Canon HF S10 Wow!

[Gernot]

Well I have a housing coming in to use with the HF S10 to get it underwater next weekend if all goes well. Ill keep everyone posted on its underwater performance and put together a few clips.

Which Underwater housing did you go for now?

 

[Conchchowder]

Well there is some slight difference with the HF-S10 and the HC-9, but not much noticable to the lay person. The big advantage of the HF-S10 is it is the first consumer model, to offer 24Mb/s without needing HDV tape. Which has been the problem holding back the HDD and Flash units. Now you can get HDV quality without needing tapes, in the consumer models.

And the HF 20 is the second (by a few weeks) $400 less, smaller, and with a Canon housing for around $499. For some, the HF 20 may be a better deal. Yeah, sure you have a 3.3MP CMOS vs 8.59 but after dealing with the low bit rate of my Sealife camera and watching choppy video due to the low bitrate I'm ready for a better video camera which will also do decent stills.

The biggest drawback isn't the HF-S10 price, it is my expected Gates housing price of around 2k. I don't think I'm ready for $3500 for non-pro shooting.

Thoughts?

 

[ronscuba]

Ikelite will have a housing for the S10. The extra $ of a Gates housing vs. an Ikelite are:

Aluminum vs Acrylic
More precise manual controls
Quality and variety of ports

 

[robint]

And the HF 20 is the second (by a few weeks) $400 less, smaller, and with a Canon housing for around $499. For some, the HF 20 may be a better deal. Yeah, sure you have a 3.3MP CMOS vs 8.59 but after dealing with the low bit rate of my Sealife camera and watching choppy video due to the low bitrate I'm ready for a better video camera which will also do decent stills.

The biggest drawback isn't the HF-S10 price, it is my expected Gates housing price of around 2k. I don't think I'm ready for $3500 for non-pro shooting.

Thoughts?

If you are looking at the HF-20 then I would recommend you check out the HF-11 instead. The HF-20 is this year's model but not as good as the previous edition. From the reviews I have read, they did "quite a bit of tinkering under the hood" on the HF-20 and it hasn't all been for the best for underwater shooting. One thing that changed is low-light capability, something that matters big time when shooting underwater! And the HF-11 has an Ikelite housing available right now. So for less than $2000 you could have the camcorder and housing. I think the camcorder is $799 on Amazon and B&H Photo, where the HF-20 is about the same price. Housing on B&H is about same price.

I have just ordered the HG-21 and will be getting the Ikelite housing for it shortly. I had been looking at all the Canon camcorders and reading reviews for awhile and had it narrowed down to the HF-11 and HG-21 (see my post regarding this and why I chose the HG-21).

Hope this helps.

robin

 

[TheBigPhillyFish]

And the HF 20 is the second (by a few weeks) $400 less, smaller, and with a Canon housing for around $499. For some, the HF 20 may be a better deal. Yeah, sure you have a 3.3MP CMOS vs 8.59 but after dealing with the low bit rate of my Sealife camera and watching choppy video due to the low bitrate I'm ready for a better video camera which will also do decent stills.

The biggest drawback isn't the HF-S10 price, it is my expected Gates housing price of around 2k. I don't think I'm ready for $3500 for non-pro shooting.

Thoughts?

IMO there just isn't any other CONSUMER HD camcorders out there that beat the HF-S10 / S100. Its flash based memory offers great battery time versus HDV or HDD. The S10 model allows for internal and external memory, where the S100 has external only. The nice thing I like about the twin memory of the S10 you can tell the camera what to send where. I use the internal card for video and the external for pictures. The menu system of the S10 is just simply amazing. The S10 also allows the user to manually control almost every aspect of the camera. I use the 8MP still capability all the time. The video and still quality of this camera make it an awesome vacation rig. A camera that makes true HD video and very nice stills in one small package. Its just a great camera, easy to use and great quality. A little pricey, if $1300.00 is to much go with the S100 which is about $200.00 less. But the S10 is still $135.00 cheaper then the Sony 520V and I think out performs the Sony 520V.

Yes, the Gates housing is expensive but you get what you pay for. Now if they do the joystick control in there housing. The HFS10 will become the best overall underwater camera! Why? Because a joystick control would give you complete control of the camera underwater ie. manual focus, manual gain, manual exposure, etc. At least in the consumer market. There is a few other companies out there who will be making a housing for the HF-S10. So just wait another month, Ikelite is supposed to be ready in the next month, Gates is August, July if were lucky. There is also a few others that will be doing a housing.

If you have any other questions about this camera just let me know!

 

[TheBigPhillyFish]

FYI: Light and Motion has confirmed they have designed a proto type housing for the Canon HF-S10. From conversation with them, it seems this housing will allow for complete access to the function menu. Which gives you manual focus, gain, shutter and exposure control at your finger tips. And with a widescreen screen back! This housing sounds great, and as soon as I hear more I will be happy to pass it on!

Or you can also feel free to contact Mike at H20 Photo Pros!

 

[In10se]

BPF ... when we gonna see some video with this HF-S10 of yours? I order mine this week btw. I'll be using it in India, Nepal, and Kashmir until I get home and get the housing situation sorted out. I'll post on Vimeo in my own channel when i get something and share links with you in exchange for seeing what you do at depth ... and I really look forward to seeing your work!!

 

[BDSC]

FYI: Light and Motion has confirmed they have designed a proto type housing for the Canon HF-S10. From conversation with them, it seems this housing will allow for complete access to the function menu. Which gives you manual focus, gain, shutter and exposure control at your finger tips. And with a widescreen screen back! This housing sounds great, and as soon as I hear more I will be happy to pass it on!

Or you can also feel free to contact Mike at H20 Photo Pros!

I just got the same confirmation from them today and they hope to make an announcement very soon. I was all about the Sony 520v but after reading all the posts about the Canon, I am rethinking.

 

[h.k.]

looks quite nice but not sure i detect much difference between this and a hc9?

allright, check on youtube for "underwaterireland" and goto "canon fh s10 test" to see my live test (can't insert link *******)

 

[TheBigPhillyFish]

You can also see all the HF-S10 and S100 footage you want at the Vimeo channel I moderate. There is even some nice comparison videos of other camera's.

Canon HF-S10 / HF-S100 on Vimeo