By Matthew Henry
SYDNEY: Canon has launched its first hard disk drive camcorder, the HG10, which also features full HD 1080p shooting and a 40GB hard drive for up to 5.5 hours of the highest quality HD footage.
The HG10 (RRP $2,099) is Canon’s third HD camcorder launch of the year and joins the original HV10, HV20 and HR10 in the brand’s expanding HD offering.
It will be available from October through Canon dealers nationally.
“The past year Canon has been dedicated to establishing its superior high definition offering by introducing several outstanding models, the HG10 only highlights this ongoing commitment to the technology and growing the category,” said Canon products manager, Tamara Hohnberg.
“By introducing the HDD model we can ensure that all video format preferences are catered for within our high definition range – whether you want to create high quality home videos or superior short films.”
The HG10 features 1920×1080 progressive scan video capture due to the company’s proprietary True Progressive HD CMOS sensor and Canon lens system.
According to Canon, the HD CMOS sensor also has the advantage over CCD systems in low light shooting with operation down to just 3 lux subject luminance.
In the highest quality mode the HG10 can store around 5.5 hours of footage on its 40GB hard drive. However, this increases to 11.5 hours in SP mode and 15 hours in LP mode.
Canon has also introduced the SafeDisk system to protect the hard drive if the camcorder is dropped.
Other features include a fast autofocus system, 10x optical zoom, quick start function for faster startup from a standby mode and 25p CINE shooting mode, replicating the frame rate of Hollywood movies for a film-like effect.