Canon Vixia HF10 or HF11? Which Should You Buy?

The new Canon HF11 improves on the HF10 with some intriguing upgrades. But is it worth the extra cost?

Year after year, manufacturers give their aging camcorders upgrades and release the next generation of products. Advertising new features, improved usability, and portability, manufacturers try to get consumers excited about the new model while the prices of the old models plummet. But newer doesn't always mean better. You have to decide whether the upgrades are essential to your needs or merely superfluous bells and whistles that you won't use. Case-in-point, the Canon HF11:

HF10 vs. HF11

Canon's Top-of-the-Line HD Cam

Canon HF11

from $823.95

Here's the thing. The Canon HF11 is identical to the HF10. Well, that's not exactly true, but for some consumers, it may as well be. The HF11 has most of the same features as the HF10, and even though the HF11 is a tad smaller than the HF10, it is not noticeably so. Indeed, at first glance, the camcorders are nearly indistinguishable.

In terms of upgrades, the HF11 has two major advantages over the HF10: more internal memory and higher bitrate. Nevertheless, depending on your needs, the Canon HF10 may be just as good as the HF11, but at more reasonable price.

Memory

Canon HF10

from $633.00

The HF11 has 32GB of internal memory. That's double the 16GB of the HF10. Don't count the HF10 out, though. With both cameras, you can supplement the internal memory with a SDHC memory card. If you spring for a large memory card for the HF10, you can match the 32GB memory of the HF11. This costs extra of course, but you still might save money.

Bitrate

The principal benefit to owning the HF11 is the increased bitrate. Bitrate refers to how much data is written to memory each second. The more data that is saved, the higher the quality is on the final video. Higher-quality video compression takes up more space on your hard-drive (hence, the HF11's large storage capacity).

Whereas the HF10 has a maximum bitrate of 17Mbps, the HF11 compresses data at an impressive 24Mbps. Even though both camcorders record in full 1920 x 1080 high definition, video taken with the HF11 should appear crisper and fuller than videos take with the HF10. 17Mbps is a high bitrate, and your videos will look picture-perfect on an HDTV, but the 24Mbps of the HF11 is an achievement for consumer camcorders. Until the release of the HF11, only professional camcorders could compress files at 24Mbps.

Is the difference that noticeable? Well, that's a matter of opinion really. While 24Mbps is technically superior to 17Mbps, the human eye may not appreciate all the subtle ways in which the image has improved. For the average consumer, such an upgrade may not be worth the extra money. Though professionals and videophiles will definite want the highest bitrate they can possibly achieve.

Conclusions

Canon's new HF11 camcorder is an innovative step forward for the consumer camcorder industry. If you're a stickler for the highest quality video, the HF11 is a smart investment; you won't find better video quality among Canon's competitors. On the other hand, if you want high quality and a great deal (the price of HF10s will surely fall following the release of the HF11), the HF10 is a steal.