Help with Canon Vixia HF100

[dustinw]

I recently purchased a Canon Vixia HF100 camcorder after seeing quite a bit of amazing sample video, and reading many reviews.

I am unfortunately having a couple of problems. I've been poking around on this forum for a few days now, but have yet to find any solutions to my problems. If anyone could provide me with some feedback, and solutions to my problems, it would be greatly appreciated!

First, transferring my files from the camera seems to be excrutiatingly slow, and locking up most of the time. I say most of the time, but once it transferred very quickly, much more like I would expect. I haven't even tried to transfer anything overly large. In fact, the longest file I've tried to transfer was less than 4 minutes long. I've tried using the software package that came with the camera (ImageMixer 3 SE). I also tried simply copying the files from the camera by browsing to the containing folder without any speed increase. Has anyone else had this issue? The time that it worked properly, it took approximately 30 seconds to transfer thefile. Every other time it has taken roughly 10-15 minutes, or it would just lock up.

My second question is in regards to the quality of my recordings. I've seen some amazing samples from the HF100. Yet, mine seem to have a "grainy" look. I'm not a video pro by any means, and I'm not expecting to have perfect recordings. I just want to have some better quality. I'm linking to an example of an small MTS file from the camera. I've also taken a screen grab from the player that came bundled with the camera. Could someone give me some settings to improve the quality? Currently I'm recording at the FXP quality, and I'm not using the "Cinema" mode. I know lighting is a big issue, but I wasn't thinking that my lighting was what was causing the issues.

http://cid-0972698c26f529fb.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Video?authkey=EwTdROqIDyE%24

Sorry for the wall of text, and thanks in advance to any help!

videoclip.jpg

[Soopafresh]

The green color grain is due to not enough light in the scene when you were shooting. You can clean it up in post, but why? Just give your scenes more light. Watch some youtube vids on low cost 3 point lighting

color_denoised0000.jpg




Connect your camera to another computer and try to transfer.

Transfer problem could be:

Your Camera

The Cable

Your USB port on your PC

[dustinw]

Thanks Soopafresh!

I didn't think the lighting was the issue, since it seemed to be pretty well lit in the room I was in. I'll look into the lighting videos on youtube. Do you have any tips to help with the quality while using a normal lit room, as in just a overhead light?

Again, thank you for the help, I really appreciate it!

[Soopafresh]

Do you have any tips to help with the quality while using a normal lit room, as in just a overhead light?


Just a single overhead is going to look bad. Even if you put in a higher watt bulb, it's still going to be harsh. You need more illumination, but also diffusion so you don't get shadows.

[dustinw]

Even if the lighting is bad, with harsh shadows, will that noise/grain still bad? I'm asking, because if I just want to record an event, like my niece playing or something, I don't want to have to set up lights and things. For those particular instances, I'm just wondering how I can avoid the noise/grain. I've seen several videos online where the user doesn't have the noise like I do, but it is lower lit than my videos.

However, I did look at some videos on youtube about 3 point light systems, which I will definitely try for my little projects and things, but I'm trying to figure out how to eliminate the noise from the video. Is it cause from exposure values on the camera?

Sorry for all the questions, I appreciate your patience, and support!

[Soopafresh]

Take your camera out of AutoExposure/AutoGain mode and try another setting, such as Spotlight or Night. You'll see it in the menu settings on the LCD.

Watch this vid - Notice the difference at 1:15 when he takes the camera out of autoexposure mode http://vimeo.com/404844

[dustinw]

Thank you very much Soopafresh. I'm going to play with the exposure and gain levels and see if that will eliminate the noise. I appreciate all your help. I probably won't be able to try until tomorrow evening, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!

[Soopafresh]

No problemo. Try Cinemode as well. You'll get it.

[mshilly]

I have the HF100 for a few weeks now. Initial testing showed that I also got a green tint in low light (CFs are even worse than incandescents). I did not notice any grain until it got very dark.

As for copying files, make sure your USB port is 2.0 and fully functional. Even at USB 1.0 a 100MB file (about 5 minutes of video) will take about 2 minutes to transfer. I personally use a card reader and never plug the camera into a USB port.

[dhnj]

I recently purchased a Canon Vixia HF100 camcorder after seeing quite a bit of amazing sample video, and reading many reviews.

I am unfortunately having a couple of problems. I've been poking around on this forum for a few days now, but have yet to find any solutions to my problems. If anyone could provide me with some feedback, and solutions to my problems, it would be greatly appreciated!

First, transferring my files from the camera seems to be excrutiatingly slow, and locking up most of the time. I say most of the time, but once it transferred very quickly, much more like I would expect. I haven't even tried to transfer anything overly large. In fact, the longest file I've tried to transfer was less than 4 minutes long. I've tried using the software package that came with the camera (ImageMixer 3 SE). I also tried simply copying the files from the camera by browsing to the containing folder without any speed increase. Has anyone else had this issue? The time that it worked properly, it took approximately 30 seconds to transfer thefile. Every other time it has taken roughly 10-15 minutes, or it would just lock up.

My second question is in regards to the quality of my recordings. I've seen some amazing samples from the HF100. Yet, mine seem to have a "grainy" look. I'm not a video pro by any means, and I'm not expecting to have perfect recordings. I just want to have some better quality. I'm linking to an example of an small MTS file from the camera. I've also taken a screen grab from the player that came bundled with the camera. Could someone give me some settings to improve the quality? Currently I'm recording at the FXP quality, and I'm not using the "Cinema" mode. I know lighting is a big issue, but I wasn't thinking that my lighting was what was causing the issues.

http://cid-0972698c26f529fb.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Video?authkey=EwTdROqIDyE%24

Sorry for the wall of text, and thanks in advance to any help!

videoclip.jpg

Remove the SDHC card from HF100 & read the SDHC Card via SDHC Card Reader.
This way the transfer is very quick.
By the way the the software that came with the HF100 is very godd indeed.
Print the manual & get used to the user interface.

[ramhdv]

Following mshilly: Use direct USB ports, like the ones on PC's back: Front USB ports may be attached to a concentrator and these ones are slow an unreliable...I experienced this on a Dell Dimension 9200: impossible to copy to camera (Writte error), Sloooow reading of the camera's card.

On dhnj: Using directly the card to copy and so is fine...always you don't want to play the videos through your HF100. I found edited videos (m2ts) look much better through the HF than, for instance on a PS3...i'm still researching why. But in the meanwhile, copying the editted videos to the camera is a good way to transport them and be able to play on any HD TV via HDMI cable.