Canon HV20 High-Definition DV 10x Zoom Camcorder $657 shipped

[Greg04]

From XPBARGAINS $657 shipped

 

[Kaido]

Best personal camera imo. See my detailed post here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=65&threadid=2147163

 

[Jagercola]

Any idea when the next generation comes out? I think this one has been out a while. I think the compression could be improved also to something like AVC/h264. Great camera I hear though...

Edit = I see the HV30 is out but the only new thing it adds is 30P. Maybe another year and AVCHD will have higher bitrates and no motor tape noise. I'm impressed with the test video though. How does the HV20/HV30 do in low light?

 

[kki000]

very well. in 24p mode, its probably the best hd camera in low light.
pq from the hv20 and 30 are pretty much identical.
avchd is just catching up with hdv this year, (hf10), but its still a major pain in the as$ to edit.

sub 657 for this is smoking, paid 900 for mine.

 

[ojai00]

Looks like CC is starting to clear these out. My in-store pickup options are dwindling! They actually had it marked down to $659 a couple of days ago before they raised the price back up to $729.

 

[twistedlogic]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Best personal camera imo. See my detailed post here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=65&threadid=2147163

Very nice post indeed!!!! Bookmarked

Got this camera for x-mas but have yet to really dive into it. First thing I did was buy the DV tapes and this cable. Radioshack wanted $50 and Walmart wanted ~$30.

Where can I get me a "43mm UV lens (protects the built-in lens)"?

 

[Lurker1]

Well, there's nothing in my area, or at least nothing showing in stock, in any of three areas I have access to. Rome, GA has one though. (Typo)

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Jagercola
Any idea when the next generation comes out? I think this one has been out a while. I think the compression could be improved also to something like AVC/h264. Great camera I hear though...

Edit = I see the HV30 is out but the only new thing it adds is 30P. Maybe another year and AVCHD will have higher bitrates and no motor tape noise. I'm impressed with the test video though. How does the HV20/HV30 do in low light?

Yup the HV30 is already out, but all it adds is 30p mode. Meh.

The HV20 has excellent low-light skills, much better than my previous Sony HC7. But the HC7 had that green infrared gizmo so that you could see in the dark, which was cool. But the low-light on the HV20 is definitely better than the HC7. I recommend avoiding the "night mode" on the HV20 because it makes motion jerky.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: twistedlogic

Originally posted by: Kaido
Best personal camera imo. See my detailed post here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=65&threadid=2147163

Very nice post indeed!!!! Bookmarked

Got this camera for x-mas but have yet to really dive into it. First thing I did was buy the DV tapes and this cable. Radioshack wanted $50 and Walmart wanted ~$30.

Where can I get me a "43mm UV lens (protects the built-in lens)"?

Amazon. Hoya and Tiffin are good brands, it will run you about $10 or so.

 

[Throckmorton]

Wow, it's 1920x1080p?? I thought all these cameras were 1440x1080i

 

[Lurker1]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Yup the HV30 is already out, but all it adds is 30p mode. Meh.

Actually, 30P mode is good, as it matches the frequency scan rate on your TV (no 3:2 pulldown when recorded to DVDs) unless your TV handles 24P.

 

[kki000]

Originally posted by: Lurker1

Originally posted by: Kaido
Yup the HV30 is already out, but all it adds is 30p mode. Meh.

Actually, 30P mode is good, as it matches the frequency scan rate on your TV (no 3:2 pulldown when recorded to DVDs) unless your TV handles 24P.

You would have to convert this to 60i somehow, dunno what editing packaging would let you do it and maintain the clean cadence. Most of the packages has issues with 24p and thats much more widely accepted framerate.

30p is useful for video meant for pc playback only, for now.

 

[kki000]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Wow, it's 1920x1080p?? I thought all these cameras were 1440x1080i

The sensor in this camera is till 1440, the new hf10 has a full 1920 array.

 

[KAMAZON]

Hi guys, I was just looking for a video camera for my dad for his BDay and this looks awesome! I dont' have too much money but wanted to get him something really good. He has a 1080P 50" samsung widescreen DLP HDTV so I figured a 1080I camcorder can upscale very easily to 1080P. What does it mean that the sensor is 1440? Does that mean it's not pure 1080 and thus will have to upscale =/

He likes the mini-dvd ones but I hear the quality isn't good on those.

Do you guys have any suggs? Thanks.

 

[kki000]

dont even worry about the sensor size. For all intents and purposes, this is the sharpest/best hd camcorder you can buy.

The main issue is how to view the hd video. Easiest so far is to get a ps3 and either burn them to dvd-r or stream them.

 

[Lurker1]

Originally posted by: kki000

Originally posted by: Lurker1
Actually, 30P mode is good, as it matches the frequency scan rate on your TV (no 3:2 pulldown when recorded to DVDs) unless your TV handles 24P.

You would have to convert this to 60i somehow, dunno what editing packaging would let you do it and maintain the clean cadence. Most of the packages has issues with 24p and thats much more widely accepted framerate.

30p is useful for video meant for pc playback only, for now.

30fps is standard 1080p.

Any decent 1080p TV bought within the last year or two will have the ability to play either 30fps or 24fps with a 2:2 pulldown resulting in nice smooth progressive pictures.

I have no idea why you'd care to create 60i source, as most playback devices handle that for you if you need it.

 

[kki000]

Originally posted by: Lurker1

Originally posted by: kki000

Originally posted by: Lurker1
Actually, 30P mode is good, as it matches the frequency scan rate on your TV (no 3:2 pulldown when recorded to DVDs) unless your TV handles 24P.

You would have to convert this to 60i somehow, dunno what editing packaging would let you do it and maintain the clean cadence. Most of the packages has issues with 24p and thats much more widely accepted framerate.

30p is useful for video meant for pc playback only, for now.

30fps is standard 1080p.

Any decent 1080p TV bought within the last year or two will have the ability to play either 30fps or 24fps with a 2:2 pulldown resulting in nice smooth progressive pictures.

I have no idea why you'd care to create 60i source, as most playback devices handle that for you if you need it.

Absolutely, if you play back from the camera.
I was talking about the usefulness of this feature downstream, from editing and playback standpoint outside of the camera. You're right 60i is meaningless, dunno why I thought converting back to 1080i would help.

30p is a nice feature to have, but certainly not a deal breaker, and not worth the $300 delta between the 20 and 30.

 

[bigi]

Since there are many posts from knowledgeable people here, I'd like to get your opinions on Canon HG10. The reason I am asking is that I need to get a hard drive based HD camcorder.

 

[KAMAZON]

I kept looking but couldn't find it at that price, =(