HV30 First Impression

[previdman]

Aramis wrote - "The most important: MY VIDEO DOES NOT LOOK LIKE HD. I don't know what I did expect, I guess I wanted sharp and detailed look you get from HD shows, basketball games, talk shows, etc. I just don't get it. It is all pretty soft."

Maybe Aramis has something there. I thought my first HV20 was also a little disappointing in image quality. Viewed it on a Sanyo 50" 720P with HDMI in, then tried RGB component, no diff.

I double checked to make certain it was in HDV mode and not softened by any other settings and found it less sharp than expected. Especially after reading all the glowing reports about fantastic image quality.

Was I expecting too much? Well, I returned the camera not because of image quality but due to a very annoying bad pixel centered in the LCD screen (really thought it should have been rejected by QC before leaving factory.)

Anyway, my second HV20 was a world apart from the first in image quality. And so, too, is my new HV30. Now I know what all the justified hype's about. Image quality from both units are comparable to each other and OUTSTANDING! (I think I like the HV20 zoom button and LCD image better than my HV30, tho.)

Maybe Aramis and I both got "Friday before a major holiday weekend" builds?

Don't know but there was a very distinct difference.

[bluegrass]

I'm surprised to hear previdman state that he thought the hv20 lcd display was better than the hv30. that is one thing that I noticed was an improvement as others have also stated (I own one HV20 and one HV30). I also find the zoom button a little easier to operate than on the HV20 since is slightly bigger and sticks up a little more than on the HV20.

I display the videos I shoot via HDMI to my Optoma hidef projector and onto an 8' screen. They are definitely not as sharp as a Hollywood produced HD DVD's or Blu-ray DVDs but I really wouldn't expect them to. I have both HD DVD & Blu-ray standalone players that I feed to my projector. The HV20/30 cost under $1000 and the lenses alone in Hollywood production cameras probably cost more than $100,000.

I think the point is with our HV's we can create a pretty nice video that may approach 60 to 80 percent of the technical quality of a Hollywood produced movie but I wouldn't expect much more. I think some folks buy their camcorders with too high of expectations.

[previdman]

I just received my 30 yesterday and haven't compared them side by side, yet. But I believe the HV20 LCD either a) more true in color and or b) just simply better looking for reasons I can't discern. May just be my old eyes, I dunno.

I bought my plasma because of all the sets on display, the Sanyo consistently appeared (to me, anyway) to have the most natural looking colors - not overdriven or too heavy contrast. That's what I look for in a camera, also.

I mostly shoot everything plain and do it all in post. I hate technology that's so smart (or thinks I'm so stupid) as to do my thinking for me. Had a couple JVC-SVHS cams that produced oversaturated colors - most thought it was beautiful footage but to me, it was annoying.

The 30 zoom button is probably just a "new feel" I may end up liking better than the 20, time will tell. Right now my "feel" is set for the 20 and I'm overcorrecting on the 30.

And I agree with your 60-80% technical quality comment. Everything considered and all nitpicking aside, this is great techno and I love both models and very happy to have them. Grateful, too.

[jabloomf1230]

I have both models and the HV30 LCD screen is definitely easier to use when manually focusing. Else, other than 30p, the black color and the slightly different zoom button (no advantage IMO), the models are identical.

[previdman]

I find the 20 zoom control easier as your finger kind of rests on the surround, allowing finer, more controlled movement.

The 30 sticks way up in the air by comparison, and resting your finger on it makes zooming a little unprecise, IMHO.

[Lunchbox]

I agree with you. I actually like HV20's zoom rocker that I can control it a bit better than HV30. Can't really make smooth zooming in 30.

[previdman]

I agree with you. I actually like HV20's zoom rocker that I can control it a bit better than HV30. Can't really make smooth zooming in 30.

Yep. Dat's wut I'm, talkin' bout. Might just take more getting used to, tho. Only time will tell.

[hammer]

Hi bluegrass,

How does the video look if you are shooting live video via the HDMI to the screen. I suspect the image looks less sharp because you are playing HDV encoded (1440x1080 resampled back to 1920x1080), this tends to soften the image.

Live straight out the HDMI port should be 1920x1080 which is effectively uncompressed 422.

Interested to hear your thoughts and observations.

I display the videos I shoot via HDMI to my Optoma hidef projector and onto an 8' screen. They are definitely not as sharp as a Hollywood produced HD DVD's or Blu-ray DVDs but I really wouldn't expect them to. I have both HD DVD & Blu-ray standalone players that I feed to my projector. The HV20/30 cost under $1000 and the lenses alone in Hollywood production cameras probably cost more than $100,000.

I think the point is with our HV's we can create a pretty nice video that may approach 60 to 80 percent of the technical quality of a Hollywood produced movie but I wouldn't expect much more. I think some folks buy their camcorders with too high of expectations.

[Kraken]

Hello Everyone!

I hesitated very long before I buyed the hv30. I found a lot of articles where the people were complaining about artifacts such as rolling shutter etc. Now as a proud owner of the cam I can encourage all of you who are also hesitating that it is totally unnecessary.
My first fear was that I won't be able to edit the hdv footage on my 2 years old pc. (amd x2 3600+ 2gb ram) - surprise, it works fine, not that it couldn't be faster but it is fully tolerable and usable.
My second fear was that the rolling shutter effect will kill all of the shots where the camera is not fixed on a tripod - handheld shots are more than okay viewed on a tv or monitor. Surprise: I couldn't reproduce the RS effect at all... maybe that's because of the right shutter speed... who knows...
Third thing was lowlight capability: Ok it is not a dvx100 or vx2100 but the shots taken with f1.8 1/50 (0 gain) are breathtaking! And it is very easy to set up the locked exposure. example:
Okay now let me speak about the cons too:
casette housing a really weak point
manaul focus ring is small and hard to use
after the camera shows low battery you have 1 minute or so till the camera is turning off

So my overall opinion is if you buy the hv30 you'll get a really smart (and really little) camcorder with fantastic manual controls.

[echoes]

So, I have bought my Canon HV30 (not VIXIA, but I guess VIXIA is just for NTSC-land) and I'm pretty pleased with how the footage looks.

So, first impressions, here we go:

PROS
Lcd screen is quite nice and big
You can zoom the footage in playback mode! :P
Image quality
Overall looks
43mm thread mount
25p mode

CONS
Joystick joystick joystick
Viewfinder that can't be pulled out
No 30p for PAL
No touch screen (but that's probably because I used a Sony camera for about a year now)

CURRENT SETUP
Canon HV30 PAL
Raynox HD3032 semi-fisheye lens
Some Hama photo tripod

NEXT UPGRADES
Fluid head tripod (Velbon 7000)
External Mic (Rode Videomic)
Fisheye lens (Raynox MX3000pro)

Overall, I'm satisfied with my choice. I guess the upgrades will make me a lot happier about
my purchase.

Cheers and a Happy new Year,
Luka

[pllsystem]

Hi all,
I am interested in if there is 5 min auto shut down function in the HV 30 and can it be disabled. I record not to the tape but the PC and I would mainly use it in standby mode.

TNX

[Lunchbox]

Read page 44 of the manual. It's under the menu you can turn on or off "Powre Save"

[cgbier]

Hi, I'm new here. I have an HV30 since April this year, but haven't used it much so far.

My first impression is a rather mixed bag. Coming from Sony cameras (A1, HC32 ... at work we shoot with XL1s), I was rather disappointed with the ergonomics and the perceived flimsiness of the body.

The beef with ergonomics: The strap is a pain in the neck and when I have an external mic mounted the hotshoe flap is in the way, so I have hard times hold the camera with my butcher fingers. The joystick is situated where the roll button is supposed to be. And don't get me started about the viewfinder.

But what Canon did better than Sony: No more smeared touch screens (I do agricultural documentations ... you get your hands dirty there), and a top-loader!!!

However, the picture quality is terrific! I always preferred Canon's color rendering over Sony, and the HV does really shine. The color quality is close to the XL ... lovely.

Editing in FCE and FCS is a piece of cake. As my standard output is DVD, I don't have problems with 24p pulldown. Only my Sony deck doesn't like Canon's 24p ... On the other hand, my "clients" like video shot in 60i

I mostly use the camera for family stuff and, in general, I'm very happy with it, but if Canon offered an HV engine and feature set in a Sony A1 body (but top-loader!), I'd go for it right away.

[Rumpelgeist]

The Sony deck should not care about "Canon's 24p" because it is in fact 60i, which the Sony deck should support.

[cgbier]

That's what I thought. However, the footage looks like dodo on the timeline.

[kissygirl]

his is a great camcorder. I'm filming in 30p mode to upload video online, and I'm extrememly happy with the results. I'm using Final Cut Express 4 with no setup or capture problems - great compatibility with my Mac Pro.