Canon Legria HF R206 review

The R206 may have a larger sensor than the rival SD80, but some of that detail can be attributable to the relatively large number of effective pixels, with just over two million, compared to around 1.3 million on the SD80. Switch to shooting in less optimal conditions though and those extra pixels appear to become a liability. In low light the Canon produced far more noise than the SD80. Admittedly, the latter appeared to be making heavy use of noise reduction, but the results were far more agreeable all the same.

A larger sensor will inhibit the zoom range of any camcorder, and the Canon only has a 20x optical zoom, compared to 34x on the SD80. Making best use of the zoom requires good image stabilisation though, and here the R206 is a letdown. Walking around shooting handheld footage it copes reasonably well, but go to full zoom and its turns very shaky – despite our best efforts to hold it still. We also use an automated wobbling mount to test more extreme conditions, and here the R206 was a mess, as you can see below. By comparison the SD80 and SD90 gave an almost completely steady picture under identical circumstances.

Click through to YouTube and choose the 1080p option to see this video in higher resolution

Physically the RF206 and its brethren are notably chunkier than the SD80, being both wider and a little longer. One immediate plus point in the design is a fully automated lens cover, nice to see on a camcorder at this price, so your lens is always protected when not in use. The 3in LCD is pretty typical fare, with 230,000 dots, and there’s no viewfinder on this unashamedly point-and-shoot design. Finally, we come to the battery, which is neatly tucked away in a compartment on the bottom of the camcorder. It may be a neat design but you can’t fit a larger battery if required; then again the supplied battery’s one and-a-half hour duration is perfectly respectable.

The HF R206’s twin card slots are a very useful addition for a memory-card only camcorder. It also has a bigger sensor with more pixels than you’d expect, and this provides good picture detail, for the money, in good lighting conditions. However, poor image stabilisation and noisy low light footage pull it back. Not a bad camcorder for sunny holidays, but we strongly advise finding the extra £100 for the far superior SD90.