CES is here, even though most of your friendly neighborhood CrunchGear writers are still in their respective home states. (We’ll be arriving in Las Vegas throughout the day today.) First up for me: new camcorders from Canon. Entry-level ones, too, so don’t feel intimidated. You’ve got the HFR11, the HFR10, and the HFR100. They’re basically souped up, HD versions of the previous FS series of entry-level cameras. Nothing wrong with HD.
The HFR11 is the top dog, coming with 32GB of built-in flash memory, while the R10 has 8GB of flash, and the R100 has none, but does has an SD/SDHC card slot to stick in whatever amount of flash you have lying about.
Other goodies: 20X optical zoom, simple to use HD to SD conversion, your standard ports for external mics and headphones, and a setting that makes taking short clips (2, 4, or 8 seconds long) so simple enough a caveman can do it. Hack alert.
Prices: the HFR11 for $699, the HFR10 for $549, and the HFR100 for $499. Those are all MSRPs, of course, so it may be different than what you find at the store.