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Model
|
| Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Canon 
| Panasonic 
|
| Name | HF M41 | HDC-HS9 |
| European name ? | Legria HF M41 | HDC-HS9EG |
| US name ? | VIXIA HF M41 | HDC-HS9 |
| lowest US price | (799) $ | 949 $ |
| On the market since | March 2011 | March 2008 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Canon | link to Panasonic |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Satisfactory
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | SDHC card built-in flash memory SDXC card
| Built-in hard disk SD Card SDHC card
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
| AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
|
| video resolutions US ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
| AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1440 x 1080/24p
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 24 Mbit/s | 17 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | 32 GB | 60 GB |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Canon
| Leica
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 10 x | 10 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 43,6 mm | 42,9 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 43 mm | 37 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optically and electronically
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 3 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/3 inch | 1/6 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 2000000 Pixel | 520000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CCD
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual presets
| auto manual presets
|
| Focus ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/2.000 | 1/8.000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/6 | 1/25 |
| Apperture control ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Infrared recording ? | No
| No
|
| Expanded Focus ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Peaking ? | Yes
| |
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | No
| 100% |
| Histogram ? | No
| No
|
| adjustable sharpness ? | Yes
| No
|
| Adjustable color ? | Yes
| No
|
| Cinegamma ? | Yes
| No
|
| Black Strech ? | No
| No
|
| Knee ? | No
| No
|
| Colorbars ? | No
| Yes
|
| Misc. |
| Shot Transition ? | No
| No
|
| Custom Presets ? | No
| No
|
| Set Time Code ? | No
| No
|
Configuration
|
| Connections |
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| Out
|
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
| |
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| HDMI ? | Out mini
| Out
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| No
|
| Headphones ? | also AV-output
| No
|
| Lanc ? | No
| No
|
| Time-code interface ? | No
| No
|
| Genlock ? | No
| No
|
| Accessory shoe ? | Advanced Mini
| No
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 360 g | 275 g |
| Weight (with battery) | 400 g | |
| Battery type | Canon BP-808
| |
| Battery capacity | 850 mAh | |
| Charger ? | internal
| external
|
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 74 mm | 75 mm |
| Width | 71 mm | 74 mm |
| Depth | 137 mm | 126 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 7 | 6 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | Yes
| No
|
| Color Viewfinder ? | Color
| |
| Viewfinder format ? | 16:9 | |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | 260000 Pixel | |
| Display |
| Display available ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Color display ? | Color
| Color
|
| Display size | 3,0 Inch | 2,7 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | 230000 Pixel | 300000 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | Yes
| No
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | Menu
| Joystick
|
| Manual Aperture ? | Menu
| Joystick
|
| Focus switcher ? | No
| Yes
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exp Lock ? | No
| No
|
| Gain ? | No
| No
|
| White balance ? | No
| No
|
| Push AF ? | No
| No
|
| Audio Levels ? | No
| No
|
Custom Keys ? synonymous: User buttons | No
| No
|
Audio
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| 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
| 5.1 Internal
|
| Audio Control ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Audio levels ? | Viewfinder Screen
| Screen
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| Recording Medium ? | built-in flash memory SDHC card SDXC card
| SD Card
|
| Medium included ? | No
| |
| Effective pixels ? | | |
| Resolutions ? | 1920x1080 | 1920x1080 |
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | | Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| Specials | Cinema-style filterStory CreatorTouch Decoration | |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| 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 ? | Very good | Satisfactory |
| Resolution ? | Very good | Sufficient |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Satisfactory |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | Satisfactory |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Sufficient |
| Wide Angle ? | Poor | Sufficient |
| Configuration / image ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Handling ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Portability ? | Very good | Excellent |
| Photo function ? | Sufficient | Sufficient |
| Optics ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Satisfactory
 |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 362 | 276 |
| Pros | + Manual control over image characteristics + Good low-light characteristics
| + small, portable
|
| Cons | - No Zebra - (Too) little external controls
| - only satisfactory image quality - operation via joystick / Menu
|
| Conclusion | In terms of sharpness, the new camcorders are finally on par again with the generation preceeding its predecessors.The good low light performance and the - for many users - sufficient manual features certainly make the RF M-series interesting for price-sensitive buyers.However, has to live with the small wide-angle, a low-resolution display, missing features such as zebra or histogram as well as the automatics. | Average camera, compact dimensions being its biggest advantage |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Canon HF M41 | Panasonic HDC-HS9 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | |
| Forum posts | New Canon (Vixia HF as G10 / M41 RF) compared to Panasonic HDC-750 SDT
Test: Canon HF M41 - Interestingly harbinger
| CD burn of Panasonic HDC-HS9
Panasonic HDC-HS9: Recording in mpeg2 format?
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