VIXIA HF R20 Black
3.9
5
9
9
Excellent piece of equipement
I bought this camera when it first came out. I bought an extra battery from a 3rd party and the when a batter charger came on the market bought it and it came with 2 non-intelligent batteries as back ups. So I have yet to run out of battery power even after hours of "filming". Excellent image quality but a bit of a learning curve for someone not used to touch screen controls. Sound not bad for an in camera mic but not good enough for what I wanted. So I bought a Rode mic for it that is much better and can be used as a desk top or on a boom or on an SLR flash bracket. Lots of recording room on the internal memory and the two additional memory card slots. I also bought a 3rd party ultra-wide angle that seriously expands its content inclusion. When you consider the price, the image quality, the option for smoothing out camera shake, good auto and endless manual controls, the small size and light weight, I think it a very good choice. Not TV production quality but then who would expect it. And found it easy to both connect to my iMac or MacBook to download either directly from the camera or removing the card and using a USB card reader. Not a single problem. Even faster if you have a card reader built into your computer. I too have dropped it a couple of time onto tile floors Ouch! Not a scratch and not degradation of recording quality. Amazing low light quality. I have shot in candle light quite successfully. I have used iMovie 2011 and it imports very successfully with no problems.
December 27, 2012
Bad choice for a camcorder
I have had problems trying to download videos ever since I purchased this camera. It is dificult to use and no help available on line. The only thing I like about the camcorder is that it is lightweight.
September 9, 2012
Big little camcorder
I have used this Camcorder now for about 8mo., and am very pleased. The HD is excellent and you have an option of 5 Quality settings. You have in camera storage + 2 SD card slots,(use 16GB class 10 minimum, for best results). the low light is OK, it could be improved, but at what cost?. I also like the fact that it has audio in/out, + full computer&HD outputs.
I record musical performances, so I use an external mic for better sound. The built in mic is above average. the LCD screen is very good in all aspects. Must remove from automatic to fully use menu.
Like most people the battery could be improved, especially in the $$$Cost area(a fair price would in the $45 area), you have to have 2, if you use the Zoom a lot, it's a power robber, other wise it will last about 70-80 min.
for the price I think it's Very Good
June 18, 2012
A great purchase
I purchased this camcorder back in Dec.2011, basically to use it for documentary projects at film school. The funny thing is that the R20 shoots HD video better than some of the $2000 camcorders that the school issues out (camcorders, not the DSLR's). Another aspect to mention would be it's surprising durability. I unfortunately made the mistake of letting some friends borrow the R20 and it's been dropped three times (once from 3 ft. onto a tile floor), left out in a cold car for a few hours, and has had a few jacks ripped out from people tripping over cables linking into it... but the little guy still records perfect. The only thing that I have to complain about the R20 is that the battery life is very short, and it's almost required for you to buy an extra battery/charger ($$$)...but aside from that this camcorder is still great, and I would definitely buy it again.
March 30, 2012
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