Great camcorder and takes good pictures as well. I finally got rid of the old MiniDv camcorder and tapes and replaced with this flash version HD camera from Canon. Now just carry small SD cards instead of small tapes. Great for vacations, parties and events. I think I actually have the HFS 100 and can't remember what exactly the differences were but I think the HFS 100 offered a bit more than the HF 100. Performance From video taping to picture taking, the camera performs well and is easy enough to control. There is a remote to control the camcorder so you can even get in the picture or video - just flip the view finder screen so you can be sure you are getting what you want in the image. Battery Life I got a deal which included a spare extended battery which was good. The normal battery is okay, but with the extended battery I obviously don't have to worry about the battery running out too soon. Something my sister's Panasonic camcorder seemed to do too often. Even the standard battery seems to last a good while prior to having to switch off or exchange. Durability I've had this for a while now. It hasn't been abused in any way but has been stuffed into bags and lugged around on trips to the Philippines and Canada but hasn't shown any ill effects. All the parts are still there. Ease of Use The controls are easy enough when recording and taking pictures and you have auto settings or can manually set some if you desire. The playback is a bit annoying since it defaults to headset for audio and you have to go into the menu to set it to AV to hear the audio play on the camcorders speaker. Also wish there was a simple way to transfer or perhaps I should say convert the video file. Design I like the design as this is very easy to use with one hand - at least for me. Smaller hands may find it harder to manipulate the controls. One thing I wish it had was an "eye - view finder" instead of just the LCD, but I knew that wasn't part of it prior to buying it and to be honest I don't really regret not having it. I also like the flash media, and although they have "hybrid" version that have a HDD I actually prefer the flash only version since a HDD is just another part that can go bad after some time while the flash version you are simply installing and removing the SD cards.

The1Lion

Woodridge, IL

I got this camera for Christmas and so far we love it! It is very easy to use! The picture quality is very nice, and the price was reasonable. The viewing screen can be fliped to the subject can see the video, however, when you do this if you are not facing the screen, you cannot see what is being filmed. My only true dislike about this camera is that most of the manual is on a pdf, so anytime you want to look something up you need to go to the pdf file on the computer. I would rather have the complete manual in print, so I can look things up away from the computer. As another reviewer mentioned, you do have to install software for this camera, it is not plug & play, so that is also a disadvantage. One thing I was not aware of when I purchased this camera was that it does not come with a SD card, that needs to be purchased seperately. It is not a big deal, I just was unaware of that, and you cannot record with this camera without one. Overall I am very happy with this video camera. I have not taken any still pictures with it, so I cannot comment on that.

marykatesmomma

Underwood, MN

The Canon Vixia HF100 is a great consumer camcorder. It records in 1920x1080 and has an incredible picture. It works great as a camcorder for capturing video, and the still image quality is also fairly good (comparable to a midrange digital camera). It is a very user friendly camera as far as recording and picture taking goes. The video quality can be set to different qualities LP (5Mbps), SP (7Mbps), XP+ (12Mbps), or FXP (17Mbps) depending on what you are wanting, I always record in the Highest available FXP and the results are stunning. The audio recording of the built in stereo microphone are also good. I've used several types of cameras over the years, and love the new digital cameras. I also use a Sony DCR Hard Drive camcorder, both cameras work well together and have comparable quality. The one downfall I see with the Canon is that the digital recording is to SD cards, and this may sound good to you as it did to me, but you still have to have the camera to download the data off the card. Also it is not plug and play ready with a PC, you must install the software that comes with the camera to access the camera. iMovie will import video from the camera fine. Overall a good buy!

texas-mavrick

Hillsboro, TX