Help with basic digital camcorder questions Canon Vixia HF200A

[David Harrison]

I recently bought a Canon Vixia HF200A HD Camcorder which may have been a mistake but saw several reviews recommending it so got a used one. I haven't tried using it yet but looking at Youtube videos saw some things that are likely to be serious problems that it records in AVCHD format so you can't just drag and drop on a PC (though you can a Mac which I don't have and won't get another one) but you need special video editing software to load it. This is exactly the type thing I was trying to avoid!! by buying a camera with an SD card ignorantly thinking I could put the SD card in the computer and just load or play videos from there. Come to think if it in none of the Youtubes did I even see an option to load from an SD card so now I'm even more confused. I know nothing about this having only used 8mm tape Sony cameras in the past.

Another video said you can't use HD settings with a class 6 or class 10 SD card. You can only use class 2 or class 4 for that. Is that true and how much of a problem is it if so?

Also on the camera I see an output for HDMI and would like to just connect the camera to a tv to use a bigger monitor sometimes if that's possible but!!! the output on the camera that says HDMI won't accept the HDMI type cables that I have. So what's the deal there and could you even use a tv as a larger monitor if you could find a cable or adapter or something that could connect them?

Also on the camera I see an output for USB but it won't accept any USB cable that I have and if you could find an adapter or something what could you do with it?

Thank you for any help trying to learn about this stuff!

David
ME, USA

[Dave Baker]

AVCHD has been compatible with computers for years, all you should need to do is put the card into a computer and copy the relevant files. I have had SD card cameras for years and never yet had a problem doing just that.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Regarding HDMI, there are 3 connector types.

Your TV likely has a full-size HDMI connector, as do your cables.

Look into whether your camcorder has a mini or micro HDMI connector, buy a cable with that on one end, the full-size on the other. Yes, you should be able to use your TV as a large monitor.

There are at least 6 USB connector types. You’d need the right cable. This may not be worth pursuing, because for most camcorders USB can only be used for transferring still photos.

Find the manual for your camera online - these questions and many others will be answered there.

[Greg Smith]

Handling AVCHD on a Windows machine is no problem and the format been around long enough that all modern editing and viewing software should recognize it. When copying from the original memory cards to your editing computer, just be sure to copy the entire card structure with all its subdirectories. This gives your NLE the metadata needed to stitch spanned clips back together.

You can play individual clips from an AVCHD folder using VLC or probably any other mainstream video viewer on Windows.

- Greg

[Dave Baker]

Originally Posted by Greg Smith

Handling AVCHD on a Windows machine is no problem

FYI likewise on a Linux distribution

[Tim Lewis]

Hi David

I have three of these cameras in the PAL version, the Legria HF 200. These cameras came out around 2009. This was before the Class 10 cards were formalised as a standard, so the firmware could not handle Class 10. The firmware on the camera is not user upgradeable. I have sent all three of mine to Canon Australia and had the firmware upgraded, the most recent about two years ago. Canon did this free of charge.

These are great cameras for the price, with the shoe for the DM-100 mic, separate 3.5mm mic and headphone connections and a little picture control. They can give good results but are not low light cameras.

Enjoy!

Tim