Four years ago, after my daughter was bron, I purchased a canon MiniDV camcorder afetr what I thought was due research.
Although there WERE cautionary posts/reviews out there about the Canon's lack of low light performance, I bought the canon due to a considerable price difference between it and the comparable Sony. Long story short, i sold teh Canon after 2 months and purchased a Sony TRV.
This time around, after using the Sony TRV MiniDV for 4 years and being overall happy with the performance, I did not even give Canon a chance and have been researching/reading posts/reviews only regarding the Sony SR-11/12 series.
I have lately decided to wait till past thanksgiving to see if there are more price drops due to economy/low consumer spending etc and I now have more time to research.
Professional website reviews aside, i am looking for feedback from Ex Sony camcorder users who have had a chance to try the new Canon series.
I am mostly interested in low light performance differences, ease of use, editing software differences between the sony and Canon etc.

Thank you all for your feedback.

I am in the same boat as you right now... I have had my Sony HDR-SR11 for about 7 months now, and I am moderately happy with its video quality. The only problem I have with this camera right now is the fact that its auto focus at night sucks, and an even worse problem is it's low light performance. I'm on the fence right now about selling this used for a new Canon HF100. I have messed around with my camera's settings a bit, but I always see noise in the picture, and to remove the noise you have to make the video unbearably dark. Maybe my settings are just crap, but it seems the overall consensus says that the Canons have a better lower light performance.

I am in the same boat as you right now... I have had my Sony HDR-SR11 for about 7 months now, and I am moderately happy with its video quality. The only problem I have with this camera right now is the fact that its auto focus at night sucks, and an even worse problem is it's low light performance. I'm on the fence right now about selling this used for a new Canon HF100. I have messed around with my camera's settings a bit, but I always see noise in the picture, and to remove the noise you have to make the video unbearably dark. Maybe my settings are just crap, but it seems the overall consensus says that the Canons have a better lower light performance.

I have to say that I am extremely surprised to know that the Canon is delivering better Low light performance, but then again, my only interaction with a Canon product was 4 years ago, I am ure things have chenged for the better. although I am a Nikon guy as far as SLRs are concerned, the Canon folks make great cameras and lenses, so it WOULD make sense for them to offer great camcorders. I guess I owe it to myself to read into the Canon series.
First hand feedback like yours is still priceless, thank you

I have BOTH Sony and Canon cams and the only thing I can say is that I wish these 2 companies could one day get together and build a cam in a combined effort.... that would be a GREAT cam.

The Canon cams in general are superior in PQ and operations but are absolutely AWFUL in terms of ruggedness and build quality. Sony cams on the other hand are very much opposite. The overall PQ isn't bad... it's just that Canon is better. But Sony builds a quality cam that stands the test of time. My Canon cams have been in and out of the repair shop a number of times now while my sony cams have yet to even see a repair shop.

Overall, I enjoy the Sony cams better.... they're more dependable. It's just plain maddening to show up at a shoot with a dead cam. It's happened a few times now with my Canon's.... but not with my Sony cams.

My 1990 Canon A1 Digital was working the last time I tried it about 5 years ago. It was abused. My two Sony's still work, they are about four years old. My three year old Panasonic has been trouble free.

My first Canon camera (35mm SLR) was the F1 released in 1972.

And there have been other cameras/camcorders plus the ones we used at work.

I have been pretty lucky with camcorders,

The Sony SR-11/12 series seems to be a good and popular camcorder. The Canon AVCHD camcorders seem to have been reliable.

That probably does not help, but I don't believe there is a perfect answer...



Rich

yeah i have a old Sony Camcorder that uses MiniDV i had this camcorder since 2002 i think and over the years it got messed up. So now im going to buy a Canon HV30 MiniHDV is still the way to go.

I'm becoming interested in one myself. Which is the HD camcorder to have new now? I prefer the ones with the HDD.

How about the software? Is it easy to add backround music to the video yet still hear what's going on in the filming?

Of the 5 sony tape cams i have owned only the 2 video 8 many years ago have not given trouble and they were only with me for a fairly short period,2100 mini dv plus HC-1 and FX-7 hdv have not proved reliable and needed repair after various length of use,the SR-12 i use most now gives better colour generaly than the hdv cams and having tried many of the other makes there is none at present i would prefer.

I'm becoming interested in one myself. Which is the HD camcorder to have new now? I prefer the ones with the HDD.

How about the software? Is it easy to add backround music to the video yet still hear what's going on in the filming?

well you should get the Canon HV30 a HD camcorder in my opinion and reviews ive read picture quality is still better on a MiniHDV than HDD and Flash but over time they will catch up.

Regarding hdv and non tape hd cams pq unless you own both you cannot judge,regarding my cams tapeless has caught up.But i still pefer tape storage to disc although i use both.

I like both :). I'm using my first canon (HV20) which is a great little camera, but its DEFINITELY not as durable as a Sony. I've had it for a little over a year now and already feels a little unstable (not the best adjective, but I'm blanking right now.) I've had a total of... six? Sony cams all the way from a digital 8 camcorder to a pro V1U and they've all been rock solid. The digital 8 camcorder was dropped twice on concrete, including a tumble down a section of stairs on the great wall of China and it STILL worked perfectly. My reason for the Canon was a combination of price and the 24p HD capability and I've been very pleased. Highly recommend the Vixia line for the $400-$800 price range. Canon still has a little bit more of a red tint and Sony seems to have more accurate color reproduction. I'm currently using a Sony V1U and use the HV20 for B-roll or as a backup camera.

I have a Canon HV20 and also a Sony HC7. The Canon blows the HC7 away in picture quality