Information Comparing Canon FS31 And FS300 Camcorders And Their Differences
Posted By Brad Lewis on July 29, 2010
Wanting to catch those precious moments, like graduation, marriage or sports events is easily done with camcorders. They offer a wide variety to suit whatever you want to do, but they also come out with awful naming conventions that don’t fully explain whether they’re better, worse or even the same. The same applies to the Canon’s range, where higher numerical names don’t necessarily mean a better camcorder. Let’s begin by comparing Canon FS31 and FS300 camcorders to see what features they offer and their prices differences.
Canon’s Flash Memory Range
Unlike the other camcorders in Canon’s range, these are some of the only standard definition camcorders. They’re specialty is recording to flash memory, aka SD/SDHC memory cards. However, the FS31, the higher priced of the two camcorders, comes with 16GB of internal memory, meaning you can stave off buying extra memory cards. The FS300 on the other hand, comes with no internal memory, meaning you’d better pick up an SD or SDHC card when the time comes that you want to record. The advantage to a memory card is being able to transfer your videos with ease, rather than getting out the cables and being unable to use your camcorder until it’s done. This way, you can keep catching those moments that you might have otherwise missed.
In addition to this flexibility, flash memory also offers quicker response times, since the moment you press the button, it begins recording, unlike other, moving-part camcorders. Furthermore, this decreases power consumption, which can be a bane to anyone who has experienced these problems repeatedly. Since flash memory does not use moving parts, it is also highly resistant to knocks and shocks which might disrupt the normal recording nature of other camcorders.
Both camcorders come with 37x optical zoom with 41x digital, a 1/6-inch CCD sensor and 2.7 inch LCD screen. However, unlike the higher-budget camcorders, they do not feature touch-screens, which may or may not be a problem for you. However, both camcorders support Quick Charge, which reduces the amount of time required to charge up the device, as well as Pre-Record which keeps 3 seconds of recording in memory at all times, so if you miss an important moment, but were pointing the camcorder the right way and can press record quickly enough, you’ll have caught it. Dynamic IS is also a common feature between the two camcorders; it reduces shuddering and various ranges of motion to give the look of a steady and smooth video. Furthermore, to increase the image quality, they both also support the DIGIC DV II Image Processor which produces natural colors excellently and the overall image quality is improved over other, non-processed images.
Price
The FS300 is for sale for around $280 and the FS31 is for sale for around $330. The price difference represents the 16GB of inbuilt memory of the FS31. If you are willing to spend this much in the first place, the inbuilt memory is recommended to those who don’t wish to carry around extra, little memory cards. 16GB can provide up to ten hours of recording on standard quality, which is usually enough for most people.
Final Thoughts
While both camcorders are essentially the same, the difference in memory may sway many people, either saving $50 because they don’t mind using memory cards or spending the $50 because they enjoy the convenience of having inbuilt memory.
Comparing Canon FS31 And FS300 Camcorders has never been so easy. Get the inside skinny now in our comprehensive Canon FS31 review and Canon FS300 review.
