Review on Canon VIXIA HF M30 Full HD Camcorder with 8GB Flash Memory (Discontinued): Premium Imaging and Ample Storage by Franklin Richardson

The Canon HF-M30 is a really great camcorder. I was quite shocked when I received the package because since it was so light I thought it had an extra battery that I ordered. This camera is very small! You won't notice the pictures showing it being held. or any other that shows their size in relation to a person. More like "toy". Being a bit shaky, I charged the battery and read the instructions for the initial manual setup, then left the camera running. "Wow!" is all I can say! Works flawlessly and shoots beautifully! After filming my wife and grandson - indoors and outdoors - in automatic mode - and connected to my HDTV via an (optional) HDMI cable: Wow more! The pictures are way, way better than I expected, the sound was great. and they were captured in standard image quality! The jitter compensation is amazing! (I had a 2005 Samsung digital camcorder that broke after 15 months and was blown away by the Canon video quality.) The autofocus is amazing too. What can I say. damn great camcorder! Notes: 1) The touchscreen takes a little getting used to, but with a little practice it just makes sense - instead of a bunch of buttons. Works perfectly. The learning curve isn't too steep either. 2) This camera is really very small, light weight and made of "smooth" smooth plastic. So I attached the strap to the handle. I really think Canon should have put one in. Luckily I had one on hand from the other camera. I strongly advise against buying it as well. 3) I bought a 32GB 10x memory card for another $50 and it fit perfectly. I "initiated" it with the first instruction manual and the camera accepted the card with no problems. 4) For $5, I suggest you buy a home/car charger. Also an extra battery. I found a 6 hour battery for about $16 through Revain. 5) Also important: you have to buy an HDMI cable separately, a BIG difference (if you have an HDTV). Again. Canon should have included this article. 6) I haven't tried the included software because I'm using Corel VideoStudio Pro X2. I will update my review as I have used both softwares with this camera. I was torn between the Canon HF M30 and its Panasonic HDC-TM55K counterpart. After a long search and thought, I decided on Canon. Two reasons: A Pana reviewer had a bad experience with customer support. ie India. canon american. Second: When panning, the camera was automatically turned on when the viewer was opened. This makes it inconvenient to unlock the battery. Also, I couldn't imagine using the X25 zoom on the Pana. I found the Canon X12's zoom more than adequate. One more note: I've never bought an extended warranty on any electronics I've bought and it's only blown once: on this 2005 Samsung (a piece of junk!) so I bought SquareTrade's 3 year warranty through Revain . It was easy over the web/internet and they even called me to confirm the deal. It's an extra $50, but I feel more secure with my $500 purchase (total). Please note this does not cover fall damage (get a strap) nor does it cover the first 60 days after the warranty starts. So far I'm very happy with this camera and haven't even explored MANY other manual options, higher resolution, or still photography (that's not what I bought the camcorder for anyway). Highly recommended! Why only 4 stars? Well, although IMHO it can earn 5. nothing is perfect.