/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Samsung

Canon

Name

HMX-S10

HV40

European name ?

HMX-S10

Legria HV40

US name ?

HMX-S10

VIXIA HV40

lowest US price

699 $

585 $

On the market since

May 2010

April 2009

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MPEG4/AVC

MiniDV
HDV

Recording Medium

SD Card
SDHC card

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

video resolutions EU ?

AVC 1920 x 1080i50
AVC 1920 x 1080p25
MP4 720 x 576 50i
AVC 1280 720p25/p50

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/25F
HDV 1440 x 1080/25p

video resolutions US ?

AVC 1920 x 1080 60i
MP4 720 x 480 60i
AVC 1280 720p30/p60

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
HDV 1440 x 1080/24p
HDV 1440 x 1080/30p
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i
720 MiniDV x480/24p

Max Bitrate ?

k. a. Mbit/s

25 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

DV
MPEG2

on-board memory ?

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Tailor Kreunznach

Canon

Optical Zoom ?

15 x

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

46,5 mm

43,6 mm

Filter diameter ?

46 mm

43 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optically and electronically

optical

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/2,33 inch

1/2,7 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

10000000 Pixel

2070000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

auto
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/10.000

1/2.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/25

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

auto
manual
AE-Shift

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Peaking ?

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Histogram ?

adjustable sharpness ?

Adjustable color ?

Cinegamma ?

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Mini-jack
Cinch

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

535 g

Weight (with battery)

Battery type

Samsung IA-BP210E

Canon BP-2L13

Battery capacity

Charger ?

external

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

58 mm

82 mm

Width

56 mm

88 mm

Depth

114 mm

138 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

123000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

3,5 Inch

2,7 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

1152000 Pixel

211000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Manual Focus ?

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Focus switcher ?

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

AAC Stereo
AAC Stereo 48 kHz

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

manual

Audio levels ?

Still

Recording Medium ?

SD Card
built-in flash memory
SDHC card

MiniSD

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

10000000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

3984 x 2656

1920x1080
1440x1080
848x480
640x480
2048 x 1536

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

+ Time lapse recording

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

Vixia HF S10 usable as a webcam?

luminance resolution

chrominance resolution

lens distortion

test small ISO image

noise / internal microphone

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode ?

Test image 12 lux optimized ?

slashCAM rating

Lowlight ?

Good

Resolution ?

Very good

Color performance ?

Good

subj.Picture impression ?

Good

Optical Zoom ?

Satisfactory

Wide Angle ?

Poor

Configuration / image ?

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Sufficient

Handling ?

Satisfactory

Portability ?

Very good

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Satisfactory

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

not yet tested

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

323

Pros

+ Sharpness and lowlight behavior
+ Some good manual control
+ Touch Focus

Cons

- Automatics never completely switched off
- No support for AVCHD

Conclusion

With the HMX-S10 Samsung shows the company is able to build cameras that can compete technically in the 1000 Euro league.The camera hardware is more than adequate for this price.But software-wise there is more emphasis on colorful animations than practical usability. The small lens wheel does in any case only make limited sense, as long as you cannot inhibit the camera from automatically changing the settings.The display, however, is really impressive and also the manufacturing of the camera seems very solid.

More information

Reviews and Forums

slashCAM Review

external reviews/tests

Forum posts

Test: Samsung HMX-S10

External monitor on Canon HF S10 - HELP!

Canon S10 RF and Battery of used websites! HELP

Canon HF S10 - Recording modes to be understood?

canon s10 mts files to a clip

Canon HF S10 rattling

Canon HF S10 pc connection problem

Canon S10 RF hardware requirements

Canon S10 in LEGRIA RF Test

Your thoughts: HF S10 Lowlight Performance

MOV movie created with Casio S10 in Mpg convert

Canon VIXIA HV40 with live stream over Firewire / 1394?

Without Cam I feel "naked"! ... Reservecam as HV40 vs SD707?

Canon HV40 drive problem