HF S200 vs HF S21 and Accessories at DVinfo.net

Will Welch · April 29th, 2010, 09:23 AM

I am looking at buying my first video camera. I will be shooting "basic" stuff - family events, vacations, weddings (not professional), indoors/outdoors, etc. I am looking for a good camera, but certainly not a professional one. So far I am thinking about either the HF S200 or the HF S21. I have a couple of questions...

1) As far as I can tell, the only difference between the S200 and HF S21 is that the S21 has a view finder and 64gb of internal storage. Can someone confirm this?

2) Stability... Years ago when using a camcorder I always found that the eye piece allowed me to keep the camera more stable. Is this still the case or is the eye piece only helpful when shooting outdoors in the sunlight?

3) I am planning on editing on a MacBook Pro(2.53 Core 2 Duo. 4GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM, Nvidia GeForce 9400M, and a 250GB HD) that I purchased last year. Does anyone have experience editing/converting AVCHD files. I know I will have to convert them to Apple's format and I know I will need lots of external storage. Will the processor be able to handle it? I have been toying with the idea of selling it to a family member and buying one of the new MacBook Pro's that have an i5 processor and dedicated video card. Does anyone know if/think this would perform noticeably faster?

4) I am looking to buy the following accessories. Any recommendations would be great.

Case - Nothing huge. I would like to hold the camera, extra battery, etc. Not much more.

Tri-Pod - I have used these in the past and found some to be great and some to be horrible. I am looking for one that has clamp legs (vs. screw) and is relatively light weight. And just like everyone else, I would like to spend as little as possible.

Extra Battery & Charger- I know I will need this. Are 3rd party batteries worth it or should I stick to canon batteries?

Lens Filter - Is it worth it to buy a polarized filter to protect the lens? Will this effect the video?

Light - I have heard that the quality of low-light video is not great. Is it worth it to get an external light that attaches to the shoe?

Lens Hood - If I get the S200, will I need a lens hood? If so, is one better than any other?

April 29th, 2010, 09:23 AM	#1
Will Welch Tourist Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1	HF S200 vs HF S21 and Accessories I am looking at buying my first video camera. I will be shooting "basic" stuff - family events, vacations, weddings (not professional), indoors/outdoors, etc. I am looking for a good camera, but certainly not a professional one. So far I am thinking about either the HF S200 or the HF S21. I have a couple of questions... 1) As far as I can tell, the only difference between the S200 and HF S21 is that the S21 has a view finder and 64gb of internal storage. Can someone confirm this? 2) Stability... Years ago when using a camcorder I always found that the eye piece allowed me to keep the camera more stable. Is this still the case or is the eye piece only helpful when shooting outdoors in the sunlight? 3) I am planning on editing on a MacBook Pro(2.53 Core 2 Duo. 4GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM, Nvidia GeForce 9400M, and a 250GB HD) that I purchased last year. Does anyone have experience editing/converting AVCHD files. I know I will have to convert them to Apple's format and I know I will need lots of external storage. Will the processor be able to handle it? I have been toying with the idea of selling it to a family member and buying one of the new MacBook Pro's that have an i5 processor and dedicated video card. Does anyone know if/think this would perform noticeably faster? 4) I am looking to buy the following accessories. Any recommendations would be great. Case - Nothing huge. I would like to hold the camera, extra battery, etc. Not much more. Tri-Pod - I have used these in the past and found some to be great and some to be horrible. I am looking for one that has clamp legs (vs. screw) and is relatively light weight. And just like everyone else, I would like to spend as little as possible. Extra Battery & Charger- I know I will need this. Are 3rd party batteries worth it or should I stick to canon batteries? Lens Filter - Is it worth it to buy a polarized filter to protect the lens? Will this effect the video? Light - I have heard that the quality of low-light video is not great. Is it worth it to get an external light that attaches to the shoe? Lens Hood - If I get the S200, will I need a lens hood? If so, is one better than any other?