Introduction

The HF S21 is part of the HF S series from Canon, which also features the HF S20 and HF S200 (all three are new models for 2010).

Design

Front

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Back

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Left

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Right

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Top

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Bottom

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Size & Weight Comparison

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In the Box

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Performance

Color

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Canon definitely tweaked the color rendering on its new crop of camcorders for 2010. Unfortunately, Canon's fiddling didn't translate into a more accurate color performance for the HF S21. The camcorder produced a color error of 5.06, which is a bit worse than last year's HF S11. Its saturation level, however, was a decent 84.27%. More on how we test color.

The Canon HF S21 has a number of color modes, examples of which are shown below. In addition to these preset modes, there is also a customizable setting that allows you to make adjustments to color depth, brightness, contrast, and sharpness. When you do customize these settings, however, you don't have much of a range to work with—each setting can only be set to -1, 0, or +1.

The Canon HF S21 definitely has similar colors to last year's Canon HF S11, but we noticed some slight differences in certain red and blue tones. We're surprised that the HF S21 had worse color accuracy than the HF S11 in our testing, but it's not like the color results on the HF S21 are terrible. Interestingly, the HF S21 produced its most accurate colors when we used its vivid color setting (4.86 color error, 93.84% saturation).

The table below has close-up color comparisons taken from the test images shown above. All of these models are high-end HD camcorders, so each of them has top-notch video performance in bright light.

Of the camcorders in this set, the Panasonic HDC-TM300 had the best color accuracy. The HF S21 wasn't a stellar performer in this test, but remember that Canon does allow for customizable color control. So, if you don't like the colors in auto mode on the HF S21, you can always tweak the settings yourself.

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Low Light Color

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There wasn't anything special about the HF S21's low light color performance. The camcorder had a lackluster color error of 5.83 and a saturation level of 65.13%. These numbers are on par with the rest of the high-end HD camcorder class, but we were hoping Canon had improved things for 2010. Based on our tests, however, they didn't. More on how we test low light color.

If you want to improve low light performance you can always shoot with one of the HF S21's alternate frame rates. The chart above shows the color error and saturation levels we measured when using the camcorder's four frame rate options: 60i, PF30, PF24, and native 24p.

Like last year, the Canon HF S21 produced a fairly dark image in our low light testing. Its colors still looked strong however, despite the darkness of the overall image. In the comparisons below you can see that the Panasonic HDC-TM300 captured a brighter image, but its colors don't look as vivid as what the HF S21 produced.

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Noise

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As with color accuracy, the Canon HF S21 was again a so-so performer when it came to our noise test. The camcorder measured 0.75% noise, which is a halfway decent score, but doesn't represent an improvement over last year's models. Both the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-CX500V had better noise scores in this test. More on how we test noise.

The four camcorders shown above are all high-end HD models, so it isn't a surprise that they can each capture an incredibly sharp image in bright light. The Canon HF S21 actually had the sharpest image of the set, although it wasn't by much. Still, this is definitely an area where Canon improved slightly over last year. The next section of our review—Motion and Sharpness—goes into this in more detail.

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Low Light Sensitivity

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The HF S21 did a decent job in our sensitivity test. The HF S21 needed 14 lux of light to produce a viable image (50 IRE on our waveform monitor), which is slightly better than the 17 lux required by the HF S11 last year. Now, the performance by the HF S21 isn't anything spectacular—we'd really like to see a sensitivity result below 10 lux—but it does represent an improvement for Canon. More on how we test low light sensitivity.

In addition to testing the HF S21's low light sensitivity in auto mode, we also tested it using the camcorder's alternate frame rates. With these lower frame rates the camcorder uses a slower shutter speed, which often results in an improved sensitivity. The sensitivity on the HF S21 was much better when using the 30p mode and both 24p modes on the camcorder. Check out the table below for the full set of results. Just to note, the HF S21 had the same sensitivity score when shooting in both of its 24p modes (the native 24p setting and the non-native PF24 option).

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Low Light Noise

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The Canon HF S21 averaged 1.78% noise in our low light test, which is more noise than most high-end HD models measure in this test. You can actually see the noise in the crops below, although we should point out that the HF S21 did retain a lot of sharpness in low light despite its elevated noise levels. More on how we test low light noise.

The Panasonic HDC-TM300 measured the least amount of noise in this test, but it also didn't have as sharp an image as the Canon HF S21 or Sony HDR-CX500V. You can also see some of the fine specks of noise in the 100% crop image above from the Canon HF S21 (look at the vertical trumpet). As we saw with our low light color test, the Canon HF S21 performed much better when shooting with its alternate frame rates. The images below tell this story, but here's the hard numbers if you want them: PF30 - 1.265% noise, PF24 - 1.42% noise, 24p native - 1.225% noise.

If you come away with anything from these low light tests it should be this: the Canon HF S21 is a decent low light camcorder in auto mode, but an excellent low light performer when shooting with its alternate frame rates. The camcorder measured better color accuracy, less noise, and stronger sensitivity when shooting with any of its three alternate frame rates.

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Low Light Color

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There wasn't anything special about the HF S21's low light color performance. The camcorder had a lackluster color error of 5.83 and a saturation level of 65.13%. These numbers are on par with the rest of the high-end HD camcorder class, but we were hoping Canon had improved things for 2010. Based on our tests, however, they didn't. More on how we test low light color.

If you want to improve low light performance you can always shoot with one of the HF S21's alternate frame rates. The chart above shows the color error and saturation levels we measured when using the camcorder's four frame rate options: 60i, PF30, PF24, and native 24p.

Like last year, the Canon HF S21 produced a fairly dark image in our low light testing. Its colors still looked strong however, despite the darkness of the overall image. In the comparisons below you can see that the Panasonic HDC-TM300 captured a brighter image, but its colors don't look as vivid as what the HF S21 produced.

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Motion

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The Canon HF S21 is the first non-tape consumer camcorder to include a native 24p frame rate. For pros and video enthusiasts this is a very significant development, but for the casual camcorder user it doesn't mean much. The native 24p mode really only makes a difference in the editing stage as it allows you to edit your video in a native 24 frames-per-second timeline. Other than this new frame rate, however, the motion rendering on the HF S21 looks very similar to what we saw with last year's Canon HF S11. (More on how we test motion.) More on how we test motion.

Video Sharpness

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The HF S21 measured a sharper image than its predecessors in our test. The camcorder managed a horizontal sharpness of 900 lw/ph and a vertical sharpness of 650 lw/ph. The disparity between horizontal and vertical sharpness on the HF S21 is a common occurrence on high-end camcorders. All of the models shown below had vertical sharpness scores around 600 - 650 lw/ph, and each of them produced much better results with our horizontal sharpness test. More on how we test video sharpness.

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Testing Samples

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Usability

Ease of Use

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Canon does include a dedicated auto mode on the HF S21, but it isn't labeled all that well. It is called Dual Shot mode (same as last year), and you activate it by pushing the slider on the right side of the camcorder towards the little green icons (and away from the 'M'). In Dual Shot mode you can't access any of the menus on the HF S21. Instead, the camcorder uses scene selection process called Smart Auto to automatically pick the best settings for your shooting situation. This feature is identical to Panasonic's Intelligent Scene Selection option that is part of its iA control setup. Smart Auto works well enough for beginners, but its lack of flexibility is sure to frustrate advanced users.

Dynamic stabilization is turned on in Dual Shot mode and it cannot be turned off. You do have control over Powered IS, however, which is turned on and off by pressing the button on the side of the LCD panel. Face detection is always on in Dual Shot mode and you can use the camcorder's tracking feature to automatically focus and exposure moving subjects. Dual shot mode definitely makes the HF S21 an easy camcorder to work with, but we wish Canon would make the setting more obvious by calling it something like Easy Mode or Simple Mode.

We haven't seen the instruction manual for the HF S21 yet (Canon didn't ship one with the camcorder), but Canon usually provides top-notch production in this field. We would have liked to see a few help or info boxes in the menu system on the HF S21, but overall the camcorder is pretty easy to figure out. The new touchscreen system is intuitive and good for beginners, but we did find it a bit frustrating for navigating the camcorder's long menu system.

Auto Mode

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With its new touchscreen interface, the HF S21 is loaded with a number of automatic controls that have previously been unavailable on Canon camcorders. The most noteworthy is an AF/AE tracking feature that is very similar to the tracking feature on Panasonic and Sony camcorders. Canon's tool allows you to track any object, however, instead of just being able to track faces. The tool works decently, but it is far from perfect. If your subject leaves the frame for more than a few seconds the camcorder often lost the ability to track (until you select the subject again), and if multiple faces are present on the screen the system can become easily confused as to who (or what) it should be tracking.

The other exciting new feature on the HF S21 is touch focus and touch exposure options, which allow you to simply tap the portion of the screen you want to focus or expose correctly. This feature has been around for a while on Sony camcorders, and it appeared on last year's high-end Panasonic models, but it makes its first appearance for Canon on the HF S21.

Overall, the auto controls on the HF S21 worked well. Canon continues to offer both Normal and Instant autofocus, with the Instant option producing a more snap-like focus effect. Auto white balance worked effectively and the camcorder has a number of preset white balance settings to work with (as well as a manual option). We did notice a problem with the camcorder's auto exposure system, however. When moving from a very bright scene to a darker one, the camcorder didn't always produce a gradual exposure transition. The exposure levels often changed abruptly, as if an exposure boost was kicking in all at once. This only occurred when we went from shooting very bright scenes to dark scenes—not the other way around.

Other Auto Features

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Noise levels were likewise higher than on competing models.

Handling

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First of all, we must say that it is surprising to see a touchscreen LCD on a Canon camcorder. After Panasonic implemented touchscreens last year, however, it appears to be a strong trend in the industry. The touchscreen on the Canon isn't bad, and we like a number of the features it affords, but using the touchscreen to adjust manual controls and navigate menus is still a pain. The good news is you don't really have to use the touchscreen to set controls manually—thanks to Canon's excellent control dial. Plus, we're very happy to see Canon increased the size of the LCD to 3.5-inches. We consider this upgrade a more significant improvement than the implementation of a touchscreen system.

When we put the HF S21 into our hands we noticed the right side of the camcorder didn't feel very comfortable in our palm. Instead of offering a smooth, curved right-side grip, the HF S21 has a hard edge near the top of the camcorder that digs into the top of your palm when you hold it. The comfort factor of this design will probably vary depending on how big your hand is, but this is clearly a less ergonomic design than what we saw with last year's HF S11. We're not sure why Canon altered the design of the right side on the HF S21, but we're guessing that it is a result of the extra space taken up by the addition of a second memory card slot.

The aforementioned control dial on the HF S21 is one of the camcorder's best assets. The dial is great for adjusting manual controls, and its placement and design is excellent. Canon also improved the dial on the HF S21, as you can now select what the dial controls by holding down the small button on the front of the dial for a few seconds. This means you don't have to go into the camcorder's lengthy menu system as often.

Speaking of the menu system, we like the large button design for the camcorder's function menu, but we found the main menu setup difficult to navigate using the touchscreen. You have to scroll through the menu by sliding your finger slowly across the LCD, which we found to be a nuisance when we wanted to select a specific menu option. There were also plenty of times when the LCD was simply not responsive or produced an inaccurate response based on our touches, but that is a problem with nearly all touchscreen systems—as is the fact that the screen is always covered in fingerprints and smudges.

We should also mention the presence of a slight rattling sound coming from inside the camcorder when you pan or jerk the HF S21 quickly. The rattling is much louder when the camcorder is turned off (we think this is part of the stabilization system), but it is also slightly audible when the camcorder is turned on. If you're the type of shooter who is overly concerned about getting clear audio, you may have to think about purchasing an external mic to use with the HF S21.

Portability

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Thanks to the inclusion of its viewfinder, larger LCD, and additional memory card slot, the HF S21 weighs a bit more than last year's HF S11. The camcorder is definitely bulky compared to the ultracompact models on the market, but it never feels unwieldy. The inclusion of two SD/SDHC memory card slots, along with 64GB of internal flash memory means you shouldn't have to worry about running out of space to record your videos—as long as you remember to load the camcorder up with two memory cards before you leave for vacation.

Battery Life

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The battery life with the provided BP-808 battery pack on the HF S21 is not good. The camcorder lasted just 80 minutes in our battery life test (1 hour, 20 minutes, 8 seconds). This is disappointing as the battery life is both worse than last year's HF S11 from Canon, as well as the high-end competition from Panasonic and Sony. More on how we test battery life.

The good news is the HF S21 has an open battery compartment, which means you can purchase larger battery packs if you want to get longer performance out of the camcorder. Canon sells a variety of additional batteries that work with the HF S21, including the BP-809 and BP-819.

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LCD & Viewfinder

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One of the first things you'll notice about the HF S21 is the fact that Canon increased the size of the LCD to 3.5 inches (from 2.7 inches on last year's models). This new LCD, which also has a much higher pixel count than last year, is quite impressive to behold—and it makes certain manual controls (like focus) a lot easier to adjust. But Canon didn't simply increase the size of the LCD on the HF S21, they also implemented a touchscreen interface with the LCD. Canon's new touchscreen system isn't bad, but it can take a bit of getting used to, particularly if you're accustomed to working with joysticks or dials instead of touch-sensitive buttons.

The HF S21 is Canon's only new camcorder in 2010 that features an electronic viewfinder. Actually, we're quite surprised to see an EVF on the HF S21, as it seemed Canon was in the process of phasing out this feature. The viewfinder isn't great, but it does extend about 1/4 of an inch from the camcorder for easier access (it cannot pivot or rotate, however). There's also a tiny diopter adjustment slider on the underside of the viewfinder.

Stabilization

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Stabilization is the area where Canon probably spent the most time improving the HF S21 over last year's models. The HF S21 includes an optical image stabilization system (OIS) with a multitude of options. There's the Dynamic OIS, which Canon rolled out previously on the HF S11, but there's also the new Powered IS. Powered IS is supposed to improve stabilization when you're using lots of optical zoom, but we saw mixed results in our testing. More on how we test stabilization.

Yes, the HF S21 did better overall in our stabilization test than last year's HF S11, but the improvement wasn't all that drastic. In our low shake test, the camcorder performed best when we used the Dynamic OIS setting—without the Powered IS turned on. With regular OIS and Powered IS, the camcorder didn't do a great job reducing the shake.

In our high shake test, the results were very different. The camcorder did the best job when we tested it with Powered IS engaged (along with regular OIS turned on). The strange thing is, the camcorder did a terrible job stabilizing the image with just regular OIS in our high shake test, and the Dynamic OIS setting didn't help very much either. Powered IS, however, really improved things in our high shake test, as the camcorder ended up reducing 57% of the shake with this setting turned on.

The point of all this is that you really need to play around with the stabilization settings on the HF S21 to figure out which is best for your specific shooting situation. The camcorder has lots of options since Powered IS can be engaged on its own, or it can be used in conjunction with the regular OIS and Dynamic OIS settings. If you're doing the math, that means the camcorder has a total of 5 different stabilization settings. Even with all these settings, however, the Canon HF S21's stabilization system wasn't as effective as Sony's OIS on the HDR-CX500V.

Manual Focus

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Manual Exposure

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Miscellaneous Controls

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Image Effects

4 Presets: Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, and Soft Skin Detail.

Custom Image Effects

Allows for manual control over brightness, contrast, sharpening, and color depth (limited range of adjustment from -1 to +1).

x.v. Color

Allows for recording in the expanded xvYCC color gamut.

Zebra Patterns

A common professional feature that assists with manual exposure adjustment. Black and white stripes appear on overexposed areas while you are shooting when the setting is engaged (the stripes won't end up on your final footage). You can set the zebra sensitivity to 70% (slight overexposure) or 100% (very overexposed).

Onscreen Markers

Onscreen markers, or guide frames, can be displayed as a single horizontal line (white or gray), or as a nine-sector grid (white or gray) on the HF S21.

Color Bars & Test Tone

The camcorder can display SMPTE color bars with or without an audio reference tone.

Tele-conversion

Digitally enlarges the center of the screen by roughly 1.7 times in an attempt to produce a tele-conversion lens effect. This is a digital magnification effect, however, so using it lowers the effective pixel count of the camcorder.

Audio Controls

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The built-in mic on the HF S21 is located on both sides of the camcorder's lens. The mic can record Dolby Digital 2-channel audio, and you can even adjust the audio levels for this mic manually if you want to (using the control dial or the touchscreen). If you want 5.1-channel surround sound recording, you can purchase Canon's SM-V1 mic adapter that connects to the accessory shoe on the HF S21. This adapter (which is only compatible with Canon's new HF S and HF M camcorders) comes with a rather steep price tag of $250—especially considering the Panasonic HDC-TM300's built-in mic can record Dolby Digital 5.1-channel audio without any add-ons.

Editing

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The Canon HF S21 ships with Pixela ImageMixer 3SE Video Editing Software, which is the same program that came with last year's Canons. For an overview of the software that ships with this and other camcorders, see our article: Video Editing Software For Your Camcorder{{product.brand.name}}-Included-Software.htm.

In addition to this software, the Canon HF S21 has a few internal editing features that allow you to split or join clips, create playlists, and convert HD footage to standard definition.

Features

Compression

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The Canon HF S21 uses AVCHD compression to record HD video. The camcorder has no options for recording standard definition video, but it does have five quality settings for HD recording (each setting records at a different bitrate). Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various high definition compression types.

Media

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The HF S21 can record video to its 64GB of internal flash memory, or it can record to SD/SDHC memory cards. The Canon HF S21 will also be compatible with SDXC memory cards when they become available to consumers. The most interesting thing about the HF S21, however, is the fact that the camcorder includes two memory card slots. This gives you the option of really loading the camcorder full of memory so you have a lot of room to work with if you're planning a long day of shooting. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various media types.

Slow Motion Modes

Still Features

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With the HF S21, Canon has created one of the better camcorders for capturing still images. Canon didn't really improve anything over last year, however, so if you are already familiar with the still image performance and features of the HF S11 then you shouldn't notice any surprises here. You can capture photos in a dedicated photo mode (which is accessed by pressing the camera icon on the LCD touchscreen), or you can use limited still features in video mode. In video mode you can even capture still photos while you are recording, but the photos are limited to either a 3264 x 1840 or 1920 x 1080 resolution.

The flash on the HF S21 is hidden on an embedded panel that pops up when you activate it (the video light is also located here). The flash is equipped with a red-eye reduction setting that can be turned on or off in the camcorder's menu. The camcorder has a rather high native resolution for capturing still photos—8.02 megapixels. You can also take photos at a variety of smaller sizes (down to 640 x 480). The AF/AE tracking feature is also fully functional in photo mode, as is face detection and most of the camcorder's manual control options.

The Canon HF S21 did well on our still color test, but we often see results like this from high-end consumer camcorders. The HF S21 measured a color error of 3.64 and a saturation level of 105.3% in our test—both numbers being significantly better than the camcorder did in our video color testing.

Each of the camcorders in this set did very well in our color testing. They all produced deep, saturated colors with very good accuracy. The Canon HF S11 showed very similar results to the HF S21, although its colors were slightly less saturated.

Like the HF S11 before it, the Canon HF S21 wasn't a strong performer in our still noise test. The camcorder averaged 1.07% noise in our test, which is roughly 0.3% more noise than we measured in our bright light video testing.

Since the Canon HF S21 can take native 6-megapixel still photos,w e weren't all that surprised to see it put on a stupendous performance in our still sharpness test. The camcorder managed a horizontal sharpness of 2366 lw/ph with 4.3% oversharpening and a vertical sharpness of 2160 lw/ph with 11.1% oversharpening. These numbers are similar to what we measured on the Canon HF S11 last year and they are much higher than what the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-CX500V earned.

Lens & Imaging System

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The Canon HF S21 has the same lens as its predecessor—the HF S11. The large lens has a 10x optical zoom, an automatic cover, and a 58mm filter diameter. Complete lens specs, along with information about the camcorder's CMOS sensor is located in the table below.

LCD & Viewfinder

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One of the first things you'll notice about the HF S21 is the fact that Canon increased the size of the LCD to 3.5 inches (from 2.7 inches on last year's models). This new LCD, which also has a much higher pixel count than last year, is quite impressive to behold—and it makes certain manual controls (like focus) a lot easier to adjust. But Canon didn't simply increase the size of the LCD on the HF S21, they also implemented a touchscreen interface with the LCD. Canon's new touchscreen system isn't bad, but it can take a bit of getting used to, particularly if you're accustomed to working with joysticks or dials instead of touch-sensitive buttons.

The HF S21 is Canon's only new camcorder in 2010 that features an electronic viewfinder. Actually, we're quite surprised to see an EVF on the HF S21, as it seemed Canon was in the process of phasing out this feature. The viewfinder isn't great, but it does extend about 1/4 of an inch from the camcorder for easier access (it cannot pivot or rotate, however). There's also a tiny diopter adjustment slider on the underside of the viewfinder.

Connectivity

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Canon added a LANC (wired remote) terminal on the HF S21 this year, which makes last year's RA-V1 LANC adapter effectively obsolete. We like the inclusion of a LANC terminal on the HF S21, as it helps establish the camcorder as a strong choice for prosumers. Along with the new LANC port, the HF S21 also features two SD/SDHC memory card slots inside the LCD cavity. Canon also claims these card slots will be compatible with new, high-capacity SDXC cards (which have a maximum capacity of 2 terabytes, although cards of that size are not yet available).

We don't like the placement of the HDMI and USB ports on the HF S21. Both are located on the right side of the camcorder, which puts them directly in the way of the hand strap. This makes it difficult to connect cables to these ports and it also makes it very uncomfortable to use the camcorder while cables are connected to either of these ports. The external microphone jack is also on the right side, but it is left completely uncovered. We don't understand why Canon doesn't offer some sort of protection for this valuable port.

The small DC-input is on the back of the HF S21 and it's port cover camouflages it very well (it can be easily missed if you don't know to look for it). The rest of the ports are located inside the LCD cavity on the HF S21—Component-out, AV-out, and the aforementioned LANC terminal. Each are protected well by a flip-down door.

Battery

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The good news is the HF S21 has an open battery compartment, which means you can purchase larger battery packs if you want to get longer performance out of the camcorder. Canon sells a variety of additional batteries that work with the HF S21, including the BP-809 and BP-819. Find out how the product:model/product:model performed in our battery life test.

Media

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The HF S21 can record video to its 64GB of internal flash memory, or it can record to SD/SDHC memory cards. The Canon HF S21 will also be compatible with SDXC memory cards when they become available to consumers. The most interesting thing about the HF S21, however, is the fact that the camcorder includes two memory card slots. This gives you the option of really loading the camcorder full of memory so you have a lot of room to work with if you're planning a long day of shooting. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various media types.

Still Features

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With the HF S21, Canon has created one of the better camcorders for capturing still images. Canon didn't really improve anything over last year, however, so if you are already familiar with the still image performance and features of the HF S11 then you shouldn't notice any surprises here. You can capture photos in a dedicated photo mode (which is accessed by pressing the camera icon on the LCD touchscreen), or you can use limited still features in video mode. In video mode you can even capture still photos while you are recording, but the photos are limited to either a 3264 x 1840 or 1920 x 1080 resolution.

The flash on the HF S21 is hidden on an embedded panel that pops up when you activate it (the video light is also located here). The flash is equipped with a red-eye reduction setting that can be turned on or off in the camcorder's menu. The camcorder has a rather high native resolution for capturing still photos—8.02 megapixels. You can also take photos at a variety of smaller sizes (down to 640 x 480). The AF/AE tracking feature is also fully functional in photo mode, as is face detection and most of the camcorder's manual control options.

The Canon HF S21 did well on our still color test, but we often see results like this from high-end consumer camcorders. The HF S21 measured a color error of 3.64 and a saturation level of 105.3% in our test—both numbers being significantly better than the camcorder did in our video color testing.

Each of the camcorders in this set did very well in our color testing. They all produced deep, saturated colors with very good accuracy. The Canon HF S11 showed very similar results to the HF S21, although its colors were slightly less saturated.

Like the HF S11 before it, the Canon HF S21 wasn't a strong performer in our still noise test. The camcorder averaged 1.07% noise in our test, which is roughly 0.3% more noise than we measured in our bright light video testing.

Since the Canon HF S21 can take native 6-megapixel still photos,w e weren't all that surprised to see it put on a stupendous performance in our still sharpness test. The camcorder managed a horizontal sharpness of 2366 lw/ph with 4.3% oversharpening and a vertical sharpness of 2160 lw/ph with 11.1% oversharpening. These numbers are similar to what we measured on the Canon HF S11 last year and they are much higher than what the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-CX500V earned.

Other Features

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Video Light

At first, you might not be able to find the video light on the HF S21. It is embedded into the top of the camcorder on a panel that pops up when you turn on the light from the menu. The flash is also located on this pop-up panel. The light is okay, but Canon didn't appear to improve its intensity over last year's model. The light has an illumination range of about ten feet.

Pre-Record

Pre-record, which is becoming more and more common on consumer camcorders, allows the HF S21 to continually store three seconds of footage in a memory buffer. So, when you actually end up pressing the record button, the camcorder has already captured three seconds of footage (this only works, of course, if pre-record is turned on). This can be a useful feature, but it does use up battery power rather quickly.

Video Snap

Canon improved the video snap feature on the HF S21, as the camcorder now allows you to capture 2, 4, or 8-second clips (previously, it was just 4-second clips). The feature still doesn't blow us away, but it can be a useful tool if you're trying to record multiple even-length clips.

Digital Effects

What consumer camcorder could be complete without a limited set of digital effects? The HF S21 includes Black & White and Sepia color modes, as well as fader and wipe transitions.

Panasonic HDC-TM300 Comparison

The Canon HF S21 is essentially a replacement model for the HF S11. The two camcorders have the same listing price, the same amount of internal flash memory (64GB), the same lens, and the same sensor specs. The HF S21, of course, has a load of improvements and updates—including a much larger touchscreen LCD, an electronic viewfinder, the addition of a second SD/SDHC memory card slot, and enhanced image stabilization features. The HF S21 is also the first non-tape camcorder to offer a native 24p record mode, which is a feature that has many pros and video enthusiasts salivating.

Unfortunately, Canon didn't do much to improve the performance on the HF S21. In fact, the camcorder actually did worse in our color accuracy tests than the HF S11 did last year. The HF S21 did have slightly better sharpness scores, and its low light sensitivity was improved, but overall there was little difference in the quality of footage captured by the HF S21 compared to last year's HF S11. The HF S21 was also a bit more uncomfortable to hold than the HF S11.

Because of all the updates Canon made to the HF S21 it is definitely a better camcorder than the HF S11, although the improvement wasn't as drastic as we'd hoped. The HF S11 is still a solid camcorder, and if you can find one on the cheap you should expect to get just as high-quality video from it as you would the HF S21.

Sony HDR-CX500V Comparison

The Panasonic HDC-TM300 was our camcorder of the year in 2009—and for good reason. It, along with its sister model the HDC-HS300, had unparalleled performance across the board in our testing. Other high-end camcorders may have captured a sharper image or done better in our bright light test, but none of them were able to really compete with the TM300's low light performance. That being said, this is a new year, and the other manufacturers have stepped up their game to compete with the Panasonic HDC-TM300.

With its sleek control dial, large LCD, viewfinder, and multiple stabilization options, the Canon HF S21 puts up a good fight against the HDC-TM300 as far as features are concerned. Panasonic has long been known as the default manufacturer for prosumers or people who like manual controls, but with the HF S21 Canon provides some tough competition in that category. As far as performance goes, we still give the edge to the HDC-TM300—but only because of its superior low light capabilities. In our motion and sharpness tests the Canon HF S21 was clearly the superior camcorder.

Our scoring system ranks the Panasonic HDC-TM300 just a few points ahead of the Canon HF S21 and we feel that assessment is a fair one. The Canon HF S21 has more features and a better interface, but it lacked the solid performance in low light we were hoping for. Panasonic has yet to announce a replacement model for the HDC-TM300, so as of now it is their current flagship camcorder.

COMP 3

The HDR-CX500V is Sony's flagship camcorder from 2009 and Sony has developed an upgraded version of the camcorder, the HDR-CX550V, which will be due out later this year. Until then, however, we will compare the HF S21 with the HDR-CX500V. The CX500V doesn't have the extensive set of manual controls you'll find on the Canon HF S21, but it does have a compact design and an interface that is easy to get the hang of. The Sony CX500V was solid performer in most of our testing and it did particularly well in stabilization and noise.

Canon clearly took elements from Sony's touchscreen system—which it has been using for years—in the development of the touchscreen panel on the HF S21. Is Canon's touchscreen better than Sony's? The truth is, they both have their strengths and weaknesses so we can't really say we like one better than the other. The HF S21 does have a larger screen than the HDR-CX500V, however, which is a big help when you're navigating menus or adjusting controls (note: the Sony HDR-CX550V will have the same 3.5-inch screen as the HF S21).

We say the Canon HF S21 is the better camcorder between these two, but this comparison is a bit unfair because the Sony HDR-CX500V is a model from last year. We'll have to wait until we can get an HDR-CX550V into our labs before we can make a true assessment as to who improved its flagship model the most in 2010.

Conclusion

While Canon spent a good deal of effort improving the features for the HF S21, it didn't do much (if anything) to improve the video performance of the camcorder. In our testing, the HF S21 actually did worse with color accuracy than last year's HF S11, although it did do slightly better with video sharpness and low light sensitivity.

As for the improvements on the HF S21, we thoroughly enjoyed them for the most part. The electronic viewfinder is a pleasure to see, and the 3.5-inch LCD really helps when you're framing a shot. We had our doubts about Canon's new touchscreen system, but it more or less won us over in the end. The touch system didn't work well for making precise adjustments or navigating certain menus, but features such as spot focus and AF/AE tracking worked so well with the touchscreen that we were able to forgive its faults. We also liked the slight modifications Canon made to its control dial, the expansion of certain manual controls (like gain control), and the presence of two SD/SDHC memory card slots (the camcorder is also compatible with SDXC cards).

Pros should also love the fact that the Canon HF S21 offers a native 24p record mode—a feature that was previously unavailable on non-tape consumer camcorders. Canon also still has its PF30 and PF24 modes that record at 60i, but create the look of 24p and 30p frame rates.

Overall, the HF S21 is an impressive camcorder; it has everything the HF S11 has and more. The only downside is that Canon didn't improve the video performance enough. With intriguing new flagship models being announced by Sony, JVC, and Samsung we'll have to wait and see if the improvements Canon made were enough to keep it near the top of our ratings.

Photo Gallery

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