Why You Can Trust CNET Canon Legria HF20 review: Canon Legria HF20
As far as mid-range camcorders go, there's not much to fault the Canon Legria HF20 for; the image quality is good, the autofocus speedy and feature list fairly full.
Design and features
With its mix of piano and matte black plastic, there's not really much, apart from the metal insert on the screen cover and flush fitting battery pack, that sets the Legria HF20 apart from its competition. Up the top there's the zoom switch, photo shutter and a recessed power button that's a bit fiddly to get to. The underside features a tripod mount that's unfortunately not in line with the middle of the lens.
Canon Legria HF20
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
On the right-hand side (hidden underneath the wrist strap) there's a flap hiding the mini-HDMI and mini-USB ports, and a mode switch. The available modes are video, photo and dual-shot; the latter has been barred from accessing any manual settings and, despite first blushes, isn't the only way to shoot video and take photos at the same time — one just has to know which setting to tweak.
Menus are accessed via the Function button and five-way joystick to the left of the 2.7-inch flip out LCD screen. The menus are well laid out and some common settings, such as focus, exposure, night light, mic levels and so forth, can be fiddled with quickly by tapping the joystick up or down. A bunch of redundant buttons (play/record, zoom, stop), as well as playback, reside underneath the screen.
Performance and image quality
According to Canon, the 32GB of built-in flash memory can hold just shy of three hours of AVCHD footage shot at the highest quality setting (24Mbps). Storage can be expanded via the SD/SDHC card slot located in the screen bay. The flush fitting Lithium-ion battery is rated at 105 minutes, although more recording time can eked out if you turn the LCD screen off. The lack of an electronic viewfinder means that this is only possible if you've set the camera on a tripod to record long swathes of video.
The 6.35mm (1/4 inch), 3.3-megapixel CMOS image sensor does a good job of resolving detail, but it lacks the crispness of the higher-end Legria camcorders that feature larger sensors. Colours aren't overly saturated and sound via the stereo mic, mounted underneath the lens, is OK if prone to gales, winds and breezes. If improved sound is required, Canon retails a directional mic that slots into the HF20's mini hotshoe.
Thanks to the 24Mbps recording rate artefacting is kept to a minimum in all but the busiest of scenes. The range-finder-assisted autofocus system is faster than the camcorder norm, but still falls well short of its "Instant AF" billing, especially in low light. Noise is an issue when filming indoors and a subject isn't bathed in artificial light. A bright LED night light can be flicked on, but it's best left for filming shenanigans in the dead of the night as its overly blue hue conflicts with the warm lights we humans prefer.
Despite having both electronic and optical image stabilisation, the HF20's IS system can't smooth out moderate hand jitters, let alone walking, to the same degree as Sony's active IS equipped cameras. As compensation, though, Canon videographers don't have to fuss around with imprecise sliders, but can set discrete shutter speeds and apertures.
Photos are quite good and would put some older digital cameras to shame. However, transferring photos and videos across to a computer is made more difficult than absolutely necessary, as Canon insists on having an external power source plugged in before the HF20 will function as an external drive.
Conclusion
As far as mid-range camcorders go, there's not much to fault the Canon Legria HF20 for; the image quality is good, the autofocus speedy and feature list fairly full.