Canon FS200 camcorder review

Unfortunately, Canon is no longer selling refurbished FS200 camcorders. You can certainly find used ones on eBay and other places, though. The FS200's main selling point is its stereo external microphone and headphone jacks. With an attenuation cable, it also does an excellent job at capturing audio from line level sources. But it is not that good in low light. Video taken under typical indoor lighting will be dark, grainy, and pale. For better results in low light, I recommend a Sony Digital8 or MiniDV tape camcorder -- but not their newer flash memory and hard drive Handycams with a tiny 1/8-inch CCD, which do even worse than the Canon in low light.

Sample FS200 footage outdoors:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LML3H81AbWQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zstH6ltrZY

Sample footage indoors, medium lighting, external mic jack + attenuation cable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGe1D-gdUJo

Sample footage indoors, low light (4:3):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm02ST9szvE

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[tweetyrocks818]

thank you very much for this review it was very helpful. My canon camera that i also purchased in 09 just messed up on me and this one is very similar to mine just seems better. I have/had the canon MiniDv ZR900 and purchased it for around the same price you got yours. Which one would you say is better comparing those two? they are pretty similar.

[vwestlife]

@tweetyrocks818 The ZR900 uses MiniDV tape and the FS200 uses solid state flash memory (SD cards). Otherwise the specifications are very similar between the two. It really depends on which format you are more comfortable working with.

[SebiStudios2]

Just a question: Do you know where I could find a Full HD camcorder with an external mic input? They've removed those from a lot of newer camcorders, and the A/V club director at my school said they are hard to find. Any suggestions?

[vwestlife]

@SebiStudios2 I believe all of Canon's HD camcorders offer a mic input, as well as Sony's mid-range and high-end models.

[SebiStudios2]

@vwestlife You mean consumer camcorders? Because these days the manufacturers decide to save money and have removed a lot of features from consumer camcorders, such as custom keys (programmable buttons), Mic inputs, and A/V inputs (my old Canon camera has a RCA cable output AND input). Nowadays, those features are usually on Pro-consumer and Professional camcorders.

[vwestlife]

@SebiStudios2 Yes, I'm pretty sure all of Canon's current high-def consumer-grade camcorders have a mic input and headphone jack. Sony has a mic input on their mid-range consumer HD camcorders, and the high-end HD models have a headphone jack as well.

[cloudboyproductions1]

thanks for the video i was asking the same question about standard dev camcorders with mic jacks

[tweetyrocks818]

@vwestlife hmm. well i was thinking about going ahead and buying it but it looks like it is no longer available at the link you gave us:/

[REIDnCO]

well i wanted a refurbished HD camcorder with a mic input for under £150 for my movie making but in the end i realized that was not going to happen so i just went for the standard def one with the mic input AKA this one.

[cubsin4]

@SebiStudios2 Check Amazon

[cubsin4]

I think its a lame design to locate the mic input where the screen closes. The mic input should be accesible from the outer body of the camera.

[biggsrupp]

just ordered the same thing!!!!