Canon HF S21

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First on our list is Canon's newly minted HF S21, which will be hitting the shelves sometime next month (April 2010). The HF S21 is one of the more expensive consumer camcorders on the market (its list price is $1399), but it is still a whole lot cheaper than any professional or prosumer camcorder out there. The HF S21 produced some of the sharpest, most detailed images out of the high-end consumer camcorders we tested this year. The camcorder can record to its 64GB of internal flash memory in addition to its dual SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slots. Click here to read our full review of the Canon HF S21.

One of our favorite features of the Canon HF S21 is its front-mounted control dial that can be used to adjust focus, exposure, shutter speed, aperture, gain, or audio levels. You'll probably notice most of the models listed in this article have some sort of control dial or lens ring, but we feel that the HF S21 has the best setup overall. The dial rotates with the perfect amount of friction, and a button located on its front allows you to choose what manual control you are adjusting without having to go through any menus.

Aperture and shutter speed cannot be set independently on the HF S21, which is a bit of a downer. Both can only be adjusted manually in priority control modes. Gain is also not fully adjustable, with the camcorder instead allowing you to set the auto gain control limit anywhere between 0dB and 24dB. Canon has a few color controls on the HF S21, but the range of adjustment available isn't very strong. Still, the HF S21 is one of the few consumer camcorders that offers control over things like contrast, sharpness, and color depth. Read more about the manual controls on the HF S21 here.

We feel the size of the HF S21 should appeal to student filmmakers. Compared to most consumer camcorders, the HF S21 is not a small product, and its bulky design should give you a bit of professional authority when you whip it out for an interview or shooting session. Our only complaint is that the camcorder didn't feel all that comfortable in our palm due to its boxy right-side design. Still, if you're shooting on a tripod most of the time this won't be an issue.

Other benefits of the Canon HF S21 include its electronic viewfinder, a 3.5-inch LCD, external mic and headphone jacks, and a Canon-proprietary accessory shoe. The camcorder also features a LANC terminal, which can be used to connect a wired remote control—often found on professional tripods or other recording equipment. The Canon HF S21 is also the first non-tape camcorder to offer a native 24p record mode. In addition to this native record mode, the camcorder also offers its PF30 and PF24 modes, which offer the look of 24p and 30p while not actually saving the videos in those frame rates natively.

There are a few downsides to the HF S21 as well. Its accessory shoe only works with Canon products due to its proprietary design. So, if you have a favorite video light or shotgun mic that's not made by Canon, you'll have to purchase a third-party adapter for them to work with the accessory shoe on the HF S21. The camcorder's optical image stabilization wasn't the best we've ever seen, but it still did a decent job (and it has lots of different settings). The 3.5mm external mic jack is left uncovered by Canon, which we see as a big no-no. We expect lots of student filmmakers to just toss their camcorders into a bag when they're in a hurry, and an unprotected port can easily be harmed in this type of situation.

The HF S21 is part of a series from Canon that also includes the HF S20 and HF S200. The HF S21 is the only camcorder in this series to include an electronic viewfinder, but the only other differences between the three camcorders is price and internal memory (the HF S20 has 32GB of internal memory and the HF S200 records to memory cards only). Read our full review of the HF S21 here.

Panasonic HDC-TM300

Panasonic HDC-TM300

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In overall performance, the Panasonic HDC-TM300 was our best-reviewed camcorder in 2009. The TM300's bright light video may not have looked quite as good as what we saw from the Canon HF S21 or JVC GZ-HM400, but where those models faltered in low light, the HDC-TM300 shined. If you're planning on doing a lot of hand-held shooting in low light situations, you should definitely check out the HDC-TM300. The HDC-TM300 lists for $1299 and it comes with 32GB of internal flash memory (as well as an SD/SDHC memory card slot). Click here to read our full review of the HDC-TM300.

 

The HDC-TM300 is a far more compact model than the Canon HF S21 and it felt extremely comfortable in our hand. Its smooth, rounded edges and well-built hand strap make it the perfect camcorder for extensive hand-held shooting. Panasonic's optical image stabilization also did quite well in our testing, which is always a plus.

Instead of a control dial, the HDC-TM300 has a fully rotatable lens ring that is both easy to access and feels good to manipulate. The problem with the ring, however, is that you can't use it to adjust most controls unless the LCD panel is closed (and you shoot using the electronic viewfinder). With the LCD open, the lens ring can only be used to adjust focus or zoom—other controls like white balance, shutter speed, and aperture must be set using the touchscreen interface. This limitation disturbs us, but for some people it may not even be an issue.

The HDC-TM300 boasts one of the most extensive sets of manual controls you'll find on a consumer camcorder. Aperture and shutter speed can both be adjusted independently, focus and white balance are also available for manual adjustment, and the camcorder has a wide variety of manual audio controls. Our only gripe is the fact that gain can only be set when the aperture is fully open on the camcorder. This eliminates the ability to use gain to boost the image brightness without adjusting aperture, and it can make it impossible to control depth of field in certain shooting situations. Read more about the manual control features on the HDC-TM300 here.

The HDC-TM300 has a picture adjustment setting that is buried in the camcorder's menu. Here you'll find options for controlling sharpness, color, and exposure, but you have to dig through numerous menu screens before you have the chance to actually make adjustments. We wish these options were more easily accessible (particularly the exposure setting) to the videographer.

Unlike the Canon HF S21, the HDC-TM300's only alternate frame rate is a non-native 24p mode (called Digital Cinema Mode). This mode is the same as Canon's PF24 setting in that it captures footage at 24 frames per second, but the video is recorded at 60i.

As far as connectivity features go, the HDC-TM300 has the basic ports: AV-out, Component-out, HDMI, USB, DC-input, external mic, and headphone jack. The camcorder also has a cold accessory shoe that should fit most accessories. The shoe is located on the side of the camcorder and it comes with a slide-in adapter to give you more room to mount your accessory (see photos above).

The HDC-TM300 was Panasonic's flagship camcorder from 2009 (along with the HDC-HS300). Panasonic recently announced its new flagship models for 2010—the HDC-TM700 and HDC-HS700—which have a number of updated features, but should offer similar performance to the HDC-TM300. Look for our review of the HDC-TM700 soon. Read our full-length review of the HDC-TM300 here.

 

JVC GZ-HM400

JVC GZ-HM400

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The JVC GZ-HM400 is an intriguing camcorder for the student filmmaker mainly because it can easily be found for less than $1000. The camcorder has many of the same features as the Canon HF S21 and Panasonic HDC-TM300, but it did run into some serious trouble with our low light testing. If you're looking for a camcorder that will primarily be used for outdoor or well-lit shoots, the JVC GZ-HM400 is a worthy candidate. The camcorder includes 32GB of internal flash memory and has one SD/SDHC memory card slot. Click here to read our full review of the GZ-HM400.

The adjustment dial on the GZ-HM400 is designed in a similar vein to what you get on the Canon HF S21, albeit with some slight differences. We like the feel of Canon's dial better, as it is larger and smoother, but we like the dedicated buttons and switches that are included on the GZ-HM400. Right behind the dial is a knob that lets you switch between having the dial control brightness or focus. On the back of the camcorder are aperture-priority and shutter-priority buttons, which, when pressed, enable the control dial to adjust these settings. Read more about the manual controls available on the GZ-HM400 here.

 

The GZ-HM400 is roughly the same size as the Canon HF S21 and it has a similar uncomfortable feel on its right side. The GZ-HM400's hand strap is also not as good as what the Canon HF S21 and Panasonic HDC-TM300 have, although this won't really be an issue if you end up using a tripod for most of your shots. While both the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Canon HF S21 use touchscreen interfaces for navigating menus, the GZ-HM200 implements JVC's Laser Touch operation. The Laser Touch can be very frustrating to use, and it is not a good tool for setting manual controls. The fact that you can adjust most settings with the control dial makes the finicky Laser Touch less of a problem.

 

With the GZ-HM400 you're getting a solid bright light camcorder that has significant deficiencies in low light. This, combined with the fact that it feels a bit cheaper and doesn't have as many features as other high-end models (like a viewfinder), is the main reason it costs less than the Canon HF S21 and Panasonic HDC-TM300. The HM400 also does not have a 24p or 30p recording option, and its slow motion recording modes capture very low-quality video (we would not recommend them for the student filmmaker). Still, despite its setbacks, the GZ-HM400 can be a good choice for a student who is shopping on a budget—particularly if they are planning on recording video outdoors or in well-lit environments. Read our full-length review of the GZ-HM400 here.

Canon HV40

Canon HV40

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The final model on our list is the Canon HV40, and it finds itself here for one primary reason—it records HD video to MiniDV tape. All of the other models we talked about either record to internal memory or removable SD/SDHC memory cards, which is definitely the direction the consumer camcorder industry is heading. Sometimes, however, the hot new technology isn't always the best for a student filmmaker, as there are a number of difficulties associated with recording to non-linear media. The Canon HV40 is also available at a fairly low cost: the camcorder lists for $999, but it can be found for even cheaper if you shop around. Read our full-length review of the Canon HV40 here.

With the Canon HV40, you have a tangible backup of all your recorded video. As long as you keep the tape safe, you never have to worry about losing your footage. With camcorders that record to memory cards, on the other hand, you must consistently backup your footage to an external hard drive or media storage device—otherwise you run the risk of losing your precious videos forever when they are deleted. Even footage that is stored on a hard drive is more prone to corruption than footage recorded to tape. Hard drives often fail or become damaged, which can result in the loss of entire projects or years worth of footage. Read more about the benefits and disadvantages of recording to tape with the HV40 here.

Another benefit of the Canon HV40 is that the camcorder uses HDV compression, which is the standard compression for HD video that is recorded to tape. While HDV files are still very large and can be difficult for a computer to handle, the files are nowhere near as power-hungry as AVCHD (the standard compression format for non-tape HD camcorders). Ideally, you'll want to have a very robust computer to edit AVCHD effectively, while editing HDV video requires a less powerful machine.

The Canon HV40 is also one of the few HD camcorders that also has options for standard definition recording (Sony, Sanyo, and Samsung camcorders also have this option). Having the ability to record SD video may be a godsend to a student filmmaker who simply doesn't have the hard drive space or a powerful enough computer to handle HD video.

The Canon HV40 is definitely not as flashy as the other models we've talked about in this article, but it does have some intriguing features for the student filmmaker. The camcorder offers a native 24p setting much like the Canon HF S21, and it has a good set of manual controls. One drawback is that the HV40's control dial isn't very good, plus it only lets you adjust focus. All other manual controls must be set with the navigation joystick on the back of the camcorder.

The HV40 is a bit bulkier than the models we mentioned previously, but its extra girth is primarily attributed to the large tape deck on its right side. The camcorder does have a memory card slot, but it is only used for storing still images (not video). As far as performance goes, the HV40 managed decent results in our testing—with stabilization being a notable exception. Overall, we feel the AVCHD camcorders did a better job capturing video, but the Canon HV40 still managed to capture a sharp, detailed image in both bright and low light.

Since the HV40 records to tape, it's the only camcorder in this article that has a FireWire port. This port is mostly used as a way to transfer video footage from tape onto a computer, but it can also be used as a way to digitize footage by routing a non-digital signal through the camcorder's AV input. In this sense, the HV40 can be used as a digital converter box as well as a camcorder, which is something that may appeal to certain student filmmakers.

Our recommendation is that if you have a computer that is up to the task to handle AVCHD, then you should go for one of flash memory models we discussed earlier in this article (the Canon HF S21, Panasonic HDC-TM300, or JVC GZ-HM400). If you're weary of recording to non-linear media, however, or you don't have a powerful computer, then the Canon HV40 is definitely a reasonable option. Read our full-length review of the HV40 here.

Conclusion

Conclusion

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If you're a student filmmaker and you want the most extensive set of manual controls and features available to you, then you have to purchase a professional-grade camcorder. If you can get by with having basic manual controls and simple connectivity features, however, then you could easily produce a student masterpiece with any of the products listed throughout this article. Each of the camcorders we discussed are capable of capturing top-notch HD video that rivals what we've seen from professional camcorders that can cost 3-5 times as much money.

We did not include the Sony HDR-XR520V or HDR-CX500V in this article because those two camcorders—while being able to capture high-quality video—do not have many manual control options (no aperture or shutter speed control). The new Sony HDR-CX550V, however, does have some additional manual control options, so we may have to add it to our list once we bring it in for a full-length review.

Of the models we discussed in this article, we feel the Canon HF S21 is probably the best suited for the student filmmaker. It looks the most professional, its set of features and controls are very impressive, and it did a very good job in our performance testing. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 may have better performance overall (particularly in low light), but if you're shooting at a well-lit set we think the Canon HF S21 will produce a more desirable picture.