Here at Crutchfield, we like to test out the gear that we sell whenever possible. So when my contact at Canon offered to send me the new HF S10 camcorder, I jumped at the chance. The HF S10 is Canon's top-of-the-line model this year, and offers a 32GB internal flash memory (or solid state drive), some advanced internal processing, a vast range of manual controls, and a rather large image sensor at 6-megapixels (effective), which makes high-def filming possible. It records video at 1920 X 1080, so it matches perfectly with the video resolution of today's HDTVs. And despite the number of controls and features packed into this cam, it still maintains a sleek, lightweight body and user-friendly menus.

Improvements over last year

Last year I was fortunate enough to be able to try out three high-def cams side-by-side (you can read my full review here), one of which was the HF S10's predecessor, the HF10. Canon really paid attention to aesthetics this year — the HF S10 is more streamlined than the HF10, and felt really solid in my hand. I also immediately noticed the size of the lens — it's an impressive 58mm in diameter versus last year's 37mm, for better optical performance.

A big feature that last year's model lacked was a simultaneous video and photo function. While I was trying out the HF10, I'd frequently forget which mode I'd left it in, and so I might miss a few seconds of the action if I'd go to shoot video only to discover that the cam was in photo mode.

This year, the HF S10 is equipped with a simultaneous video and photo mode that made easy shooting so much easier. It was really convenient when I didn't have a clear goal in mind, and wanted to just have fun. It's a great option for children, because it locks the settings, although beginners will like the easy shooting, too. But for more serious video shooting or picture-taking, I always used the separate modes so that I could make changes to the settings while filming.

Another, really cool new feature in the HF S10 is the Video Snapshot mode. There's a dedicated button on the inside of the camcorder that turns it on, then every time I pressed the record button, the camcorder took four second video snapshots. When I first read about it, I was a little skeptical about its purpose, but when I was testing the camcorder out at home and making my own videos, I was surprised by how useful it was.

It was a lot easier to take "snapshots" of my puppy running around, than filming a long one hour video of him and editing out the boring parts later. It completely eliminated the need for a computer for video editing — during playback mode the camcorder stitched the snapshots together to create a longer video for me, complete with music already loaded on the cam. (You can see the final results in our Canon HF S10 & S100 video.)

The video snapshot mode would have really come in handy when I was studying abroad in France — instead of dozens of static photos, I could have made a reel of video clips, which would have been able to capture the place and presence a little better.

And finally, the HF S10 has twice the memory capacity of last year's model. I played with the cam for a few weeks, and didn't use more than a gigabyte or two of memory. But for people who do a lot of filming, there's also an SDHC card slot to add on some memory. Some people might be more drawn to the 120-gigabyte and 240-gigabyte hard drive camcorders on the market, but for me, the security and lightness of a solid state drive outweighs the added hours of recording on a hard drive camcorder.

Stunning video performance

I was very pleased with the clarity and detail of my footage, thanks to the new image processor and Canon's primary color filter. The colors in my video were rich, and incredibly natural looking. I have an HDTV at home, so I took advantage of the HD video with x.v.Color mode — I wanted my videos to look stunning on my TV. I also used the 24p cinema mode to give my videos film-like motion.

Another feature that I enjoyed was the optical image stabilization. Canon optical image stabilization is one of the smoothest that I've used, which comes in handy with your trying to track a moving object, like a puppy, while moving yourself.

I expected the menus and joystick control to be confusing, given the number of things you can do with this cam. But Canon reduced everything to three simple menus, one of which I used regularly while filming, the second I used for setting before filming, and the third to change settings on the camcorder itself. The ease with which I could operate this cam made it a lot of fun to film videos, and made me feel confident enough to play around with the controls once I got used to them.

As with most camcorders, the HF S10 had some difficulty with very low-lit situations. Despite being on the highest video setting, my living room would look grainy if I hadn't properly lit the area. The pop-up flash and video light really came in handy here. They're hidden on top of the cam to give it that sleek look, so you can't initially see them, but they're ready to go at the press of a button. Not all cams have one or both of these, so it was nice to have both in this model.

Plenty of automatic and manual control

I used the automatic mode for most of my video shooting, because it produced excellent results without me having to mess with the settings.

A definite standout for Canon is the Auto Focus. If you've ever had to wait for your camera to focus properly, or been distracted by unfocused camcorder footage, then you know how invaluable this is. I could clearly see the cam snap into focus on my puppy as he ran around the house, with hardly any trouble focusing between far and near shots. The auto exposure (AE) modes also helped my footage indoors look more natural, and saved my puppy from looking more orange than brown under a fluorescent light.

However, I liked having the option to make tweaks to my video with the manual controls, even if I didn't use them as much as some video enthusiasts might. Not surprisingly, I found it really helpful to read through the manual. Not only did it help me figure out how to find all the manual controls, it also had shutter speed and aperture guidelines to help me do it myself.

A simple push up on the joystick got me to a menu with access to most of the manual controls, but for the one control that I felt I'd use most often, like manual exposure or focusing, I could set the custom dial to control it. It's a little knob near the lens that I could turn to adjust my chosen control, for quicker access than the joystick menus.

Like last year, I found the audio level control really handy. It let me see how much sound the cam's mic was picking up, and then lets me dial back on what it was recording, like for instance, if the mic was picking up too much wind noise in my landscape shots. This cam also offers a mic input and hot shoe, which is just a nice option to have if you want to add a larger mic or video light for more professional shooting.

A built-in digital camera?!

While I still prefer the feel and easy access of a digital camera, I was pleased by the 8-megapixel photos that the HF S10 snapped (which are actually more detailed than the photos that my three-year-old digital camera can take). Like the video quality, my photos came out clearly focused, with rich coloring that was true to the original. The photo mode also used face detection to help me take better shots of my friends.

And something cool about this cam is that it has the same brightness displays as Canon's digital SLR cameras. So after I snapped a photo, I could see a histogram showing me where the concentration of light in my photos was. If the "hump" in the histogram was too far to the left or the right, then I knew I had to re-shoot my photo, but if it was in the center, then I knew I had a winner.

Easy playback on an HDTV

The great thing about high-def cams is that the footage they record is designed to look great on today's HDTVs. So when I wanted to show my boyfriend a video of the silly things our puppy had done that day, I just had to hook the camcorder up to a spare HDMI port on my HDTV to the mini HDMI jack on the camcorder, and control the camcorder via it's menus or the included wireless remote.

I did have to buy the mini-HDMI-to-HDMI cable separately, but it was worth it. Because although the camcorder comes with a component cable in the box, not all TVs accept a 1080i signal via component. And if I had used a component connection, then I would have also had to make a separate audio connection, and I would have missed out on the x.v.Color that I was shooting in.

Final thoughts

I really liked using the HF S10 because it recorded some gorgeous high-def videos of my puppy that will last, both in terms of quality and in format, for years. I also had a lot of fun making videos using the video snapshot mode, which I found surprisingly useful. But I think the best part about this cam is that it didn't limit me to an "easy" mode — I could rely on the automatic features to produce excellent video, but I could play around with the manual settings when I wanted to customize my video, or even just work on my filming skills.

This makes the Canon HF S10 a great choice for someone looking for a high-def camcorder to go with their other high-def gear, and who wants to make that leap from beginner to advanced filming.