Canon adds new S, M and R series VIXIA HD camcorders, two regular FS cams for good measure

We know you’ve been coveting that primo Canon VIXIA HF S11 hi-def camcorder we got our hands on a few months back, and now it looks like the company is going wild — debuting two new camcorder lines (and three new S series machines) for your consideration. All nine new Vixia models offer flash or SD-card-based storage — or both. And when both are present, the Relay Recording feature allows the camera to automatically switch between storage devices during recording. If that weren’t enough, all SD-packin’ machines are compatible with the SDXC card format (up to 2TB). S series camcorders feature 1080p AVCHD video at 24Mbps, low-light optimized CMOS sensors, Digic 4 processors, 10x optical zoom lenses, 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD panels, and 8 megapixel still photo capture — with the ability to down-convert to MPEG-2. Prices start at $1,000 — due out in April. The M series models feature smaller touchscreens (2.7-inch) and a smaller CMOS sensor (which only manages 3 megapixel stills) and will be out in March with a starting price of $680. The R series, which is also out in March, brings up the bottom end with a starting price of $500, but still manages 1080p video (at a lower 17Mbps bitrate), while sacrificing the touchscreen and dropping down to 2 megapixel stills from the smaller, sure-to-be-noisy CMOS. If that all weren’t enough, Canon also has two new standard definition cameras in the FS series, with one sporting 16GB of built-in storage and the other doing the removable SD thing, with a starting price of $300. There’s full PR after the break.