/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Canon

Sony

Name

HG21

HDR-UX7

European name ?

HG21

HDR-UX7E

US name ?

VIXIA HG21

HDR-UX7

lowest US price

1100 $

On the market since

September 2008

March 2007

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Good

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD

Recording Medium

Built-in hard disk
SD Card
SDHC card

MiniDVD 8cm
MiniDVD-DL 8cm

video resolutions EU ?

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i

video resolutions US ?

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/24p
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/30p
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/30p

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

24 Mbit/s

12 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

120 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Canon

Carl Zeiss

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

43,6 mm

40 mm

Filter diameter ?

37 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/3,2 inch

1/3 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2070000 Pixel

2280000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/2.000

1/500

Maximum shutter time ?

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual
AE-Shift

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off

Off
70%
100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

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

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Advanced Mini

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

490 g

550 g

Weight (with battery)

650 g

Battery type

Canon BP-2L13

Sony NP-FH60

Battery capacity

1180 mAh

Charger ?

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

80 mm

82 mm

Width

77 mm

82 mm

Depth

139 mm

138 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

123000 Pixel

123200 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

3,5 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

211000 Pixel

211200 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Joystick

Menu
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

Joystick

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 ?

Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Stereo internal

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

SD Card

Memory Stick Duo

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

2760000 Pixel

3200000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920x1080
1440x1080
848x480
640x480
2048 x 1536

2304x1728
2304x1296

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

25 P-Mode

&"Smooth Slow Record" slow motion mode: 3 seconds are recorded with 200 half frames/sec., resulting in a 4-fold slow motion.However, the recording is without sound and in poorer image quality.

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures