Hands on the new Canon HF11

[Chris Hurd]

See http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/camco...11overview.php -- discuss here -- thanks,

[Chris Barcellos]

Thanks, Chris and Austin for this.

From the standpoint of features, are exposure adjustments with HF11 about the same as with the HV30, ie., without the direct aperature or shutter adjustments that prosumer cameras have, but that can be adjusted with various tricks ?

[Chris Hurd]

All identical; no differences in that regard. There are only three changes in the HF11: body color, internal flash memory size and the addition of the MXP mode. Everything else stays the same as before. Hope this helps,

[Larry Horwitz]

It may go without saying Chris, but I wanted to thank you most sincerely on behalf of the entire video community for providing such a truly superb website with such totally up to date information.

You are allowing all of us a chance to share and learn in a way which is outstanding, and the quality and timeliness of information you provide such as this HF11 review and discussion is absolutely unavailable anywhere else on the Internet.

Again, a very sincere and very big "Thank You" from all of us.

Larry Horwitz

[Larry Horwitz]

I want to raise a technical point which is worth considering when making these video comparisons:

No doubt the HF11 uses a new and presumably faster encoder to allow 24 MBit/sec video to be created from the same sensor / optics which the prior HF10 and HF100 also use. The FXP samples which the new camera records at 17 MBits/sec, despite being at the very same encoding rate as the earlier HF10/100, may themselves be superior to the HF10/100, since the new encoder is loafing along at the 17 MBit/sec rate and quite possibly may do a better encoding job.

Therefore, the FXP samples of the HF11 may indeed be superior to the FXP samples coming from the older HF10, so people who presently own the HF10/100 may ultimately want to see comparisons where the older encoder and the newer encoder are directly compared. The HF10/100 may not be capable of either the detail or motion performance of the HF11 even if both are compared at the 17 Mbit/sec rate.

I wanted to point out this caveat in case the reader assumes that the MXP (24Mbit/sec) versus FXP (17Mbit/sec) comparison of the HF11 is somehow a direct indication of how much improvement, if any, they are likely to see if they were to "trade-up" from an HF10 to an HF11. This is not a valid assumption given the likely encoder differences between the two models.

Larry Horwitz

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Larry Horwitz

...the FXP samples of the HF11 may indeed be superior to the FXP samples coming from the older HF10, so people who presently own the HF10/100 may ultimately want to see comparisons where the older encoder and the newer encoder are directly compared.

I can arrange that. In addition to the HF11, I have an HF100 sitting here at the house. If y'all don't mind a repeat of the water sprinkler test, I'll try to knock that out later this afternoon or tomorrow morning (things are kinda busy around here though).

Thanks for your kind words Larry,

[Robert M Wright]

The direct comparison of image quality (24Mbps HF11 vs 17Mbps HF10/HF100) is what I'm interested in. I've been meaning to pick up an HF100, but am going to wait to see if there is a considerable difference in the image quality (due to higher bitrate with the HF11).

[Robert M Wright]

Note to Chris: Most the DSC chart image links somehow got mistakenly pointed back to the article page.

[Chris Hurd]

D'oh! In too big a hurry. Fixed -- thanks Robert!

[Ken Ross]

Chris, you and Austin did a fantastic job with your test! I'm able to download the .m2tx files and don't even need to change the extension. They play in WMP with no problem on my computer. However, I do have the same problem I had with Austin's original HF10 files when downloading the image files. I just can't get them to play.

But from what I've seen, I'm encouraged by the high bitrate clips of the sprinkler pans. These are some very detailed scenes that hold together really well during the pans! I can definitely see a difference in the high bitrate. I'm also encouraged, even though it was a cloudy day, by the color balance of the clips. They seem more like the color balance I have with my HV20.

Thanks for a job well done. Any additional clips you can provide (perhaps .m2tx files) that demonstrate the resolving ability of the cam as well as the color balance, would be greatly appreciated!

[Larry Horwitz]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

I can arrange that. In addition to the HF11, I have an HF100 sitting here at the house. If y'all don't mind a repeat of the water sprinkler test, I'll try to knock that out later this afternoon or tomorrow morning (things are kinda busy around here though).

Thanks for your kind words Larry,

Thanks Chris. This should make the upgrade decision much simpler for those of us with HF10/100s.

[Chris Hurd]

Shot last night; have to run up to Austin today but hope to post this eve.

[Matze Boerner]

thanks for the review.
I can play the mts files with no problem, but after an hour
of trying several programms to join, convert and extract the dmgs I gave up on it...

[Chris Hurd]

Sorry about the trouble with the DMG. I hope to have QuickTime .MOV's of that material up later tonight

[Austin Meyers]

here are some split and concat and par2 utilities for windows that looked the part (i can't vouch for any of them, so be forewarned)

there is also a method using windows command line involving the copy command:
http://www.monkeyjob.com/FileMonk/FA...ommand-DOS.htm


File Splitz:
http://www.download.com/File-Splitz/...dlPid=10521066

Quick Par:
http://www.quickpar.org.uk/Download.htm

there are also a lot of newsreaders that have par2 and joining capabilities built in:

Ozum:
http://www.download.com/Ozum/3000-21...dlPid=10828332

news file grabber:
http://www.download.com/News-File-Gr...dlPid=10866600