Canon VIXIA HF M4 review: Canon VIXIA HF M4

7.8

Canon VIXIA HF M4

The Good

With a nice set of features for home-movie-type shooters and pleasing video quality, the <b>Canon Vixia HF M400</b> series has lots to like.

The Bad

A small, coarse LCD that's hard to view in direct sunlight and touch-screen-impaired menu system hamper an otherwise solid design.

The Bottom Line

A fine follow-up to last year's M3xx series, the Canon Vixia M4xx series should please most home-movie-oriented videographers despite its relatively high price. If you don't need the EVF, the M400 is your best buy, but if you'll be shooting a lot in sunlight, it's worth it to step up to the M41.

Photos:
Canon Vixia HF M41

With the Vixia HF M4xx series of HD camcorders, Canon maintains its reputation for delivering a solid midrange consumer camcorder, once again at slightly higher prices than those of the competition. The series consists of three nearly identical models. The cheapest, the M400, has no built-in memory, the M40 adds 16GB, and the M41 adds another 16GB plus an electronic viewfinder. All use the same HD CMOS Pro sensor found in the HF G10, but paired with a smaller, less expensive lens. This review is based on the Vixia HF M41.

Canon Vixia HF M41 image samples

Overall, the camcorder's video looks relatively sharp--and like most looks even better played directly on a TV. There is some aliasing on edges, generally a result of the interlaced video format; one difference between the M4xx series and its step-up sibling is the lack of a native 1080 progressive encoding format instead of the AVCHD standard of encoding 24fps and 30fps video as 60i.

Exposure and color rendering look very good, with a broad tonal range--there's no excessive clipping in the highlights or shadows. Though the M4xx series uses the same sensor as the more expensive HF G10, the lenses are very different, and it shows in a variety of ways. In this case, the more pentagonal aperture renders less pleasing out-of-focus highlights. That probably won't matter to most potential users of this model, but will affect those seeking a more artistic look.

The camcorder's low-light video (about 17 lux) looks quite good; a little soft, but with a nice balance between sharpness and color saturation and accuracy in its noise reduction. Lower light--dim living-room quality--displays more softness and color noise, but I think most people would consider it acceptable.

For shooting stills, the low-resolution sensor may not suit some folks' need for large still photos. Like the G10, the stills look sharp and fall just short of looking too digital; they look fine onscreen and printed, but I wouldn't recommend printing them larger than 4.5x8 inches.

As for audio, the stereo microphone is quite sensitive with a bright sound, but the automatic wind filter doesn't work as well as I'd like. It has a decent set of audio tools, including the ability to mix internal and external levels, set directionality (mono, normal, wide, zoom), equalize (boost LF, low cut, boost MF), boost HF+LF), and attenuate.

It meters and exposes correctly and consistently most of the time, but like many camcorders tends to underexpose in situations where there's not necessarily backlighting, but a large subject surrounded by a lot of ambient light (think of a flag waving against a blue sky). The image stabilization is solid; the Dynamic setting works well up to about 75 percent of the way through the focal range, and Powered IS is rock-steady at maximum telephoto. It focuses quickly, though you can somewhat adjust how gradually that happens (Instant and Normal). The autofocus works well, but not significantly better than we've seen in previous models, and like all camcorders can inappropriately lock on the background instead of the subject. Zooming feels smooth, and it's easy to keep it at a consistent rate.

I'm not crazy about the LCD; though it's slightly larger and higher resolution than that of the preceding M3xx series, it still feels too small and coarse and frustrating for navigating the menus; however, because of the relatively large virtual buttons, it's not bad for accessing the frequently used shooting settings. I had a tough time viewing it in direct sunlight though, so if you shoot outdoors a lot you should seriously consider the M41 for its EVF. While small, it's serviceable and comes in very handy when you can't see the LCD.

It's not a very compact camcorder, but it has a nice heft and feels comfortable to grip and shoot single-handed. A mic input sits on the right side of the lens, and a flip-up cover beneath the strap hides the dual SDXC slots.

Like the higher-end HF G10 and HF S30, the HF M4xx series has three operating modes: auto, manual, and Cinema. However, the Cinema mode in this camcorder doesn't support a 24p-encoded format, just 24p capture that's encoded as 60i. The mode is just a quick way to invoke 24F plus a selection of filters.

A membrane button in the LCD recess invokes Canon's Story Creator, a guided shooting mode intended to help you capture a variety of content on a given topic. Basically, you choose a theme, such as Party or Travel, and the camcorder provides a list of scene options, like "Planning for the trip" and "Taking off!" They're organized in-camcorder, and you can rate individual scenes for playback filtering. There's also a generic, themeless story if you just want to use it for organizing a shoot. The files reside in the normal AVCHD directory tree, however; the organization is strictly for camcorder-based playback.

Also in the recess you'll find membrane buttons for playback, Video Snap (to take 2-, 4-, or 8-second clips) and information, as well as uncovered mini HDMI, component, USB, and headphone connectors.

Conclusion
A fine follow-up to last year's M3xx series, the Canon Vixia M4xx series should please most home-movie-oriented videographers despite its relatively high price. If you don't need the EVF, the M400 is your best buy, but if you'll be shooting a lot in sunlight, it's worth it to step up to the M41.