What is the next best camera after the HV20?
I have an HV20 and enjoy it. But I am getting tired of the digital tape and the limits of 1 hour in HD. So, what is the next best camera to get - one with 24p, with HD or flash, maybe variable frame rates, good low light? I want to spend around $1000 at for this, so suggestions would be welcome.
Take a look at some of the hard drive cameras coming from Canon, and of course the latest offerings in AVCHD cams that will be out in the coming weeks/months.
Take a look at the latest Vixia line, i have a model from last year that i love (HF S21) and this year's line apparently offers some good improvements (better low light performance mainly)
I've got a couple of HF S200 from Canon. These or their relatives are great in my opinion.
I would avoid a hard drive media camcorder. A guy in another forum on this site dropped his HG10 and will have to remove the hard drive, put it in an enclosure with USB connection, and hope the hard drive itself isn't shock damaged so he can have a chance of getting his footage off.Originally Posted by Daniel Rutter
The flash media approach is the way to go.
Bruce Foreman
I am a reforming videomaking addict
The dilemma has been
1. The AVCHD encoder in older Canon flash camcorders was low bitrate and low quality.
2. The high megapixel imagers in newer Canon flash camcorders did not perform well in low light and exhibited aliasing.
The new HFG10 and HFM400/40/41 series appear to address both these issues.
I agree. I had a HF S100 that had a moisture issue that eventually self-corrected. The camera would not turn on. However, because the camera uses SD cards, retrieving the data was never an issue.
Bill
I think this is more an issue of internal versus removable storage. Has anyone ever had to retrieve video from the internal flash of a broken flash camcorder? Can internal flash memory be removed after disassembling the camcorder and read using an external device?
Have the prices come down on the HFM400 or the HG10? I saw a review for the HG10, but didn't see a clear review for the HFM400/40/41 series.
The HFG10 and HFM400 are currently in limited supply and sold at list price. Note that the HG10 is an older HDD camcorder and completely different than the HFG10. Unless there is an emergency to replace the HV20, I'd wait for the prices to drop.
Yeah, I am seeing that. I really need to upgrade to a Flash based camera. I thought most of the new cameras come out in April right?
It's quick, SD cards are quite cheap and reuseable and there's so many good reasons to upgrade to it.
Personally, I still prefer tape, I'll skip the debate about it, but if I'd upgrade, I'd go with a 3CCD HDV model from Canon. But it's 3500$+.
I know, I was thinking about getting the AG-HVX 200 because of the flash memory and the CCD's.
You get 90 minutes recording time on the HV20 at nearly the same quality as the HVX200 by switching the HV20 to DV widescreen in LP recording mode. The would make recording longer events easier while waiting for the price of the HFG10 or HFM400 to drop.
But that would make it in DV mode. I wanted the HD mode. I have in the past, switched to DV mode when I need to, but I always prefer HDV mode. Why would you say the quality is the same for the HVX200 and HV20 DV mode?
The HVX200 was announced in 2005. The design uses three standard definition CCD sensors and interpolates to HD in camera. Standard definition with the HV20 would be of comparable quality except for the fact that the HV20 has no 24p in DV recording mode. To record a long running music event with a single HV20 in high definition use a separate audio recorder for continuous sound and cut to b-roll while changing tapes.
Last edited by ejolson; 2011 May 5th at 12:59.
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