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Model
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| Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Canon 
| Panasonic 
|
| Name | HF S21 | AG-HMC70 |
| European name ? | Legria HF S21 | AG-HMC71 |
| US name ? | VIXIA HF S21 | AG-HMC70 |
| lowest US price | 1189 $ | 1429 $ |
| On the market since | April 2010 | April 2008 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Canon | link to Panasonic |
|
|
Test preview
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| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | not yet tested |
| test picture 1200 Lux | |  |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | |  |
Video
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| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | SDHC card built-in flash memory
| SD Card SDHC card
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p AVCHD 1440 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 1080/60i
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 24 Mbit/s | 13 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | 64 GB | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Canon
| Leica
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 10 x | 12 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 43,6 mm | 38,5 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 58 mm | |
| Image Stabilization ? | optically and electronically
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| |
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| |
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 3 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/2,6 inch | 1/4 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 6010000 Pixel | |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CCD
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual presets
| |
| Focus ? | auto manual
| |
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/2.000 | |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/6 | |
| Apperture control ? | auto manual
| |
| Infrared recording ? | No
| |
| Expanded Focus ? | Yes
| |
| Peaking ? | Yes
| |
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | 70% 100% | |
| Histogram ? | No
| |
| adjustable sharpness ? | Yes
| |
| Adjustable color ? | Yes
| |
| Cinegamma ? | Yes
| |
| Black Strech ? | No
| |
| Knee ? | No
| |
| Colorbars ? | Yes
| |
| Misc. |
| Shot Transition ? | No
| |
| Custom Presets ? | Yes
| |
| Set Time Code ? | No
| |
Configuration
|
| Connections |
| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| |
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
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YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
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| HDMI ? | Out
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DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| |
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| XLR
|
| Headphones ? | also AV-output
| |
| Lanc ? | Yes
| |
| Time-code interface ? | No
| |
| Genlock ? | No
| |
| Accessory shoe ? | Advanced Mini
| |
| HD-SDI ? | No
| |
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 470 g | |
| Weight (with battery) | 520 g | |
| Battery type | Canon BP-807
| |
| Battery capacity | 890 mAh | |
| Charger ? | internal
| |
| Remote control | Yes
| |
| Size |
| Height | 75 mm | |
| Width | 74 mm | |
| Depth | 140 mm | |
| Relative Size ? | 7 | 0 |
| 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 | |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | |
| Display pixels ? | 922000 Pixel | |
| Touch Screen ? | Yes
| |
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| |
| Manual Focus ? | Menu bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| |
| Manual Aperture ? | Menu bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| |
| Focus switcher ? | Yes
| |
| ND Filter ? | No
| |
| Exp Lock ? | No
| |
| Gain ? | No
| |
| White balance ? | No
| |
| Push AF ? | No
| |
| Audio Levels ? | No
| |
Custom Keys ? synonymous: User buttons | 1 | |
Audio
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| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Audio Formats ? | Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
| |
| Microphone ? | Stereo internal Mini-jack external
| |
| Audio Control ? | auto manual
| |
| Audio levels ? | Viewfinder Screen
| |
Still
|
| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Recording Medium ? | built-in flash memory SDHC card
| |
| Medium included ? | No
| |
| Effective pixels ? | 8020000 Pixel | |
| Resolutions ? | 3264 x 2448 3264 x 2456 max
| |
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| |
| Flash ? | Yes
| |
Misc.
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| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| Specials | 2 SDHC slots | model name in the US: AG-HMC70 |
Product Shots
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| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
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| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| 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 ? | Satisfactory | |
| Color performance ? | Very good | |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | |
| Wide Angle ? | Poor | |
| Configuration / image ? | Good | |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | |
| Handling ? | Good | |
| Portability ? | Very good | |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | |
| Optics ? | Good | |
| Dynamics ? | Good | |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | not yet tested |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 348 | |
| Pros | + Many manual controls
| |
| Cons | - small wide angle
| |
| Conclusion | The sharpness is only slightly below what is possible in this price range and the options for manual control are also quite ok.The touchscreen is a real improvement, so the problems with focus setting we used to citizise are gone.Since Sony offers more manual in this price range than they did before and both Sony and Panasonic have more wide angle, the HF S models of 2010 appear a little overpriced. | |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Canon HF S21 | Panasonic AG-HMC70 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | digitalcontentproducer.com
digitalcontentproducer.com
|
| Forum posts | Canon HF S21 - Brave New World video?
| Test Panasonic AG-HMC70/AG-HMC71 - Part 2
Test Panasonic AG-HMC70/AG-HMC71
price and availability of the Panasonic AG-HMC70/71E
Panasonic soon (synonymous) with less shoulder-CAM: AG-HMC70
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