HELP! - I need to make a quick decision about buying an HV20!

[amigomatt]

Living in the UK and after reading the posts concerning potential editing problems using NTSC format in PAL world, I'm still teetering on the edge of buying a NTSC HV20 much much cheaper (around £400) from pricejapan.com.

I'm going to the USA for 5 weeks next Thursday (26th), and I could get it delivered to my girlfriend's apartment over there in Philly, but my dilemma is whether the problems related to NTSC are going to prove too much?

I haven't done much filming before but I'm thinking that getting a nice cam like the HV20 would open doors for me to do that. I'm a pro musician and would certainly record musical events on it too.

I've nearly fallen in love with this camera having read and watched reviews on it and I am PC literate so I reckon I could decipher any decoding etc. that I might need to do. I just need someone to tell me in real terms what the big negatives might be with me getting an NTSC HV20 and whether the price difference is worth it or are there other PAL cams that I could consider for up to around £500 that may sway me away from wanting this lovely piece of equipment?

If I'm gonna buy something from amazon UK (i.e. an alternative PAL cam), I need to do it early next week at the latest before I go to America. Otherwise, I can place my order for the NTSC HV20 and have them ship that to meet me in the States.

Can anybody help me with this very frustrating and painful decision please?!

Many thanks in advance,

Matt.:hv20-smilie122:

[Erik Bien]

No offense, but why wouldn't you just buy a PAL HV20?

You don't have to deal with any of the pulldown-removal gyrations imposed by NTSC, and you can plug your camera into any locally available PAL telly for monitoring or to impress your friends.

Before the HV20 came along with 24p, indies on this side of the pond coveted PAL camcorders because 25p is oh-so-much closer to the 24fps film look than 60i/30p.

[amigomatt]

On further research, I will be mainly using my TFT monitor for both watching and editing anyway, so I gather that the PAL/NTSC issue won't affect me so much? Is this true? Can't I convert to PAL using software if I wanted to distribute my footage?

[amigomatt]

No offense, but why wouldn't you just buy a PAL HV20?

You don't have to deal with any of the pulldown-removal gyrations imposed by NTSC, and you can plug your camera into any locally available PAL telly for monitoring or to impress your friends.

Before the HV20 came along with 24p, indies on this side of the pond coveted PAL camcorders because 25p is oh-so-much closer to the 24fps film look than 60i/30p.

Hi Erik, just read your post after I posted the last one.

It really is a matter of cost - I can get a NTSC HV20 for £400, whereas the PAL one I can't afford at around £800!

[amigomatt]

Is it really such a painstaking effort to remove the pulldown? What is involved? Is it not done through some processing that you can just leave to get on with itself?

[amigomatt]

No offense, but why wouldn't you just buy a PAL HV20?

You don't have to deal with any of the pulldown-removal gyrations imposed by NTSC, and you can plug your camera into any locally available PAL telly for monitoring or to impress your friends.

Before the HV20 came along with 24p, indies on this side of the pond coveted PAL camcorders because 25p is oh-so-much closer to the 24fps film look than 60i/30p.
At the moment, I'm only gonna be using the cam for holidays and concerts with a possible view to getting more creative later on...

[Erik Bien]

Sorry matt,

I didn't realize the PAL version was more expensive, even your side of the Atlantic ... the PAL version is about $450 more than the NTSC one at B&H, I'd just figured that was because it was an "import" ...

For your present purposes, you probably don't need to worry about pulldown (read the "24p PC Workflow thread" here ... if you dare) but perhaps someone else can suggest a n00b-friendly editing program which can handle the NTSC-to-PAL conversion ...

[amigomatt]

Sorry matt,

I didn't realize the PAL version was more expensive, even your side of the Atlantic ... the PAL version is about $450 more than the NTSC one at B&H, I'd just figured that was because it was an "import" ...

For your present purposes, you probably don't need to worry about pulldown (read the "24p PC Workflow thread" here ... if you dare) but perhaps someone else can suggest a n00b-friendly editing program which can handle the NTSC-to-PAL conversion ...

Unfortunately so. The PAL version seems to be elusive and expensive everywhere - don't get me started on how I think that us Brits get stuffed up the ass on all sides with prices :hv20-smilie36:

Dare I read the 24p workflow thread? Maybe I'll have to. Reading about those tedious issues elsewhere has been taxing.

I really want this camera!

One good thing re:money is that beers and burgers will be cheap for me for the next few weeks in the good Ole US!!:hv20-smilie71:

[Erik Bien]

Matt,



Sorry to disillusion you, but you'll find almost no sign of actual beer here; what we call 'beer' in America is actually mule p*ss with the foam farted off ... :hv20-smilie46: