Canon HF100 panasonic SD20 or SD100

[haggy]

Hello Forum,
I think these are all around the same price bracket as my local Curry's has an x-display SD100 for £429.
I have read a lot of reviews and many threads on this site but none directly compare them. Closest is simplydv's review of the HF11 V the SD100. I don't think I need all the bells and whistles of the SD100 as would be using it indoors mostly and probably on auto mode. 3 small MOS V 1 larger and other differences are dificult to imagine in practical terms. And the SD20 with one small MOS isn't that a step backwards from the SD9?
As I don't think I can stretch to near £600 for an HF200 or HF11. Which would be better for the picture quality and is the video light good on the HF100 for low light? Is the HF200 going to be much better with the 24Mbps transfer and so on? It's all a lot to take in. Any help and advise is very welcome. And it may not be relevant but the grey/silver/gunmetal finish really doesn't do it for me. Why is it not black like the rest.

Stephen.

[Tuoyo-E]

Video light on Canon HF100 is not great so night time indoor clips with the lights switched on can look anything but HD. However, I suspect it is no worse than any other HD camcorder.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by haggy

I have read a lot of reviews and many threads on this site but none directly compare them. Closest is simplydv's review of the HF11 V the SD100.

The HF11 records at a higher bitrate than the HF10 / HF100, but in general terms they're pretty comparable, so that review is probably fairly relevant, if it has anything to say about sharpness, light-gathering, etc.

Originally Posted by haggy

would be using it indoors mostly and probably on auto mode.

The consensus is that the HF100 is hard to beat indoors or in "low light" situations.

Originally Posted by haggy

3 small MOS V 1 larger and other differences are dificult to imagine in practical terms.

3 small chips aren't going to beat one medium-sized chip in light-gathering abilities. The HF100 is your best bet there I think. Panasonic's TM300 has larger chips (about 1/4-inch), though still smaller than Canon's CMOS.

Originally Posted by haggy

And the SD20 with one small MOS isn't that a step backwards from the SD9?

Yes. Some reviews have found picture quality in low light to be worse on the SD20 than the SD9, which was never great to start with (though adequate considering its price).

Originally Posted by haggy

the grey/silver/gunmetal finish really doesn't do it for me. Why is it not black like the rest.

The cynics among us used to argue it was because Canon wanted the style-conscious to pay more for black livery (i.e. HF10 in black vs. HF100 in grey). But now Canon seems to have decided grey is good, and the colour-price equation doesn't seem to work any more.

[haggy]

Thanks for the quick replies, looks like the Canon HF100 gets my money then. Still the best performance/cost after a year in service. Now over to the Simply Electronics thread!
Pity about the colour.

Stephen.