I'm a film student who has experience with Consumer, Prosumer, and Professional Cameras. I bought this camera about 9 months ago to replace my broken Canon HG10 which had seen a bit too much heavy use. I bought the HF200 as a sort of interim camera to get projects and work done until I could afford my next camera. It's served me well, but I want to say right off the bat that if you are any sort of amateur filmmaker, film student, or high-quality video enthusiast, you need to forget this camera and immediately check out Canon's HD video-recording DSLR's (the T2i is actually a little cheaper than this camera and the 60D is slightly more expensive... the 7D is much more expensive). If you're still considering this camera, I'll tell you that it's great for what it is. The video it takes is full HD and I've had professors accuse me of stealing footage for projects because they couldn't believe such quality video came from such a small camera. The HF200 sets itself above competitors by offering a 24p option, which gives you a film-like framerate so you can avoid the "home movie" look of 60i. It really helps your videos stand out from among the rest. This camera does a great job of providing manual controls for those who know how to use them while also providing good automatic video for less-knowledgeable videographers. White balance, aperture, frame rate, exposure, and focus, among other things, can be controlled via two on-screen menus that are easy to navigate and change on the fly. If you're not comfortable with the dedicated buttons on higher-end video cameras or DSLR's, this camera can be a great platform to learn on. Finally, the HF200 records to SD cards... the best possible medium for digital video, in my opinion. Fast, easy to transfer, holds plenty, and easy to review/delete videos on the go. The short story is that this camera provides great image and options for budding filmmakers or just home movie makers who want good quality videos. My only gripes with this camera are 1) you can get a T2i for cheaper, 2) the lens is slightly smaller than Canon's previous model, the HG10, and 3) the shoe mount isn't standard size and requires an adapter. If you can overlook these things, this is a great camera.

Swarley

Fairview, NC