerly top-of-the-line twin AVCHD camcorders, the hard-drive-based Panasonic HDC-HS100 and flash-based HDC-SD100, after they'd only been on the market for about six months. Though they provide a decent manual feature set and a trio of CMOS chips, they simply don't deliver the video quality you expect from models that cost more than $1,000. Even at their lower, sub-$600 prices, they still have trouble competing.
The two incorporate the same optical and capture systems, including 3 1/6-inch MOS chips with effective video resolutions of 520,000 pixels each and a 12x f1.8-2.8 zoom lens. The HS100 records to a 60GB hard disk or optional SDHC card, while the SD100 is SDHC only. Because of the different media, the camcorders have slightly different designs, but the same feature sets and should have identical video quality. The highest video quality they offer is 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution at 30fps at 17 megabits per second, and can record about 7.5 minutes of video per gigabyte of storage space or approximately 7.5 hours of video on the hard disk. The next level down, 13Mbps, gets about 10 minutes per gigabyte.
Because of the hard drive, the HS100 is bigger and heavier: slightly more than a pound with dimensions of 2.9 inches wide by 2.9 inches tall by 5.4 inches long. It's comfortable to hold, especially with the extra ridge provided by the drive. One of the nicest aspects of the camcorder is that it retains an EVF, a feature that many manufacturers are dropping. I also like that there's a toggle switch next to it for jumping between it and the LCD; normally, camcorders automatically turn on the LCD when you open it.
Of course, Panasonic had to provide a switch because so many of the controls live inside the LCD recess. These include the menu button, navigation joystick, and optical image stabilization button. Above them, outside the cavity, are the Intelligent Auto and 3-second prerecord; below, under hard covers, are the component video out connector, headphone jack, and SD card slot. One of the most irritating aspects of the camcorder's design is the placement of the USB and HDMI connectors behind the battery. Since you actually have to remove the battery to use them, you also have to plug the camcorder into the AC adapter. While I can somewhat understand forcing users to run on AC power while downloading video, it's not necessary for connecting to a TV.
On the camera's front, there's a video light and covered microphone jack; the built-in 5.1 surround mic sits on top of the lens, in front of the covered accessory shoe. Adjacent to the lens is a sliding switch that toggles between Auto and manual focus/zoom. The latter works in conjunction with a servoelectronic zoom ring on the lens. Another button there offers selections of white balance, shutter speed, and iris controls--you then cycle through each of their options using the ring. So, for example, to adjust shutter speed you press the button (which is fairly difficult to press), rotate the ring to select shutter speed, press the button again, then rotate the ring to choose the specific speed. This is similar to the way Sony and Canon's models operate, though they have a separate dial.
While I generally like the ring--it feels smooth and responsive, though it does operate in the infinite circle which makes servoelectronic controls annoying--it can get confusing jumping back and forth between manual focus, manual zoom, shutter speed, iris, and so on all on that single control. I tried to zoom, only to discover I was accidentally changing the white balance. I usually like joysticks, but I had mixed feelings about this one. As with the older HDC-SD9, the joystick is in an especially odd place that requires some getting used to; for instance, pressing the joystick toward you produces the same result as moving it to the right in a traditional orientation, while pressing it away will navigate to the left. It's also fairly recessed, making it a bit hard to manipulate precisely.
Performance isn't bad. Though a cold start takes a few seconds longer than I'd like--it has to power up the hard disk and read the file structure--there's a standby Quick Start mode to power on when you open the LCD. (It's fairly power hungry, however, using 70 percent of the power as when fully operational.) At 2.7 inches, the LCD is a typical size for this class of camcorder, but it has a slightly higher resolution; overall, it's pretty good. And the EVF, while coarse and not particularly color accurate, is far better than nothing, which is what you get on most competitors. And the options for shutter speed and iris are as broad and flexible as you'll get on an entry-level pro model. For instance, the iris opens as wide as 18dB in 3dB increments and closes to F16 in half stops. Although the shutter speeds start at a rather high 1/60 sec (in auto modes they'll drop lower), they go as high as 1/8,000.
The zoom, both the ring and the switch, both feel relatively precise and easy to control, and the camcorder focuses reasonably quickly in all but the lowest light. The audio sounds a tad thin, but acceptable. And Panasonic's optical stabilization works solidly out to the end of the zoom range.
Disappointingly, though, the video just doesn't stand up to the competition. The camcorder renders good color and a fairly broad dynamic range--there are some blown out whites but nothing too severe. Unfortunately, thanks to the low-resolution sensors--even as a trio they don't have enough pixels for native 1080p HD resolution and barely enough for 720p--edges are soft and smeary with some ghosting and there simply isn't enough sharp detail. It does produce quite noise-free low-light video, but I'd sacrifice just a little more noise for increased sharpness.
For the price, the Panasonic HDC-HS100 offers a relatively high-end feature set, and it's one of the few models in this price class to offer an EVF. Too bad the video quality can't match the camcorder's other attractions.