Canon Vixia HF S11

Price range:

$1,209.00 - $1,399.99

 

Many companies turn out SD-based camcorders in compact designs, simply because the flash-based technologies allow for much smaller models than those based on tape, hard disks, and mini DVDs. While Canon continues to offer compact AVCHD models, the Vixia HF20 and HF200, the company's branching out with slightly more "pro" prosumer offerings in the Vixia HF S11, Vixia HF S10 and Vixia HF S100.
These three models, which record 1,920x1,080-pixel 60i resolution video, feature a larger, faster f1.8 10X HD lens and a relatively large, high-resolution 1/1.26-inch 8-megapixel CMOS sensor, along with higher-end capabilities, such as SMPTE color bars, the capability to manually boost gain up to 18dB, fixed 70 and 100 IRE zebra stripes, and a user-assignable button/control dial combo. They differ by internal memory--the HF S100 has none, while the HF S10 has 32GB and the HF S11 has 64GB--and the HF S11 adds Dynamic SuperRange OIS, designed to compensate better while walking and at wide angles, and Advanced Snapshot mode, which means you can pull four-second clips from videos in playback mode, as well as in capture mode. This review is based on my previous complete evaluation of the HF S10, with added detail based on testing of the new OIS system.