Like many electronic gadgets today the manufactures are trying to cram as many items into them as possible and that’s why we have FM radios and cameras on mobile phones when all their real purpose is is to make contact with the outside world.  However these unnecessary items can help clinch sales as people then don’t have to carry them all round separately and I’m all for that.  A couple of years ago I used to have an ipod,phone,wallet and other stuff in my pockets so when I bought an o2 XDA it made sense. And I was grateful as it meant I only had to look after one gadget from fear of losing it so it makes sense.  On the other hand some added items are not worthy and that leads me to camcorders having the ability to take photos.

Now in theory you would think “oh that’s easy and they should take great photos with those expensive lenses” and I would agree.  Why can’t they make the photo modes any good? The one on my old Sony was dire and couldn’t beat my 3.0 megapixel camera on my Samsung D900i. I was disappointed and never took photos with it again.  Now step over to my new Canon FS100, once again I was sceptical but thought I’d test it and show you the results.

In my opinion they’re not too bad, better than the Sony and nearly if not on par with my camera phone. If consumers are after just a quick look and snap camera feature this will do them fine and with the good zoom focus on the camcorder it makes the zoomed in photos nice as well.  It even has a nice continuous shoot setting so you can capture fast moving objects in multiple frames.  Canon have done a god job but as a message to all camcorder makers if you’re going to add a camera feature make it worthwhile. We’re not at that step just yet when separate digital cameras can be phased out.

As a result I’ll definately be using it if I don’t have my other cameras on me but I wouldn’t rely on it for a long trip.  If you’re looking for something a bit meatier or with better options (there is no manual control of ISOs or anything) then its probably better not to sell off that dusty digital camera you have lying around.