Today there's still a good-sized niche for moderately priced HD camcorders; the good ones combine ease of use, flexibility, and fine video image quality. The Canon Vixia HF M40, with its video-specific CMOS image sensor, is a very good one.

A fine follow-up to last year's M3xx series, the Canon Vixia M4xx series should please most home-movie-oriented videographers despite its relatively high price.

There’s a huge amount of auto modes to ease the way for beginners… perhaps too many auto modes. In our opinion, that leaves the HF M40 just out of reach for the raw beginner. For experienced users looking to get the most for their money, the HF M40 is a sure thing.

Small, light and solid-state: a great carry-anywhere camera for the amateur videographer.

Overall this camcorder is no home run and the fact it doesn’t record 1080/60p video like its 2011 competition is another negative. It’s a good try but it didn’t ring the arcade bell—even in Coney Island.