Customer Rating:  
Summary: One deal breaker for me
Comment: I'm going to keep this short. Other reviewers have pointed out the many great things about this camcorder, and there are many. Unfortunately, there is one deal breaker for me, and I'm absolutely shocked that more people haven't mentioned it.....the lens is not wide angle enough!! I bought this a week ago to take on vacation. I am in Orlando right now doing the Disney thing, and I'm in a big suite, and I am constantly backing up, and telling my kids to back up, so I can get them in the picture. Even then, it's still not quite enough, and I'm not getting the shots I want. Just to make sure I wasn't being too critical, I asked my 19 year old stepson what he thought (and he's a film/video major in college right now), and he totally agreed. He said his much less expensive JVC has a much, much wider angle (of course the overall quality of the camera and of the videos is less than the Canon).
To put it in perspective, consider the 2 top competitors to the Canon HF S200, the Panasonic TM700 and the Sony CX550V. Without hashing out the merits of the 3 camcorders, just know that the wide on the Canon is 43, the wide on the Panasonic is 35, and the wide on the Sony is 29. Huge differences!!!
If you plan on doing videos of the family at home, as I do, I really think you want to consider this. It's a problem for me, and it may be a problem for you. Not sure if this is a tradeoff between higher quality video and photos and having a wider angle lens. I'm going to return my HF S200 and do some more research to find a better balance. I need that wider angle!
**Update 7-21-10**Wrappinig up my vacation, and I realized that there is another huge negative for this camera (and any camera without a viewfinder).....I was shooting video outside all week, and it was a total crapshoot. I couldn't see a thing on the LCD due to the sun. Again, this is not a knock to this camera specifically, but to any camera that does not have an EVF. I know that this is not an issue for many (most) people, but something to consider if you plan on shooting vacation videos outside in the bright sun.
Customer Rating:
Summary: So far so good.
Comment: I've had this camera for 2 months now and am very happy with it. It's easy to use, the picture is (obviously) great and it takes very nice still photos which allows me to take only one camera along most of the time. Would advise against getting the built in memory as the price of SD cards drops quickly. Only possible complaint would be the battery which only lasts about an hour. Would also be nice to have a viewfinder since the screen can be hard to see in bright light. Not a deal breaker though by any means. Easily compatible with a mac.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simply put... great camera
Comment: I've had this camera for a few weeks now and I am in love with it. I'm a film student and wanted to buy a camera that i=I can shoot great quality shots with but I didn't want to have to pay 2 or 3 grand for an entry level professional grade camera. I had been looking at the 2009 model of this camera for a while and was just about to buy it when this one came out. Boy am I glad I did. Even though it's essentially the same camera, the things that are added to this model and the lower price was what made me buy it the week it came out.
Ok now that I've explained the reasoning for me buying the camera, i'll get to the quality of it. The picture on it is simply amazing, especially when shooting in cinema mode native 24p. The touch screen is awesome and allows for a larger screen by eliminating the need for physical buttons. The dual SD card capabilities are great as well.
The only "bad" part of this camera is that to be able to edit AVCHD footage that is shot in native 24p you have to have a video program that can handle it, free programs like iMovie and Windows Movie Maker won't process it. You'll have to go with programs like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere to be able to edit this footage.
But despite that minor con this camera is amazing. It's great price for the quality of video you get.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best HD Camcorder ever!
Comment: This is the best camcorder I have ever owned. The videos are clean and stunning. It also lets you take pictures and the pictures I've taken with it are much better than pictures I have taken with my regular digital camera.. I would definitely recommend this to everyone. It's pretty expensive, but worth it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Camera!
Comment: Easy to use and great looking footage! Really sets videos apart on a lower budget.
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