The PEC Review: Canon Vixia HF R10 Camcorder for Product Videos, More

Product videos, how-to demonstration, and entertainment marketing are just three examples of how ecommerce marketers are using the Internet’s broadcasting power to engage customers.

Examples of each sort of video are abundant. Magellan’s Travel Supplies and Swimwear Boutique use professional product videos to encourage customers to buy. MakerShed and Williams-Sonoma mix product and how-to demonstrations to pique interest. And Blendtec’s entertainment marketing show, “Will It Blend?”, gets millions of views and has more than 52,000 Fans on Facebook.

Unfortunately, there is something of a video divide in ecommerce. Professionally produced videos will always be better and more expensive. If your budget allows a few thousand dollars for product video production, professional video is the way to go. But for the small merchant with a small budget, meet the Canon Vixia HF R10 dual flash memory high-definition (HD) camcorder.

The Canon Vixia HF R10 is the least expensive of the Canon HD camcorders, produces good quality video, and makes it relatively easy to move the video to your computer for editing. For being a good solution for small or even do-it-yourself merchants, I am awarding the HF R10 three and a half out of a possible five stars in this, “The PEC Review.”

“The PEC Review” is my weekly column aimed at introducing you to the products or services that I believe will help you improve your ecommerce business. This week, let me explain why I think the Canon Vixia HF R10 is a good value for small ecommerce merchants.

Good Quality Video

The Canon Vixia HF R10 uses a sensor (specifically, a 2.39-megapixel complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor) that is capable of capturing HD video that exceeds the resolution of a typical high-definition television.

Boiled down to its essence, Canon is using leading-edge technology to create a camcorder that shoots great video and doesn’t break the bank.

Ease of Use

The HF R10 is extremely portable, fast operating, and easy to use.

This makes it perfect if you plan to take your ecommerce marketing beyond your own demonstration videos or even how-to shows.

In fact, I know one retailer that is planning on shooting a comedy, video blog as a form of entertainment marketing with a Vixia HF R200, which is very similar to the R10.

Easy to Manipulate

Retrieving videos from the R10 is easy, even for novice filmmakers that have never so much as posted to YouTube before. The camcorder comes with a basic video management suite, which can help prepare a video for publication on the web.

Dual Memory

The HF R10 has 8GB of internal flash memory—which is about an hour of video—and can support a 32GB SD memory card. This means that you could record something like four hours of video before you ran out of room.

Also, the SD card makes it even easier to transport your video from the camcorder to your computer.

Price

The Canon HF R10 will set you back about $549—at least that was the price at the time of writing.

For an HD camcorder with internal flash memory, this is a steal.

In addition to the camcorder, you’ll want to buy the aforementioned 32GB SD memory card, a tripod, some lights, and some video editing software. Without the software, you’re probably looking at an additional $100 to $150. The software might range from $150 to $1,250 or more depending on what you purchase.

If you are shooting video on location, you’ll also want to get an extra battery. If I have one complaint about the HF R10, it is battery life, which seems to be about two hours.

Summing Up

The Canon Vixia HF R10 is a good enough HD camcorder for getting small ecommerce marketers going with their own product or marketing video production.

While this camcorder cannot be expected to produce professional quality videos, it can still be a boon to your marketing and sales, which is why I have awarded it three and a half out of a possible five stars in this, “The PEC Review.”