Is the HV20 for me?

[DustinHart]

Hi, first post here and I'm looking for some help. I'm planning on saving up for a new video camera and the HV20 has really caught my eye but after reading around I'm not sure if it's for me. It would get used a lot for just filming my friends and I goofing around but I would like to buy it for doing video of monster trucks and surfing. Odd combo I know but I happen to be friends with many surfers and I currently run two monster truck websites (AllMonster.com and StoneCrusherMonsterTruck.com) so a lot of my subjects would be moving and requiring me to pan a lot which has me worried about the rolling shutter problem. If I got a good tripod would this still be an issue or would I be alright?

[neolinski]

i dont think you should be shy away from HV20 just because of the rolling shutter. it's not like you will get something better with other cameras (unless you want to pay significantly more money)

two questions you should ask yourself is
1. do i need HD?
2. do i need 24p?

i think if you think you need 24p, then you need to buy this as this one is one of the cheapest camcorder that has 24p. if furthermore you don't need HD, your options are very broad. overall, save money if you can (at least, that's how my brain works)

[veg]

DustinHart...

If you are "planning on saving up for a new video camera"
and..
If you are "goofing around but I would like to buy it for doing video of monster trucks and surfing."

...then I really think you should buy another camera to be honest. It would be a waste of your hard saved money.

This camera doesn't like being goofed around with. It needs RESPECT for what it does in a tiny/cheap package.

[DustinHart]

Thanks for the quick replys, I appreciate it.

Well, I'm an image quality freak so HD is something important to me. 24p is not exactly a necessity but I can see where I would use it. One of the things I've thought of doing is getting a bunch of footage of the two team monster trucks I do websites for and produce a short DVD. Nothing too crazy but maybe I can make a few extra bucks with it. So yes, I am intending on doing some serious work with and the occasional goofing around filming a quick skit or a friends band playing. I take good care of my equipment (I own a D70 and about $1500 worth of lenses and other equipment) and understand I can't toss the camera around like a toy.

I've looked at a lot of the cheaper 3CCD miniDV cams and the picture quality just doesn't impress me enough. I've seen video from situations I would probably shoot in from a Panasonic AG-DVC-30, Canon GL-2 and one of the sony 3CCD models (2100?) and just wasn't impressed enough to dump $2,000 into one of those. So to me the HV20 sounds like a great camera but like I mentioned in my first post I'm a little leery of the rolling shutter issue. I will probably do a fair amount of panning in the larger venues for monster trucks like your outdoor fairgrounds and speedways. I haven't seen enough examples of the rolling shutter problems though so I guess maybe I'm a little over worried about it.

[hizbiz]

Dustinhurt,
The rolling shutter problem is there. It was there and would be there.
But that problem would come up only when you use to high shutter speeds as I understood and/or very fast panning.
And I think you can avoid them to get great video from hv20 by using 1/60 shutter speed along with moderate panning speeds with the camera on the tripod.
I do not think it would be a bad decision anyway!
Good luck!

[white_2kgt]

It's been my experience that if your subject is moving fast or you are panning quickly, stay away from 24p, so for your needs that's not really an advantage. I love the camera though, you just have to be aware of its limitations.