Some people said it was impossible to do good manual focus. However for whatever reason I didn't have that problem.

If you're familiar with manual focus on compact Canon digital camera's than the experience is very similar.

You tap left or right each time to adjust the focus after you switched to manual focus. Each time you will see the image zoomed in on the screen for several seconds.

It's not perfect since resolution is not high but it worked so far well for me to see when it was sharp.

Here's a HF100/WD-H37C picture (much lighter and smaller):

byfiles.storage.live.com/y1prRv2FoHMd6RqCTJhqsTqyOH3U-Os_zXtvUH2e8ceRN8C7juZGddLLH4PoJWnb_yMCuLj2LxzsfA

I only use WD-H43 since I already had that lens but officially it's not recommended by Canon for the HF100.

Yes you can use auto-focus to get a good focus first. Then switch to manual focus and it will lock from that position. According to HF10/HF100 manual though the lock is lost when you change zoom. I couldn't figure out what this really means. If I choose infinity focus it still seems to be infinity when I zoom. Also in this video I zoomed a little bit fortunately focus was still retained.

I would wish that it would indicate distance like digital camera's show you but unfortunately it doesn't show you that.

The HF100 is a capable camcorder if you're willing to learn the manual controls and now and then know when to override these (probably true for most cams)...

I would say so but that's subjective. You can look up the exact weight of the WD-H37C and the camcorder to get an idea.

Thanks. Most of my settings are default mode (except last video's are all picture effect custom with contrast -1). Also I do change W/B with sunny weather to daylight.

If I would have used 60i here then you would not have had the sharpness of the wings given the speed. But almost all of my other video's are 60i.

The HF100 uses rolling shutter and OIS like many HD cams. So you may not get great video if there's lots of shaking like an RC aircraft. Hmm, that aircraft must be big to be able to carry the HF100:-).
Not sure how much difference 30p and 60i makes in such situation best to test various settings (they may all look wobbly given the rolling shutter). My best guess is to use 30p with high shutter speed (1/1000 or higher).

Thanks Lucien, I did get a chance to fly the HF-100 and you were right about the rolling shutter. The footage was unusable. I did research the rolling shutter global shutter topic qutie a bit but I had to see for myself. As you mentioned the sensor does not like high frequency vibes. I have had great luck with CCD (standard def) sensors but I really want to move up a notch to HD. My aircraft is an electric powered custom design that works very well. One thing I have noticed is even though Canon and Sony share the same CMOS type of sensor. The helicoter guys I know of have had better luck with the Sonys over the Canons. However...there are so many variables when it comes to aerial video it is hard to say if each camera was mounted properly. I guess I have more testing to do.

Thanks again,

Mike

Best is a cheap camcorder with CCD and digital steadyshot. However these are not HD.

Not sure if Sony HD camcorders do any better. I certainly have seen similar issues there. Also I've seen footage of a HD CCD camcorder and it still wasn't great under these circumstances. I think the digital steadyshot makes quite a difference as well therefore (but all HD have OIS afaik).

Best bet with HF100 would be to use 30p with fast shutter and then use software to eliminate jerky movements (e.g. mercalli or steadicam). However that is probably still not quite as good as cheap mini-dv camcorder with digital steadyshot.

Yes it's slightly zoomed in basically. But depends on your recordings. See example here: vimeo.com/855992

thanks alot! what one would you recommend for my HF11?

Canon recommends the WD-H37II. I don't have this lens so can't comment on this but it probably has some CA at full zoom like the WD-H37C. Otherwise fully zoomed out it works fine.

I used Vegas to edit which offers the slow motion option. However since Vegas doesn't downscale well to 720p I've rendered the output first to 1080i lossless YUV. Then I used tmpgenc Xpress to render to WMVHD 720p.

See more info here: lucienk.spaces.live.com/blog/cns%21A4AE3FB12A26635%21867.entry