Disappoiinted in quality of Canon HV20

[srloren]

Received the camera on Tuesday. Charged the battery and read about the camera. Took it out for first shoot on Wednesday. Shot a total of 17 minutes. Thursday I transferred the AVI to my PC and when I was finished, I tried to close the rubber flap that covers the firewire connection and it will not stay closed. I can not see any latching mechanism in this design. I am calling B and H later this morning to discuss this and return the camcorder if they don't have a solution. I am really disappointed that the Canon design team did not build a better enclosure tab for the camera. I am new to digital video so not in a position to comment on the features and overall quality other than to say that on the LCD the camera is very steady hand held. I shot the footage from a tri pod.
I have Pinnacle Studio 10 and have not tried to edit the footage but will give that a try later today...if I find time.

[Mal]

Hey there srloren,
yes, I can understand your displeasure in the little firewire/HDMI flap/cover. But this is a consumer cam, and at a BARGAIN price currently (compared to what's out there).
I am SHOCKED though:

...that you'd consider returning the cam for this reason.

First off, the flap has a tiny little protruding "pin" at its top. This "pin" fits into a tiny hole above the firewire connector. Since the whole flap is loosely jointed at its bottom, it will often happen that the pin will not match up with its counterpart, the small hole. You'll have to push the flap gently downwards, until the pin matches the hole. And then it closes properly.

Hey, I am not saying it's great design, and in fact, I normally CUT OFF all of these flaps, and covers anyway on my cams, but to return this cam for this reason, is a bit mind boggling to me. But no offense to you intended; I can understand your displeasure; I'd just hope you'd give the cam another chance, and hopefully the POSITIVES will outweigh the negatives.....they do for me.....a THOUSAND FOLD!!

Hey, I'm not affiliated with Canon, or anything like that, but I think it's a great little cam, that's all!

[srloren]

I appreciate your view on this. My other digital camera is a Nikon D100 and the rubber flap on it is excellent and better designed than this so I was not aware that consumer cameras were expected to be made this inexpensively...to use a more politically correct term. I am hopeful that I can take the camera to a repair shop and replace the flap because there is no pin on my flap (checked to see again if there is a small pin and hole) Oh my god....you are right Mal and it does work if I push down and in. I am going to have to retract my bad remarks. Thank you for your reply. Not if I can figure out how to convert the avi file to an mp2 or whatever I need to create a video or cd, I will be in good shape. Thanks again.

[Mal]

Great! Glad that's working for ya....

As for the AVI conversion...yeah, all this footage/conversion/format stuff will take a little bit to get sorted.
Unfortunately there's SOOOOOO many formats out there now, that this is just something we'll have to live with.
I'm sure some clever people on here will be able to shed some light onto what needs to be done to get the correct conversions, on a Mac, on a PC, etc.

I believe there's a few threads already covering such things.

[Richard Wilson]

Have you seen the Hv10 footage on the Canon USA site? I am seriously impressed...My Rode Videomic is really featherweight and should work a treat on the HV20..What the hell is the little beauty to the left of the HV10?..only in Japan?

[srloren]

but I will as soon as I have time. Thanks much

[retired26]

Srloren

I love my HV20 but you are right about the HDMI cover. It should be better, even if the camera is cheap for what you get. I spend a lot of time trying to close it. I don't think it will last long. You got to admit though, it's got a great picture. My son bought one, his friend, yesterday my friend and I.

JW

[Avene]

No problems here with the HDMI cover. Once you know how to close it properly by pushing the little pin thing in and then pressing the bottom part in, it's fine.

[24Peter]

No problems here with the HDMI cover. Once you know how to close it properly by pushing the little pin thing in and then pressing the bottom part in, it's fine.

Yes. Push in the top part first. Then all is well.

[Rikki]

I appreciate your view on this. My other digital camera is a Nikon D100 and the rubber flap on it is excellent and better designed than this so I was not aware that consumer cameras were expected to be made this inexpensively...to use a more politically correct term. I am hopeful that I can take the camera to a repair shop and replace the flap because there is no pin on my flap (checked to see again if there is a small pin and hole) Oh my god....you are right Mal and it does work if I push down and in. I am going to have to retract my bad remarks. Thank you for your reply. Not if I can figure out how to convert the avi file to an mp2 or whatever I need to create a video or cd, I will be in good shape. Thanks again.

Glad you got it sorted, I too had a bit of bother getting it to clip back in but figured it out eventually so dont feel too bad.

Rikki

[miglo]

If I wanted a better build-quality cam, I would have bought the HD7