A discussion of the design of the Canon HF20 and HF200 camcorders.
Lori Grunin
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
The HF20 and HF200 camcorders are compact without being too small; all the controls are decent sized and easy to manipulate. Nor are they missing any critical features because of their size, except perhaps a viewfinder. The two differ by built-in memory--the HF20 has 32GB and the HF200 has none--and color: the HF200 is two-tone graphite and black, and the HF20 sports basic black.
Despite being smaller than the HF S10/S100, the HF20/HF200's power switch protrudes more, making it easier to feel and manipulate. And despite the camcorder's small size, it still includes an accessory shoe.
One of Canon's new features for 2009, Video Snap, lets you take 4-second clips. Again, despite the small size it has a pretty good feature set, including a microphone input and headphone jack.
With the exception of the Video Snap mode button and the movie/still mode dial, all of the shooting, setup, and navigation controls live on the LCD bezel.
