'You press and hold the center button to select the dial's operation: manual focus, exposure compensation, aperture or shutter, mic level and automatic gain control limit--which caps the signal boosting in low light to minimize visual noise. '
'The new touchscreen system is intuitive and good for beginners, but we did find it a bit frustrating for navigating the camcorder's long menu system.'
'the display is clear and viewable even in quite bright conditions.'
'Ultimately it's slow to scroll through menus and all-too easy to 'select' items when you mean to sweep them.
'
'The camera includes 32GB of built-in flash memory and supports SDHC cards, and it encodes the video as AVCHD files with data rates up to 24 mbps, the format's maximum capability. '
'The camcorder earned an audio score of Good, with noticeably better clarity and volume than rival camcorders offered. '
'impressively deep and professional manual controls'
'It's beautifully done overall, and Canon gets a tip of the hat for this new design, although nothing beats the accuracy of the joystick (it may not be as cool, but it works!). '
'Generally well-designed interface'
'The HF S21 also includes an electronic viewfinder, and it is Canon's only new camcorder to include such feature. '
'The JVC GZ-HM550 is sharply styled, with a silver-accented black body.'
'The HM550 has other great new features being showcased by JVC's newly announced flagship camcorder, the GZ-HM1.'
'smooth, fluid image'
'Picture quality and sound are impressively clear, with no background hiss or operational buzz, while colours have just the right amount of saturation to ensure that skin tones look healthy without appearing unnaturally so.'
