Canon FS10

The camcorder incorporates 37x optical zoom, with a capability to shoot the zoom to a good 45x. Digital zoom is kept at 2000x, which is best kept untouched. The focal length offered by the FS10 equates to 35mm, while the maximum aperture is f2.0 to f5.2.

An optical image stabilizer is greatly missed, while the electronic one offered leaves a lot of be desired. Motion blur while panning is evident. You can even notice compression marks – which sort of ruins the whole experience for me.

There aren't too many features to play around with: white balance, three color effects (Black & White, Sepia, Art & Mosaic), and the Program AE mode are the main ones. In addition, there are some digital effects such as Fade and Wipe.

Videos are shot at 720 x 576 (4:3 aspect ratio) at 25 fps. Audio encoding includes Dolby AC3 48000Hz stereo 256Kbps. The colors were a bit dull, and there was a lot of noise, even in daytime shots. There is a night mode, but I found grains splayed across the frame.

Digital stills are not really recommended, though these are pretty usable for web purposes. The maximum size you can shoot at is 1152 x 864 resolution.

The camcorder costs Rs 28,500 with a 4GB SD card and a carry-bag (available at most places). That’s a bit expensive for something that doesn’t even offer optical image stabilization. The video quality is not that good, and the interlacing exhibits motion artifacts – and these pretty much put it out of the running as far as I'm concerned.