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Canon VIXIA HF M30 Camcorder

In the market for a nice HD cam?, look no forther than Canon's Vixia HF M30. Here's a little on it's specs. The Vixia HF M30 comes with a 3 megapixel CMOS at a quarter inch in size, 15x zoom and f/1.8 -3.2. Like many cameras of similar specs, the HF M30 shoots at 16:9. Continuing the trend that has been the norm for some time now, this camera does not come with an EVF(Electronic View Finder), this means you will have to stick to using the 2.7 inch touchscreen LCD(which isn't that good to begin with, more on that later). The camera records in AVCHD format which is easy to manipulate, and it does 1080/60i @ 24, 17Mbps or 1440x1080/60i @ 12, 7, and 5 Mbps. This camera also sports a manual shutter and an accessory shoe.

The controls on the HF M30 are placed perfectly. On top, we can find the photo button and the zoom slide located conveniently under the forefinger. I found it quite easy to manipulate the zooming feature while maintain the camera steady. Behind both these you can find the accessory shoe. On the back of the camera sits the only control, and that's the record button. The camera comes with a paltry 890mAH battery, that's less than most smartphones! I believe this was done for aesthetic reasons; the battery sits perfectly flush with the camera. If you decide to ultimately upgrade to a larger capacity battery, it will protrude and just add a sense of bulkiness and awkwardness.

On the LCD bezel there is a button that enables the camera's “Power IS” mode. This is used when shooting at the telephoto end of the camera's zooming range, or if you are converting videos to SD(standard) quality. In the recess of the LCD sits the record-playback toggle, the display options, and the switch used to release the battery. Unless the camera is already in standby mode, opening the LCD doesn't automatically turn the camcorder on. This camera also sports an SDHC slot for expanding memory, and a pair of microphone and headphone jacks. Under the handstrap you can find the USB, component out, and the miniHDMI ports.

This camera is not exactly perfect but it is definitely worth its price. It shoots great video at its highest setting, and when shooting stills the quality of the lens is really good. With the good comes the bad in this cam, I'm looking at you battery life. At 890mAH the battery is severely lacking. Another quirk about this camera is the fact that it always defaults to low-quality video mode, requiring the used to mess around with the very unintuitive LCD menus.

Charlie
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:31:43 +0000

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