By Michael Reichmann and Chris Sanderson Video DSLRs are hot. But, though the shallow depth of field that they can offer is appealing to film makers of all stripes, they are really lousy video cameras.

The XF300 has been a long time coming for Canon, as all of the other major professional camcorder manufacturers have had tapeless models out for quite some time now. Still, we are very impressed with what Canon has done with the XF300 from a design perspective.

The XF300 has been a long time coming for Canon. It's the last of the major professional camcorder manufacturers to release a tapeless model, but the XF300 is finally here. Even though it's late to the game, the XF300 is an interesting piece of technology from a design perspective.

The Canon XF300 is a very capable camcorder. It is a professional grade device but it is designed for ease of use, which means even amateur videographers and filmmakers will find this camcorder a joy to use.

I am professional cinematographer/ director for over 25 years making documentaries for international television . I bought the XF 300 end of last year for a documentary shoot in India and I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with the result I am getting from this camera.

Good battery life; Easy Computer Connectivity; Accurate; Vivid Colors; Great sound/audio; Compact Design; Excellent image quality; Durable; Good Software Compatibility; Ergonomic/comfortable to hold; Easy TV Connectivity; Easy to use

Likes: Everything, Except... Dislikes: A: The power button. That was a mistake. Rarely is the time that I can just turn it off and know that the camcorder is indeed off. I will never get used to the way that switch works.

good battery life; Good Low-Light Performance; Easy Computer Connectivity; Great sound/audio; Accurate; Vivid Colors; Compact Design; excellent image quality; durable; Good Software Compatibility; Ergonomic/comfortable to hold; Easy TV Connectivity; easy to use

power switch; lacking on some assignable button choices

Thanks for the great service. Appreciate the help with choosing this Canon camcorder. Am looking forward to trying out the many features.

"I've worked with this camera for 3 years now. It's an excellent run and gun option for fast-paced field work. The three rings for zoom, iris, and focus are crucial in my opinion, as are the built-in ND filters. The lens quality and zoom are superb.

The XF300 uses 3 HD CMOS sensors which capture 50Mbps with 4:2:2 color sampling resulting in true to life colors and excellent detail, recording on cost effective Compact Flash cards.

excellent product