So I tackled the Canon FS200 here not so long ago, and so I was a little surprised when I set out to tackle the Canon FS21.

On the surface, you might think, hey, smaller number, lesser brand, lower price.  But no–as it turns out, the Canon FS21 is actually much higher in price…and doesn’t offer as much.  Here, take a look.

The Canon FS21 offers dual flash memory ports and an onboard sixteen gig hard drive, 48x Advanced Zoom (with the ability to also choose 37x optical zoom or 2000x digital zoom), a DIGIC DV II image processor, a 2.7 inch LCD display, video snapshot mode, a quick start mode to conserve battery power, dual shot mode, joystick control, level and grid markers, and a variety of auto exposure modes.

You can see that there are definitely plenty of tools and features involved in the Canon FS21, but oddly, when I tried it, I couldn’t get quite the same range that I got with the FS200.  Now, why would a camera that costs nearly DOUBLE the retail price of another model not be able to get the same distance in zoom range?  I thought this very unusual, doubly so when you consider that the Canon FS21 retails for six hundred dollars.

So while the Canon FS21 isn’t specifically bad, it wouldn’t be reaching to call it overpriced.

Related posts:

1. Canon SD 980 Camera Review–A Strange One From Canon
2. Canon FS200 Camcorder Review–Great If You Get Past The Layout
3. Canon SD 1200 Camera Review–Another Choice Model
4. Canon Updates Standard Definition Flash Camcorders
5. Canon iVIS HF11 Digital Camcorder