Canon HF-11 Camcorder

[Nicke]

I am looking into a new camcorder, my old one Sony with mini dv tapes is a big hassle to use as it needs so much storage on harddrive and then I have to convert it to a compressed video format.

So I am looking for a Canon HF11 with 32GB internal memory, and memory cards can be used aswell. (Support HDTV too)

Want to make more movies of the kids and also have more video content on the website in the future.

Visited PowerBuy at Central today but they didnt have it, have anyone seen this model anywhere on the island? Or have used it and can recommend it?

[Coolhand]

Suggested retail price in HKG is HK$11980 - I may be able to get it at 20% off that if you are interested.

[Nicke]

Thanks, I will try to find out the price for it in Thailand first. (Its on Canon Thailand website but no price tag)

But I did however thought it should be cheaper, as its listed under $1000 USD on review sites I visited, even down to $700-800 USD on some sites.

[Coolhand]

Hong Kong is not really cheap any more - I will try and get a price and availability of my dealer.

[LivinLOS]

829.95 or 46,300 on amazon.co.uk..

I got some canon gear from the canon UK outlet store recently at about 2/3rd amazon pricing. Might even manage to get the 15% VAT back too.

Its only USD 669.95 is anyones coming from the US http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=REG&A=details

[Halley G]

Originally Posted by Nicke

I am looking into a new camcorder, my old one Sony with mini dv tapes is a big hassle to use as it needs so much storage on harddrive and then I have to convert it to a compressed video format.

So I am looking for a Canon HF11 with 32GB internal memory, and memory cards can be used aswell. (Support HDTV too)

Want to make more movies of the kids and also have more video content on the website in the future.

Visited PowerBuy at Central today but they didnt have it, have anyone seen this model anywhere on the island? Or have used it and can recommend it?

got a canon HG 10
excellent

think it was round 4-500 euro

[paulf1]

Hey Nicke,
B&H has the HF 11 for 669.95 and they are a great retailer used them many times not sure how soon you want one but I will be over at the end of Aug.

Paul

[Rex7777]

Don't forget, some of the newer camcorders that record on memory cards (AVCHD) aren't necessarily compatible with some of the older computers and software. The cameras are light years ahead of the computers. On the other hand, maybe getting the right software isn't such a problem in Thailand, with all the pirate software available.

[Pinot]

Here is a review on CNet

Canon Vixia HF11 Digital Camcorder reviews - CNET Reviews

Have you checked out this new Flip Video Camera? This point and shoot mini camcorder shoots 60 minutes of video in HD for under $200. You can by 3 of these instead of the above. Here is the review:

Flip UltraHD (black) Digital Camcorder reviews - CNET Reviews

[LivinLOS]

Originally Posted by Rex7777

Don't forget, some of the newer camcorders that record on memory cards (AVCHD) aren't necessarily compatible with some of the older computers and software. The cameras are light years ahead of the computers. On the other hand, maybe getting the right software isn't such a problem in Thailand, with all the pirate software available.

I dont get what you mean ??

Of course a new memory card needs a new card reader.. But those are dime a dozen and I would think thats kind of obvious, if I dont have a SDHC reader I need one to read SDHC cards.

The only formats I can think of would be non standardized formats liek camera RAW where the camera needs support as the format is not rigid.

[LivinLOS]

Originally Posted by Pinot

Have you checked out this new Flip Video Camera? This point and shoot mini camcorder shoots 60 minutes of video in HD for under $200. You can by 3 of these instead of the above. Here is the review:

Flip UltraHD (black) Digital Camcorder reviews - CNET Reviews

I was hinking of one of these.. Bee really wants a video recorder and I have very little interest so it des it cheaply AND gives me a cheap solution I could wire onto my bike for some road trip bike recording in the twisties.

[Rex7777]

Originally Posted by LivinLOS

I dont get what you mean ??

Of course a new memory card needs a new card reader.. But those are dime a dozen and I would think thats kind of obvious, if I dont have a SDHC reader I need one to read SDHC cards.

The only formats I can think of would be non standardized formats liek camera RAW where the camera needs support as the format is not rigid.

I guess the AVCHD format isn't necessarily recognized by all the existing computers and software. Or, at least that's what my little brother told me. He recently bought his daughter a new Canon camcorder that records on flash memory. However, he tells me there was some problem getting the computers to recognize the movie clips. They're still playing around with it, but were able to solve the problem, in part, by using some version of Roxio to do a conversion of the files. I'm not sure what that does to the High Definition aspect of it all, though. Also, some of the files can be huge, so you'll end up needing a large external hard drive if you do a significant amount of shooting.

[LivinLOS]

Ahh I see what you mean.. Installing codec support..

[Nautilus]

The Canon Malaysia sites shows the price at MYR 4,999.00 OUCH !!

I am very confused with the many CODECs out there. Is there a universal software?

[Nicke]

There must be something different between US and Europe/SEA model, the price different is huge. In the past NTSC was a reason not to buy US models, but now when it is digital it cant be any big difference apart from 110v for the battery charger? (Maybe video output is NTSC instead of PAL if you play directly from the camera, but today's TVs play both fine)

AVCHD is standard for all camcorders for high definition and supported by most video editing software aswell.

[Rex7777]

Originally Posted by Nicke

There must be something different between US and Europe/SEA model, the price different is huge. In the past NTSC was a reason not to buy US models, but now when it is digital it cant be any big difference apart from 110v for the battery charger? (Maybe video output is NTSC instead of PAL if you play directly from the camera, but today's TVs play both fine)

AVCHD is standard for all camcorders for high definition and supported by most video editing software aswell.

I just looked on Amazon and can get the HF11 for $699. I'd be suspicious of anything substantially cheaper than that. Anyway, why not just compare the specs with whatever model they sell in Europe?

[THAICAM]

Some information on the camera, prices, etc...

Canon HF-11 Camcorder | B&H Photo Video

[LivinLOS]

Originally Posted by Nautilus

The Canon Malaysia sites shows the price at MYR 4,999.00 OUCH !!

I am very confused with the many CODECs out there. Is there a universal software?

I use the cccp pack for highdef and ffdshow takes care of all I throw at it..

EDIT a quick gogle hit shows its just a h264 variant.. Not that complex, also win7 has h264 support out the box.

[Nicke]

I had a look again at Canon TH's homepage and now there is 4 new models in this category (Flash memory based, HD);

Legria HF 20
Legria HF 200
Legria HF S10
Legria HF S100

(Legria = Vixia in US market)

HF11 is last year's model and may be the reason why price is so low in US, as the new models entered the market.

Also found out that standard (Non HD) cameras is a lot cheaper, e.g. 12-20,000 baht range. Resolution is still higher than DVD and older cameras, e.g. 1152x864 and 1152x648 (Widescreen). So the question is if its worth to pay double price for full HD? Will read reviews for this category to learn more about them.

[Rex7777]

One suggestion about the full HD. The Vimeo website has an HD channel with different videos posted in HD. You can search by camera model and see videos taken with different camcorders. I'm not sure how much difference you can tell from the web, though. Mainly, I think the difference would be noticeable if you were to watch the movies on a bigger screen, as a 40" or above.

[dennisinkamala]

Ive got a JVC Everio HDD plus SD card.

Has a 40gig hard drive, can record between 9 and 50 hours dependant on quality chosen and has a 34 optical zoom.

Had the thing for 2 years and found it good quality and easy to use.

Cheapish too as I remember.

You want to borrow it to assess everything Nicke let me know.

[Nicke]

I am doing my visa run to KL, as I couldnt find any models I wanted in Phuket I bought it here today instead. I bought a Canon HF S100, same as S10 but without internal memory, only memory cards. Also bought a 32Gb memory card. List price is 4999 rm, got it down to 4699 rm, good deal, almost 10k baht more in Thailand.

S10/S100 has got very good reviews too.

Thanks to Nautilus for checking out shops that had it in stock before I arrived.

[inthemode]

Originally Posted by Nicke

There must be something different between US and Europe/SEA model, the price different is huge. In the past NTSC was a reason not to buy US models, but now when it is digital it cant be any big difference apart from 110v for the battery charger? (Maybe video output is NTSC instead of PAL if you play directly from the camera, but today's TVs play both fine)

AVCHD is standard for all camcorders for high definition and supported by most video editing software aswell.

I have done a bit of research you need to buy a PAL camera and be carefull of the workflow stuff.

AVCHD might be getting better but I didn't go with it was warned it's a bit troublesome, with what I was doing but it might work for you.

You need a PAL system camera

I just read you bought the camera.....never mind enjoy

With the girls making the curry they really were good at the physical part of gripping the instrument

[mjwx]

Originally Posted by inthemode

You need a PAL system camera

Most camera's sold outside the US are PAL. The NTSC standard was only really used in Japan and the US and with digital TV NTSC is dying a slow but well deserved death.

PAL and NTSC are analogue encoding systems anyway, Digital camera's use different encoding.

[steve w]

Originally Posted by Nicke

I am doing my visa run to KL, as I couldnt find any models I wanted in Phuket I bought it here today instead. I bought a Canon HF S100, same as S10 but without internal memory, only memory cards. Also bought a 32Gb memory card. List price is 4999 rm, got it down to 4699 rm, good deal, almost 10k baht more in Thailand.

S10/S100 has got very good reviews too.

Thanks to Nautilus for checking out shops that had it in stock before I arrived.

just saw you in the bar playing with it! 5555

[Nicke]

Yes, I played on the beach during the afternoon and in the bar in the night time. Daytime video is excellent, night time can be a bit dark, still OK but not good. With the internal light turned on it was better. So I guess I want to buy VL-5 video light accessory next for night life movies.

Originally Posted by steve w

just saw you in the bar playing with it! 5555

[Rex7777]

Let us know how the editing goes. I got my niece an Intel Mac so she could edit her HD Canon videos, but I haven't yet heard how she's doing.

Here in the USA, I can get a similar Canon for $999, so I guess that's a good deal compared to Malaysia. Maybe I'll buy one.