Canon Vixia HF10 vs. Sony Handycam HDR-CX7
By: Lori Grunin
JUDGES: Lori Grunin and Phil Ryan
It seems as if everyone who wants a camcorder these days wants high definition, and miniature flash-based models offer a convenience and portability that the much larger HDV and hard-disk-based models don't. In the battle for supremacy for the flash HD camcorder title, no one comes close to the top-of-the-line offerings from Canon and Sony. The Sony Handycam HDR-CX7 is about 9 months older than Canon's Vixia HF10, which gives it a slight historical price advantage from some outlets. However, we expect that to change once the HF10 has been shipping for a few weeks. Furthermore, we expect the nearly identical, but cheaper, Canon Vixia HF100--which lacks only the 16GB of built-in memory and the pretty black body--to narrow the price gap even further.
Enough of the sordid money details, let's see how they stack up in more interesting ways.
About the judges
Lori Grunin spends much of her free time visually documenting the purrs and perils of shelter cats in New York City. She welcomes suggestions for cleaning noseprints off the lens.
Phil Ryan joined CNET from Popular Photography. He remains very popular and into photography. You can often find him at concerts and clubs, sitting in the dark, shooting at high ISO speeds--only where legal, of course.