Buying Japanese camcorder...

[kwong2006]

I am thinking about buying an iVis HF S11 (known as Vixia HF S11 here in the US), but I am worried about whether it will work in the US. Anyone have experience with Japanese camcorders, and whether they work here in the US?

 

[windowpain]

Hey.

I took a quick look on the website for the model here (in japanese) and I can't see anything that says it won't work in the US.
It does say that in uses the NTSC standard...So I would assume that it will work without a problem.
Hopefully someone else with more knowledge on these things can help you.

 

[jampat]

NTSC-J (Japan) and NTSC-U (USA) are different. I am not sure how much different, or whether it will cause you problems, but they are different standards.

Japan also has two different power standards, make sure that the power supply provided works with 120V/60Hz to use in the US.

Unless you are getting this for free, I would just avoid the hassle and buy something designed to work in the US.

 

[windowpain]

I just took a look at the manual and on p254 it says that you can use it overseas.
It says that is supports from 100-240 volts and 50/60Hz.
It also says that the plugs might a different shape so you will need to get an adapter plug.

On page 256 it says that you can just attach the camera to a TV and watch.
You can also change the camera menu to either English or Japanese.


I don't know anything about the two NTSC standards I'm afraid..