Having had an XA10 briefly before buying the XF100 I was able to make some direct comparisons.
Bottom line is that the XF100 offers more hard BUTTONS, a huge advantage to any semi-pro user or above, because digging through the menu on site is tedious and time consuming. The codec is also MPEG2 50mbs 4:2:2 color, which means the color accuracy is MUCH better than the XA10 and editing will be much faster and easier to render. It actually meets minimum broadcast specs for the BBC which is pretty amazing for the price range. A more flexible but finicky image. At each shoot, you'll be spending a little more time getting white balance, lighting and picture settings just right vs the XA10's simpler use.
OUT OF THE BOX SHOOTING: No, don't do that. You'll want to do 2 things right away. Google "Custom Picture Profiles" and use the ones called XF1MOJO, HI-GAIN and TRUVID to start. They alter many different aspects of the picture to allow for great looking footage. If you don't do this, you're likely to get grainy footage even in good light and night shots will be unusable. You'll also want to set the LCD screen to BRIGHT if you want to see in in the sunlight while shooting.
LOW LIGHT/NIGHT SHOTS: Use a custom picture profile setup for this and most importantly DO NOT go above 9db GAIN. Auto mode will rocket up to 24db instantly and produce one of the grainiest pictures you can imagine. Keep it below 9 and you'll be pleased. I hooked my camera up to our HDTV and lowered the light while toying with different settings, this was very effective for me to learn what worked and how in that setting.
EDITING: Using both XA10 footage (H264) and XF100 (MPEG2), Adobe CS6, W7x64 still lagged badly and took roughly 2-3x as long for any renders using an 8 core system. The XF100 footage flowed easily and smoothly and rendered faster than realtime in HD on my system while the the H264 not only took longer but caused some odd glitches in Adobe from time to time.
SMALL POINTS: The build quality feels more solid than the XA10, which is also pretty good. The XF100 is very light and while that's nice, it also means you'll be relying on the image stabilization a bit more, which for the most part works well. Full size HDMI out. New firmware (which you probably won't need is out so make sure yours is up to date, do this 1st as it erases all presets). It adds some useful features and is worth doing at canon's website.
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: 60p in 1080 mode, as it is, you can get there but only in 1280x720, which is still a pretty good resolution, no other camera in the class offers it either at the present time. How about a wireless remote that doesn't require pressing TWO buttons to use, I couldn't believe it, absolutely useless in the field, buying a LANC remote for this need is pretty much required due to this. More Custom Picture Profiles would have been nice, they offer three hard presets, which I've yet to find a use for. SDcard options, currently no internal memory and you must buy the pricey Compact Flash Memory. The x400 Transcend works fine BTW, it's the cheapest so far. Adapters for SD cards don't work so don't bother.
WHY STILL GET AN XA10? If you're in need of XLR audio and don't want to step up to the XF100, I guess it makes sense. For my money, I'd just get the Vixia for $700 less and you'll have almost the same thing minus the inputs. If you are an AUTO type of shooter, the XA10 will please you, but if you need to adjust lots of settings, it WILL be a little frustrating. The OUT OF THE BOX experience with the XA10 is pretty good, the presets it offers are very usable and produced excellent quality with little fiddling, while the XF100 will require more setup and fine tuning.
I've spent only a week with each camera at this point so keep that in mind as you consider what I had to say about these cameras. Overall, they're both excellent, but just serve different needs. I make a living with my cameras, so what's important to me might not matter much to others.
UPDATE: Dec 7 2012: After a few months using the camera and shooting a half dozen commercial shoots with it, I can say it's produced very nice footage. Outdoor shoots on sunny days I've been able to go full auto and get outstanding results with absolutely beautiful color reproduction. Low light still requires the settings above but have also been very very good. Auto focus works fine but I've had a few instances where it wanders, can't fault the camera really but manual focus with the MAG button makes this a breeze in the field (thank you Canon).
I've since gotten a x600 card to go with x400s and they work together but you have make sure to set them up properly in the menu and that they have "green" lights on both or it won't automatically start recording on the 2nd card when you need it Pay attention the first time and you'll know what I mean and avoid losing any shots. I've learned the x600 is really only necessary for overcranking as I've had not a single error with any of the x400s @ 1920x1080 30fps, at double the price it's something to consider.
AUDIO: I use a non XLR Rode mic 99% of the time but the onboard audio is usable in a pinch under the right conditions. XLR is the way to go so if you're getting new gear look into it.
Finally, I picked up a 2nd battery, a larger Wasabi and it's been fantastic, I know some people said they didn't get accurate remaining times, but I had no problems at all and at a fraction of the price of Canon batteries, you just can't beat them. No little lights on the back of the battery but other than that you get a lot more juice for your money.
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