The HG10 AVCHD camcorder marks the first hard drive disk camcorder for Canon and rounds out a variety of recording formats adopted after the successful HV20 HDV camcorder came to market. The HG10 shares many similarities to the HV20 including Instant AF (auto focus), Cine Mode, HDMI out, mic input and more. The HG10 can shoot in 24P mode to mimic the temporal motion of film. The HG10 stores AVCHD video and 3 Mega Pixel still photos onto its 40GB hard drive. It can also capture 2 Mega Pixel still photos while the camcorder is recording video. One of the standout features, as far as AVCHD camcorders go, is the 15 Mbps maximum recording bitrate, which is one of the highest we've seen. We suspect at this bitrate, the quality of the video could be stunning. We'll have to wait to find out. In meantime, we're left to simply admire from a distance. And, we must say that the HG10 looks to be one of Canon's more attractively designed camcorders. The Canon HG10 should be available in September for $1,300.
