Submitted 14 years ago

By Butch

From Los Angeles Ca.

Reviewed at

I am 71yrs old with poor reading abilities, and therefore am having very little luck setting up this camera,As an example,I am under the impression this camera will record on a simm card, but i can only get it to record still captures! How about providing a SIMPLE quick guide to help us NON-TECHNICAL users!

Submitted 14 years ago

By Sorcese

From Fairfield County Connecticut

Reviewed at

OK... this is a great camcorder. The quality of the video rivals that of tape camcorders however it's much easier to use. Downloading video from the flash memory is easy and makes you want to shoot more video. I first purchased an M30 however I didn't like the small size and the video quality was good but not great. I like the larger size of the HF S20 which seems to make it more stable to handle (less shake). The larger size also allows for a larger image processor and thus the better quality video. It still fits in the pocket of my cargo shorts so carrying is easy. The two SD memory slots are very cool and the clarity of the viewing screen is incredible at almost one million pixels. You can access some of the features directly from the touch screen and while some folks say it's difficult to use... I would tell you it's great. If you like shooting video even a little bit... go buy this camera.

Submitted 14 years ago

By JonS

From Iowa

Reviewed at

I did a lot of research before buying this camera and then, when I finally made the decision to buy it, every store was sold out. I ended up getting a local store to sell me their display model. I'm so glad they did. This has been one of the best cameras I have ever purchased. I am really amazed with how well the still photos turn out and the video quality is with out question the best I have ever seen. The mic input is a great feature for recording from a mixer with multiple mics. I have used the Zoom h4n for audio which is a great fit. The built in stereo mics of the HF S20 are also very good and pic up sound better than I expected. My only complaints are the mini advanced shoe and the operation of the manual focus. Both of these hold back the camera from its full potential. Being able to use a flash transmitter and to use the flash for photos during video record would be great! It could also come with a separate battery charger.

Pros: Good Image Stabilization, Large Clear LCD, Good in Low Light, Great Picture Quality Cons: Short battery life Other thoughts: Great video system! Image quality is fantastic. Has this cool button on the touch screen for shooting video while moving. Works great! Battery life is okay. It's not bad by any means, but could be better. Definitely buy the BP-819 battery. If purchasing an additional SDHC card, please do not go cheap! Buy a 133x (20mbps) card.

Submitted 15 years ago

By nyjimmy

From Tucson, AZ

Reviewed at

Excellent images, still and video. Camera is easy to use and the images are top notch. I would buy this one again!!

Submitted 15 years ago

By tomcran

From FL

Reviewed at

I've owned this camera for 5 months now and have used it often. I've owned 2 other Canaon HD camcorders (HF 21 and HF M31) and this is best by far. There are enough settings that if you are having trouble getting a good picture you can easily fix the problem through setting adjustments. For example, I was taking a lot of video of autumnal, brownish outdoors scenes in near-sunset light in Cinemode and they would end up with an unnatural, way too brownish overall look. I was frustrated and thought maybe something was wrong with Cinemode. But I found that by keeping Cinemode and setting the white balance to "Daylight" these scenes were turning out great - much more natural colors, and the brownishness was gone. Now I rarely use Cinemode, alone. I use it with "Daylight" for nearly any outdoors sunlight scene and am hugely impressed with the true colors and PQ. I only recently started using the 24f setting and am amazed at that, under certain circumstances. For example, if filming a mossy tree, with the moss gently swaying in the breeze -- that looks incredible! in 24p. (I also find that edited films done in 24f are more compatible with Blu-Ray players, after you burn them to BD discs. I have two BD players and one has never played my edited films very well. But if filmed in 24f, it plays them perfectly.) But panning becomes more difficult (but can still be done, if careful) and fast-action scenes such as sports scenes don't turn out that great in 24f, but that's nota camera problem -- that's just the way 24f is. The battery life is short, but I have two bigger batteries and also a separate battery charger and I have eliminated that as an issue. Mayn complain about the software, but I find it works fine for my purposes (downloading to computer from camera, editing -- merging, splitting, reducing volume, overdubbing, and burning the files to a Blu-Ray disc (BD-R or BD-RE) which always plays perfectly. I am hugely impressed with this camera and it has enough settings that no "problem" is insurmountable.I keep learning new things to improve performance.

Submitted 15 years ago

By CWTay

From So Cal

Reviewed at

I have the Canon FS10 and wanted to go HD. Sticking with Canon I expected to get a nice cam. What I didn't expect was picture WOW!! Ease of use WOW!, The product quality WOW! I didn't get the S21 didn't need the WOW! but I got WOW with the S20. WOW am I happy.

Submitted 15 years ago

By anonymous

From Savanah, GA

Reviewed at

I have been able to download pictures without a problems. The pictures are wonderful. Down loading movies is a problem. There has not been adequate support.

Submitted 15 years ago

By Yummy

From Savanah, GA

Reviewed at

I have been able to download pictures without a problems. The pictures are wonderful. Down loading movies is a problem. There has not been adequate support.

Submitted 15 years ago

By JohnnyBoy

From Dallas

Reviewed at

Bought one, loved it so much bought another one. I shoot event video, and these babies are wonderful. Even for the price of two, it is still less expensive than one of the monster pro cams. My clients love the work they see, even in SD! Yes, there's a lot of noise out there about video with DSLR's. I have the 7D and shoot video on it and yes, it is beautiful. But when everything is boiled down to the end product, the S20's are favorably comparable, IMHO. For most of the still work I do, the built in cam works great for what it is. No, it's not a DSLR. You can also shoot at 24p and make nice frame grabs, send them into your editor and come out with some really peachy stuff. Personally, I hope my clients never find out how easy it is to make great video with this product.