what is the 35 mm equiv of a "12x opitical lens" ? i was looking at some of those handheld vixia canons and curious as two what that meant.

it didnt see a spect that said a range, like we see on still zooms?

You should have a look at the www.camcorderinfo.com website as they give detailed specs of most of these types of cameras. My Sony A1 has a zoom range of 5.1 - 51 but because it is a 1/3 inch chip it probably has a crop factor of approx 7 or maybe even 8 times so, my zoom range in 35mm terms would be 35mm - 350mm or there abouts.

The canon HF10 vixia specs are

Focal Distance Minimum (mm) 4.80
Focal Distance Maximum (mm) 57.60
35mm Focal Distance Minimum (mm) 42.90
35mm Focal Distance Maximum (mm) 514.80


Cheers John

thanks johm, thats close enough