Canon Vixia HF20 is a high definition camcorder with built-in 32GB flash memory, very solid design and plenty of image effects.
Overview:
Canon Vixia HF20 is a direct successor of last year’s Canon HF11, yet there are many differences between the two. Canon Vixia HF20 is equipped with a 32GB flash memory, but if you have some spare SD/SDHC memory cards, do not care for internal memory and want to save some money have a look at Canon HF200 which is identical to Canon Vixia HF20, but has no internal memory. The Canon Vixia HF20 and HF200 are overall decent performers, yet when compared to their predecessor.
Canon Vixia HF20 pros:
+ Simple design
+ Good color accuracy
+ 32GB internal flash memory
+ Very good connectivity
+ Vast array of scene modes and auto controls
+ Impeccable resolution
Canon Vixia HF20 cons:
- High noise levels
- Still images only up to 3.31 megapixels
- Poor location of HDMI and USB ports
- No full manual mode and no gain control
- Poor low light performance
The design:
Canon Vixia HF20 measures 70 x 62 x 125 mm and weighs 400 grams. The front of the camcorder features the Canon HD video lens, bult-in stereo microphone, flash for still photos, LED light and the secondary AF sensor. The back of the Canon Vixia HF20 houses the removable battery pack, Record on/off button, DC power port and component out jack. The right side features large and comfy hand strap, USB port, HDMI port behind the strap and the mode dial. The left side, as usual, has the LCD, plenty of controls and the playback speaker. On the top of Canon Vixia HF20 you can find the Canon proprietary accessory shoe, zoom toggle, and the power button, whereas on the bottom is the tripod mount along with the battery release switch.
Performance:
The Canon Vixia HF20 records HD video using the AVCHD coded at the maximum bitrate of 24Mbps. The camcorder has 5 video quality settings with the best recording in 1920 x 1080. The camcorder has a Shake Reduction system and Face detection which according to the manufacturer should detect up to 35 faces, but in fact it struggles with just a few. But when it locks on a face the Canon Vixia HF20 will trace it as long as its in the frame. The camcorder has a complete set of scene modes among which there are: Fireworks, Sunset, Night, Snow and so on. Canon Vixia HF20 has a 15x zoom which is not too bad for a consumer camcorder, yet as there are no numerical information on the screen it might be difficult to repeat the shot if need be. There is also the 300x digital zoom but as it decreases the video quality it is not recommended. Canon Vixia HF20’s built-in 32GB flash memory will allow you to store almost 3 hours of video in the best quality. The standard battery will work for about 100 minutes.
Video recording quality:
Canon Vixia HF20 reproduces color accurately in good lighting conditions and even in low light it scores quite good for such a small camcorder. When you add to it that the camcorder comes with a few Image Effects, such as Vivid, Natural, Soft Skin Detail and so on you can achieve really good results in this respect. However, the Canon Vixia HF20 produces too much noise both in bright light (although here, it is not as obvious) and in low light. The motion captured with this device looks good. The Canon Vixia HF20 has the best video resolution among consumer camcorders, maybe that is why it suffers from the noise. The camcorder has Aperture adjustment tool, as well as a few white balance settings, but no gain adjustment is available.
Still images:
Canon Vixia HF20 is able to capture 3 megapixel photos which will give you 2304 x 1296 images. The overall image quality is not bad, yet the issue with noise visible in video recording remains true for still images. The images sometimes are undersharpened, but they are bright and with plenty of detail. However, every second new mobile phone offers 5 megapixel camera so I doubt if anyone would seriously consider buying a camcorder for its still image capability. Of course it is a good thing it’s there.
Menus / ease of use:
The menu structure in Canon Vixia HF20 is not the standard Canon. The manufacturer decided to change a few thins which make finding the desired option a challenging task. Especially the video recording newbies may find it surprising that there is no Easy mode in Canon Vixia HF20. In fact, it is there but it is called „Dual Shot”. When you are in this mode the camcorder blocks the access to most settings so you can focus on recording. If you, however, decide to use more advanced mored and do something manually you will most probably find the menu structure in Canon Vixia HF20 quite confusing. The settings are placed in an unpredictable manner and often divided into several tabs, or submenus so you might even need to make use of the manual.
All in all the Canon Vixia HF20 is a slightly disappointing, yet capable digital camcorder worth its price.
Selected Canon Vixia HF20 features and specifications:
High Definition
Television System NTSC
Video Recording system MPEG4-AVC / H.264
Image Sensor 1/4-inch CMOS, RGB Primary Colour Filter
Total Pixels Approx. 3.89 Megapixels
Effective Pixels
Video: Approx. 2.99 Megapixels
(2304 x 1296) / Still Image: 16:9: Approx. 2.99 Megapixels
(2304 x 1296), 4:3 Approx. 3.31 Megapixels (2100 x 1575)
Maximum recording time
32GB internal Flash drive
LP (5 Mbps) 12 hours 15 minutes
SP (7 Mbps) 9 hours 35 minutes
XP+ (12 Mbps) 5 hours 45 minutes
FXP (17 Mbps) 4 hours 10 minutes – Allows 1920 x 1080 Full HD Recording
MXP (24 Mbps) 2 hours 55 minutes – Allows 1920 x 1080 Full HD Recording
Lens
Zoom Ratio 15x Optical / 300x Digital
Focal Length f=4.1- 61.5mm (35mm equivalent: 39.5 – 592.5mm)
Zoom Speed Variable / 3 Fixed Zoom Speeds
Max. F/Stop f/1.8-3.2
Focusing System Instant AF, Face Priority AF, TTL (through the lens)
Manual Exposure Yes
Programmed AE AUTO, P, Av, Tv, Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, Fireworks
Max Shutter Speed Movie: 1/2000, Still image: 1/500
Minimum Focusing Distance 10mm (wide) / 1m (tele)
White Balance Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Manual
Frame Rate 60i, 24p Progressive (records at 60i), 30p Progressive (records at 60i)
Minimum Illumination 0.4 lx (Night mode)
Image Stabilization SuperRange Optical (lens shift)
Filter Diameter 37mm
Viewfinder None
LCD Screen 2.7-inch Multi-Angle Vivid widescreen colour LCD (Approx. 211,000 dots)
Flash Built-in
Recording Media Internal Flash drive (32GB) or SDHC Memory Card
USB Terminal USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Video Terminal component (output), composite (output)
Audio Dolby Digital 2 channels (AC-3 2 ch)
Accessory Shoe mini Advanced
Supplied Video Editing Software Pixela ImageMixer 3SE
HDMI Terminal HDMI Mini Connector (output), CEC and x.v. Colour
Microphone Terminal 3.5 mm stereo mini-jack
AV Mini Terminal/Headphone Terminal 3.5 mm 4 pole mini-jack (video/audio output only)
Other recently reviewed camcorders:
Sony HDR-CX12, Panasonic SDR-H60, Canon DC330, Samsung HMX-H105, JVC GZ-MG670, Sony Webbie MHS-CM1.