Canon Vixia HG21 Camcorder: Dare to Be Different – in HD

Camcorders all look and are able to do the same thing.  Makes you wonder why people have such a hard time choosing their brand and model.  Now, Canon, one of the leaders in digital imaging, dares to be different with the Canon Vixia HG21.

 Overview:  Slated for release on October 1, 2008, the Canon Vixia HG21 is a HD camcorder that has all the features you have come to expect in a video camera and more – so much more.  It can record 45 hours’ worth of true high-definition video, thanks to its large 120-Gb hard drive, its Full HD CMOS sensor and 12x HD video lens.  It has a DIGIC DV II image processor, a 2.7-inch LCD display, built-in video light, 1920×1080 and 24 megabytes per second recording capability, and an HDMI terminal.  It also has an inbuilt, 3.1-megapixel digital camera, pre-set Auto Exposure modes, Auto Focus, Cinema/Progressive mode, a SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization feature, and a list of other features as long as your arm.

 What You’ll Love:  The 120-gigabyte internal memory is definitely a big plus.  The memory card slot is overkill, if you ask me.  It definitely does what it advertises:  take and record full HD videos by going beyond mere lens and zoom capability.  Furthermore, it lets you capture video and stills simultaneously aside from letting you grab stills from videos during playback.  If you are a YouTube buff, you can choose the 30p progressive mode for taking videos meant for the web.

For such a powerful video camera, the Canon Vixia HG21 is also surprisingly lightweight.  It is user-friendly, too, thereby making it a great professional-quality video camera that anyone who knows how to navigate menus on a cell phone can use. 

Full Disclosure:  Great image resolution is assured.  How about audio quality though?  This video camera has an in-built jack so you can use an external microphone, but there is no noise filtering and other features that will ensure you’ll get only clear sounds.  Purchasing a state-of-the-art microphone will assure your audio will match the excellent video quality.  You may want to get an extra battery as well; battery life is only about 2 hours. The LCD screen, great as it is, can also be bigger.

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