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Customer Reviews for XF300
XF300
The Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder features MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps recording to Compact Flash (CF) cards captured through a Genuine Canon HD L-Series lens and three Canon Native 1920x1080 CMOS Image Sensors. Demanding users will find a camcorder that can be tailored to fit their needs - and at an affordable cost.
Average Customer Rating:
(8 Reviews) 8
Rating Snapshot (8 reviews)
5 stars
6
4 stars
1
3 stars
1
2 stars
0
1 star
0
8 out of 8(100%)reviewers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for XF300
Review 1 for XF300
Nickname: darklighthouse
Location: Northern Virginia
Used this product for: 6 to 12 months
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Mostly used for: Business
Canon Enthusiast: more than 20 years
Product replacement: No
MAC mountain lion now supported
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:December 1, 2012
Pros: good battery life, Good Low-Light Performance, Easy Computer Connectivity, Great sound/audio, Accurate, Vivid Colors, excellent image quality, durable, Good Software Compatibility, Easy TV Connectivity
I had just about given up on MAC Mountain Lion support - - but as usual, Canon came through.
A great product!!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 2 for XF300
Nickname: Lecky
Location: New Jersey
Used this product for: 6 to 12 months
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Canon Enthusiast: 11 to 20 years
Product replacement: Yes
Good camera...but
Overall Rating
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
3
out of
5
Price/Value
3
out of
5
Quality
4
out of
5
Satisfaction
3
out of
5
Date:August 8, 2012
Pros: Great sound/audio, excellent image quality, easy to use
Cons: Poor Low-Light Performance, poor color reproduction under changing conditions
I have 2 of these cameras and for overall filming I get really good results. The problems arise in low light and under stage lighting. Under low light there is a lot of noise in the video. Since I get this in both cameras I assume it is normal for this. Even worse though is the cameras response to changes in color temperature. If there is a color temp. change the camera either does not respond or responds very slowly. Often 1 camera will show a temp. of about 7000 degrees kelvin and the other will be at 2900. Canon tells me that this is normal and I have to move the camera and zoom back and forth to have the camera respond. I've found that switching the awb off and then on again can force the camera to correct sometimes. Other than these 2 issues I really love the cameras. If they can correct these issues they'll have a 5 star camera. I recommend this camera with reservations depending on the type of video you are shooting
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Review 3 for XF300
Nickname: Gary
Location: Montrose PA
Used this product for: 3 to 6 months
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Canon Enthusiast: 6 to 10 years
Product replacement: No
Blown Away
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:March 29, 2012
Pros: video quality
I did some research before buying this camera and I'm glad I did...it is awesome to shoot with ..the video quality is exceptional. Makes my job easier.....it is robust with features and configuration options....one thing I would like to see is a way to assign a button for wide angle lenses...there is the option for teleconverter but not wide angle...
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Review 4 for XF300
Nickname: Videoguy
Location: Madison Wisconsin
Used this product for: 6 to 12 months
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Mostly used for: Business
Canon Enthusiast: more than 20 years
Product replacement: Yes
You will not be dissapointed!
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:September 8, 2011
Pros: good battery life, Good Low-Light Performance, Great sound/audio, Accurate, Vivid Colors, excellent image quality, Easy TV Connectivity, easy to use
Cons: can not change lens
Just got done shooting a T.V. series. Bang for the buck, you can not beat the quaility.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Review 5 for XF300
Nickname: gwm
Location: Southern Wisconsin
Used this product for: Less than 1 month
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Mostly used for: Family & Friends
Canon Enthusiast: 1 to 5 years
Product replacement: No
Nice, Really Nice!
Overall Rating
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:June 21, 2011
Pros: good battery life, Good Low-Light Performance, Easy Computer Connectivity, Great sound/audio, Accurate, Vivid Colors, Compact Design, excellent image quality, durable, Good Software Compatibility, Ergonomic/comfortable to hold, Easy TV Connectivity, easy to use
Cons: power switch, lacking on some assignable button choices.
Likes:
Everything, Except...
Everything, Except...
Dislikes:
A: The power button. That was a mistake. Rarely is the time that I can just turn it off and know that the camcorder is indeed off. I will never get used to the way that switch works.
A: The power button. That was a mistake. Rarely is the time that I can just turn it off and know that the camcorder is indeed off. I will never get used to the way that switch works.
B: The ability to assign a button to bring up a menu item that allows one to choose bit-rate/resolution and frame-rate quickly.
I can always hope for that in a future firmware update.....
Other that that the xf300/305 is one fantastic camcorder!!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 6 for XF300
Nickname: Alf
Location: Seattle, WA
Used this product for: Less than 1 month
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Mostly used for: Business
Canon Enthusiast: more than 20 years
Product replacement: No
A fabulous piece of gear
Overall Rating
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:May 7, 2011
Pros: good battery life, Good Low-Light Performance, Accurate, Vivid Colors, excellent image quality, cf card, electronic viewfinder
Cons: magnifier (should be dual stage), non interchangeable lens
The XF305 is a great camcorder. Many of us have been waiting for 4:2:2, cheaper CF/SD card useage, a solid high end codec and a great lens. Canon has come through on all accounts. Only disappointment is that I would have liked a two stage magnifier in the viewfinder and a removable lens. I have found the picture quality to be outstanding, with general controls to be fine for my use. Low light quality is good, better than most 1/3 sensors. Latitude is superb. Perhaps add thumbscrews on the shotgun mic holder to remove it when not in use, rather than screws. It is rather high up for putting in a case. But these are minor issues. The image quality is superb, and the camera almost operates itself. I'm very pleased with it. I rate it a bit lower for price/value as it's a bit expensive for a non changeable lens format. Also knock a star off for the viewfinder focus magnifier lack of a 2nd stage.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Review 7 for XF300
Nickname: Tom
Location: Los Angeles
Used this product for: 6 to 12 months
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Mostly used for: Sports
Canon Enthusiast: 6 to 10 years
Product replacement: Yes
Own Both XF-300 and XF-100
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
4
out of
5
Satisfaction
4
out of
5
Date:March 11, 2011
Pros: good battery life, Accurate, Vivid Colors, excellent image quality, durable
Cons: Difficult Computer Connectivity, Uncomfortable to hold, Limited Software Compatibility
I've owned the XF300 since August 2010. I tape running events (cross country & track), then edit (with Premier), post the clips to YouTube and then link a team's website to those clips along with written race stories and photos (from frame grabs). I run with the camera a lot (it has survived a couple of bad falls and drops) and so the camera's size is a significant issue. But as big as it is, it is surprisingly light. It is definitely front-heavy even with an extended-life battery loaded in the rear. That is due to the fabulous giant lens that Canon has given this camera. Optics are beautiful and the focus is dead sharp. Zoom is critical in my application and so is stabilization. Both functions are flexible and serve 90% of what I need from them. Battery life has been outstanding. I have a spare but have never used it. My scene sequences can be as long as 20-25 minutes. This is where the star gets deducted. The clips are stored on the flash memory in maximum chunks of 2 gig (there is that 32 bit limit again). So, long scenes are broken into multiple files which I have to string together in Premier. Also, make sure that your editing software can read the file format. Some still can't. Final Cut can but it was not native last time I checked - plug-in required. Requires high quality CF cards, which are expensive (but not in relation to the cost of the camera). The star also gets deducted because of the AWFUL power switch. Even with months of constant experience, I cannot get the darn thing into the off position (in the center) on the first try. It slides right over to playback. Grrrrr. The whole XF experience, from shooting to editing, was a bit of a steep learning curve for me. But well worth it. The shots I'm getting are amazing and look great on HD sets (and certainly - YouTube).
I mentioned at the beginning that I move a lot withthe camera. So, I pre-ordered the 300's little brother - the XF100. I assumed that it would be a flash-based version of my old GL-1. Well, it arrived today and what a shock when I opened it. It is less than half the size of that old GL-1 and a quarter the size of its big brother. It is large by consumer camera standards but tiny for a prosumer model. It uses the same batteries and flash cards as big brother. The power button has positive stops but is still a bit tricky (but a big improvement over the 300's). The lens is obviously smaller so I'm looking forward to comparing its performance with it's sibling's. I have a track meet this weekend and I will be shooting with both cameras, intermixing footage in the edits. I'll try to get back with an update.
12 of 13 people found this review helpful.
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Review 8 for XF300
Nickname: TwoWheelTony
Location: SLC, UT
Used this product for: 3 to 6 months
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Mostly used for: Business
Canon Enthusiast: more than 20 years
Product replacement: No
Excellent Camera for Scholarly Videos
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:February 24, 2011
Pros: good battery life, Great sound/audio, Accurate, Vivid Colors, excellent image quality, durable, easy to use
Cons: power switch
Nothing short of amazing. We are using this camera in-studio and on location. We purchased two units and have been actively shooting with them 3 days/week for 3 mos. now. Chroma Keying is a delight and the optics are astounding. I have used Canon products for many years (currently shooting w 5D MK II) and the XF300 is the most professional camera I have ever owned, The optics are spot on. I only shoot manual so I can not speak of auto-focus. Low-light to bright snow this camera thrives in all environments. We have shot in the desert and in the mountains, durable, and ergonomic. I would highly suggest this camera to anyone looking for compact pro camera.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.
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