I've had this camera for over a week now. I tried the tape-based HV20 and the hard-drive based HG10 and I've decided on the flash-based HF10. IMO flash storage is the wave of the future for camcorders.
Video quality is excellent and even approaches HDV standards with the increased AVCHD bitrate - now at 17Mbps.
It has 16 GB of onboard flash memory and I added a 16 GB SDHC Class 4 card - sufficient for most users. I also upgraded to the BP-819 battery pack for an additional 3 hours or so of power.
The AVCHD footage is easy to export to a PC although you need a pretty beefy machine to work with these files. I use ULead Video Sudio 11.5 which works natively with m2ts files and editing is a snap. The AVCHD discs can be burned to DVD5's (30 mins) and DL-DVD9's (1 hour) - no need for a BluRay burner. These play flawlessly on my PS3 and Panny BD player.
Bottom line - this is the best AVCHD camcorder in the market so far.
Product reviews by 'eatsushi'
Canon HF10
Rating: 5 / 5
Value for money: 3 / 5
Rating: 5 / 5
Value for money: 4 / 5
For BluRay playback this Panasonic is BETTER than my PS3. I have it set to 1080p/24fps with an HDMI connection to a Sony VPL-VW50 1080p projector and a 110" screen.
Upconversion is a little on the soft side compared to my Toshiba HD-XA2/Reon but some people may actually prefer that.
This model bitstreams all advanced audio so no problems on my Denon receiver.
