Forums / Cameras / Canon HV20

I agree we should've won. Bitches.

But I also agree these are amazing images for that price from such a small camera. Somebody get one! or steal one.

use an FTP client to log into

server: hv20.info
user: anonymous
pass: anonymous

Lots of footage there.

The footage from that little camera is sick!

I almost want one.

Come on lucky lotto! yeah right.

We should get one for the office.

Hey Dalas - loan me $900.

thecameraprofessionals.com/prodetails.asp?prodid=91945&gclid=CLyO2JqEtIwCFQQRYwodNjywSA
it's very likely that these guys are Brooklyn Crooks, but at 550 it might be worth checking out.
my two cents: HDV is no good. The quality is quite nice, but the compression makes your computer run super hard (it quite often crashes my rig, which has 16gb of memory and dualcore.)
also, I have had numerous issues with Canon video products, especially regarding video hardware. I've had two Canon's shit out on me, a GL and an XL-1. they make fantastic still cameras but I really have had no luck with the electronics of Canon video gear. so, unless you have a crazy fast quad or octo-core setup and a ton of memory you may want to just stick to a great 3ccd camera.....

Man even Canon can't figure out a better process for HDV?!

HDV all around is pretty crappy then. Can the same 'still' be said for Sony's flavor of HDV. Because from past readings, Sony kinda jump the gun on HDV (just to sound dope) and have a "cool-lookin" camera but poor format. MPEG2?? wassup with that? That's just as good as ripping a DVD to me. I may be wrong.

The long GOP (group of pictures) HDV solution for big pictures on a teeny tiny tape is rather dreadful no matter how you slice it. The core technology is the same no matter the maker (Sony, Cannon, Panasonic). There are some nuances with frame rate and interlaced v. faux progressive, but it is all essentially the same flavor. I am afraid we are stuck with this MPEG2 "solution" for the next few years. The public is just now beginning to adopt HDV, and I can't see the manufacturers rolling out some sort of P2 or XDCam solution in the near future. Still, as long as you get a decent piece of glass on the camera, keep rapid motion to a minimum (no soccer games or car races), find a camera with 3 ccd or cmos sensors, and try an not overexpose the footage too much, you can get a surprisingly decent image. Especially considering the price point.

I've been shooting HDV for the past couple months (I've had an FX1 for well over a year) and editing on my MBP with a RAID drive. I gotta say that my computer handles it like butter, and the picture quality is an IMMENSE improvement over SD, even if it's just going to be downconverted

I don't know what's wrong with your computer, judesays, but you should not be having a problem. Tell me you're not trying to work off your internal HD.

Regarding the topic at hand, I got an HV20 for a project that I'm working on, and I'm very, very pleased with the camera. The HDV looks great, and the camera is very well put together. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it.

I have the HV20. It's great. And I use Vegas Video with a computer with only 1 gig of ram. It runs fine.

I want an HV20. I also want a 35mm lens adapter. Bad.

I was Gonna get an HV20 for sure, but i read that the high def stuff can bog down the computer, and i only have 512 mb of ram on my mac.... is that going to be a problem? anyone know?

just got my HV20... all I can say is WOW.
The DOF is really amazing, focus works just well... popping colours, good manual functions and YUUUMMY awesome sharpness.

Uploaded some Testfootage for your eyes pleasure

Im going to shoot some more stuff later today. Ian already asked for some footage handling speed and colour, so if you want to see something specific: tell me.

I love my HV-20. I'm editing with a G5 dual 2.3 and FCP S2 and yes, it does get bogged down occasionally but nothing a little more RAM wouldn't fix. I really can't say enough about this amazing little guy. I was going to buy a Canon A1 but after playing with this I decided to wait for a bit, put some of that money towards other production gear and just use the HV-20. I would say that in addition to its gorgeous image quality, its main advantage is its size- after all, you can't shoot at all if you don't have your camera with you... and who wants to haul around a giant 3ccd camera with them all day long? I've had mine for a little over 2 months now and my only complaint is the ill-fitting battery and the crappy built-in audio. But again, nothing an external mic and a piece of velcro won't fix!

I uploaded a little musicclip with requested footage and more tests... I'll buy a UV-filter later, the brightness is really popping sometimes

I just ordered mine (& ordered some parts to create a static DOF-adapter, too) I'm curious how it's gonna turn out!

I am worried about the audio quality, though ... Ah well, we'll figure it out! :)

I've been comparing the sony hdr-sr5 and the hv20....the hard drive is just so appealing. My PC runs 2 gigs of memory. I film live music for various labels, bands, etc. I'm upgrading from my Pansonic PV-GS150, which had a so-so pic, but the internal zoom mic is amazing. Better than some shoe-mounted mics.

So, Sony HDR-SR5 or Canon HV20....suggestions greatly appreciated!

Amazon seems to have the HV20 for about $835, but I agree, it's probably one of the better cameras for the price. I still have yet to buy a new one (old one is about 4 years old), and I'm wondering if it would be worth it.

24p mode sounds awesome. i don't think i'd want to try to pull a key from anything other than progressive footage or super compressed codecs like the AVCHD format line or any other Sony products. Compatibility becomes an issue, but I predict that tape storage still has more data storage density than the other cameras capable.

I'm camera shopping too and all things point to the HV20.

does anyone have footage of this in the vimeo HD format?

The 24p mode is great for low light. I had a Sony HC7, and I returned it because anything I shot inside was really grainy (I'm no pro, so don't get into it about lighting my shots and stuff, it's just for filming my son crawling around). The HV20 is grainy indoors at 60i, but when you switch to 24p, the footage is much cleaner. It's great to have this option.

I have been comparing the HV20 to other HD camcorders recently, and decided on the Panasonic HDC-SD1 (newer SD5 version available). Technically the quality is not quite as sharp as the HV20 since it uses the new AVCHD recorded on an SD card instead of HDV to miniDV tape. However I borrowed a friend's Hv20 and compared the footage to the SD-1 in the environment I will be shooting in (kids, family, etc...) and I am hard pressed to tell the difference. I like not having to use tapes. On a Mac, you need to use iMovie 08 to import it, but my MacBook handles it with no problems.

Does anyone have any opinions about the new Sanyo hd1000?

this is the canon HV20 thread. go start your own :)

I just got an HV20, and I have to say... it's pretty sweet. Before this I had a GL1, and this little palmcorder blows it out of the water. The image quality is crazy.

24p maximizes your light intake, so I keep it on at all times. Same with Cine mode, which alters the gamma, giving you much more shadow detail. Then I use the Custom image mode, and set it to Detail -1, Color -1, Contrast -1, Brightness +1. That gives you a nice low contrast image, with plenty of room for color correction.

Another well-known trick is to put a miniSD card in the slot, after which you can see aperture and shutterspeed info by half-pressing the "photo" button. That can help you get the aperture, shutter and gain settings that you want. It's a bit of a pain, but in all honesty, it doesn't take any longer than setting that stuff manually on my GL1...

HDV is a compromise, but if you're careful with your shooting, it can work out to be a very nice compromise. I'm shooting some greenscreen tests with the HV20 -- I'll post them here soon. So far, things are looking very good...

Okay. I've seen the 16:9 stuff here on the HD20 channel and other vids too, but I understand that this also records in 4:3 aspect ratio. Is the 4:3 high def too? And what, if any, problems exist in editing wide screen?

The quality outta this thing is superb! I sure hope the 4:3 output is just as nice. The camera also features mic in and headphone out, hot shoe and everything you'd want. I think I've decided on this camera, but would like to know more about the 4:3 aspect output quality.

Oh! I need to know one other thing. Who's gonna buy me one for Christmas! 8-)

I really like my HV20, but if you want decent sound, I'd buy a shot gun mic and something that puts it up off the mount given. Otherwise the internal tape noise can really cause a problem for your audio even with the shotgun.

I also have had some regular occurrences of artifacts with a line rippling quickly up the image. Has anyone else had that problem? It kind of annoys me and ruins some shots. I'll try to start posting my HD videos of me and two friends hiking the John Muir Trail this June. You'll see what I mean if you watch really closely. Just new to vimeo, but loving the community and the features here.

"The HV20 only does HDV in 16:9. In 4:3 ratio it will only record in DV format, not HDV... sorry"

Erm, that's okay. I'll have the option to move to HDV in the future but I wanna stick with 4:3 right now. So if anybody has complaints about the quality of the 'normal' aspect ratio with this camera, let me know. Also, I'd like to see what it can do in this mode. Does it record as MPG or.... whut? Lets see some samples, eh? I've found only one.

I have an HV20. It works great!

HV20...best camera for the price (700$ now!) I have one and a 35mm adapter arriving in the mail soon. HV20 + Vimeo = perfection

enough said:

rebelsguide.com/dl/hv20-hh.jpg

$700! Wow.

Does this mean there is a new updated model coming out soon? Hasn't it been out for a year now?

no clue yet, but it'd definitely a buyers market. I'm still on the fence at the moment as to which camera I do want to pick up (my profile remains empty without a camera), but i'm still not sold on transcoding AVCHD on a mac. right now, the HV 20 is at the top of my list just for quality alone - but capturing from MiniDV has quirks of its own.

RE: "The HV20 only does HDV in 16:9. In 4:3 ratio it will only record in DV format, not HDV... sorry"

ALL High-Definition video will have an aspect ration of 16:9... Unless you crop the image that is. If you want 4:3, you will have to stick to SD regardless of what equipment you choose.

So far all the HV20 videos on vimeo look a bit blurred (looking at slow or almost still sequences which should be easy to compress even at 4 Mbps), does anybody have uncompressed videos in 1080 in a format that can be downloaded? it looks like it could be the 1080 to 720p conversion or perhaps the H.264 4Mbps compression but other vimeo HD videos from other cameras look like they can have higher resolution when shown as 720p.

I just bought my first HDD camcorder (Sony DCR-SR42) two days ago and I'm getting ready to take it back for the Canon HV20. I've had my computer (HP 754v) for more than four years now, so I know that I need to upgrade in order to fully enjoy a new camcorder. I'm considering upgrading my desktop PC to one with these specs: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5600+, 400GB hard drive, 3GB of DDR2 memory. Would that be sufficient for video editing and DVD burning?

Anyone did try the optical stabilization of this camera? what did you think about?

the price keeps dropping. is there an HV30 on the horizon?

I just bought the HV20 for $683.88 at Electronics Expo, it arrives on the 19th. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Waiting for mine!

$689 on Amazon. No Tax and Free Next day shipping!
Also, B&H has em for $750 with a free how to DVD & a $75 gift card...

I'm not sure how many US Dollars it is, but I bought my HV20 last April for £850 (GBP), and currently the cheapest UK price is at £549, I think that's still over a thousand dollars... we Brits get ripped off all the time.

Have a look at some test footage from the $500 Sanyo Xacti HD1000 in 1280x720 60fps streight from the SD card! vimeo.com/456842

I just returned a SD-5 with DVD burner bundle I got for Christmas and got a the HV-20...... Too many AVCHD problems on the MAC. Ill stick to HDV until they work the bugs out. I must admit the Canon is a little sharper as has more manual controls. Plus I can play all my old Sony HDV footage on it. I paid $750 at Circuit City.

FYI just saw the HV20 at bhphotovideo.com for $650, whats crazy is that when this post started they were like 1k bucks.

I just bought a hv-20, so my question is: Do I need an external mic, and if so, which?
I am a pro photographer from Sweden, just started with video.
picturesbybonnevier.com

I would recommend an external mic for ANY camcorder, not just the HV20. I have the Rode Videomic and it works great:

sweetwater.com/store/detail/VideoMic/

I bought mine from Sweetwater Sound which I HIGHLY recommend to everyone but since you are in Sweden that probably isn't an option for you ;-)

I'd also suggest google'ing the $40 PVC DIY shoulder steadicam from instructables as well. The camera is so incredibly light that image stabilization becomes a big issue.

I've also found that if you're using a Mac, you can download the Firewire SDK for free and use DVHScap and a firewire cable to record m2t captures directly to your harddrive without needing tape.

Thanks for the answers, I just bought Rode videomic, and the difference is awesome!
I will absolutely think about the steadycam issue, though I use tripod most of the time.
Firewire SDK seem very interesting.

I'm about to get an HV20 and am wondering what accessories I'll need to get up to speed (besides a mic and tripod).

Specifically, what is a 35mm adapter?

And where can I get other nice lenses?

Thanks!

Thanks. I'm shooting a series of artist documentaries, like this one: vimeo.com/436174

So... for example, I'd like to get tight shots on their artwork. A macro lens might do the trick.

Any recommendations on where I can buy good lenses for the HV20 online?

hv20 rocks, here in europe in pal version, wow, whata good nice resu great films it makes and at low price.

hm, i wanna buy some lenses on ebay if i find any one cool. thankx

To fully understand the beauty this camera can produce you have GOT to play it back on a 1080P through a HDMI. I took my camera to a local electronics store and asked if I could hook it up to one of there new TV's EVERYBODY in the store was floored! The manger called over all his sales reps over to see it UFB!

Darrell

i got mine for 636 on ebay new! yay! works wonderfully :-)
your world in HD is so much better!

my advice if your having troulbe editing the HDV footage. convert it to something like AVI first usings ciniforms tools really does seem to help.

while other HD formats may offer better quality. for the price you cant really beat the HDV quality of the canon hv20 plus p2 cards are rediciously expensive and can only hold like 20 minutes of video each.

I found this site by accident and had no intention to buy a camcorder... I have a Sony expensive camcorder but I use my canon still camera to make movies. (sd-800si) but after seeing the footage of this hv20, am getting one!
How can one resist.

I want to thank all of you who are very helpful and make intelligent comments here . Some of the less technical people like myself this is very helpful.

Anyone has a suggestion for a good price and where can I buy one?

Yeah, if you see a site trying to sell one for less than 600 dollars, it's a "bait and switch". You'll have nothing but trouble. Don't trust any of the guys that are on resellerratings.com, I got caught up in a nightmare with 2 different companies from there.

Ended up buying mine a couple of weeks ago from ebay, brandnew with a crapy tripod and pag, for 649. That was the best deal I could find.

I've always wanted to make movies, and now that I have this camera and sony vegas pro 8.... all I need is the talent to put in front of it =)

Has anyone had problems with the HV20 having digital ripples run through the footage? That was a big problem for me with my John Muir Trail footage. It kept popping up in the editing process and I had to edit around the worst ruined footage.

I keep thinking I see it in other people's work too, but no one else seems to notice or say anything. Am I crazy, because my HV20 was stolen in Africa and I don't think I'm going to buy a new one for this reason alone. Maybe I had a faulty one, but I'm worried its an artifact from the rolling shutter, which even scares me off of the spendy new Sony XDCAM EX1 and the Red Camera (can't afford that though) Am I offbase with my worries or are they valid?

This is the best example of what I was seeing in my footage. Ignore the person's DOF adaptor and the fact that it's not 16 by 9.

vimeo.com/765723
Watch from 13-36 seconds and you will see a ton of what i'm talking about.

Do you see the ripples and the flickers in the content. I just downloaded his original file, unfortunately my computer was too slow to really play it, so I can't be sure it's not the encoding etc. but this is the kind of thing that was in my original content that I was editing in FCP. These ripples and flickers in the moving image is the problem I had. The whole purpose of video cameras is to record moving objects, something it seems this camera or at the very least my camera and this guy's camera has problems with. I'm trying to get to the bottom of this problem before buying any new camera. Any thoughts, help, or advice is appreciated. I'm not trying to rain on the HV20 parade but I was disappointed in this particular issue.

I think your ripples shouldn't scare you off a EX-1 or the red(especially). The HV20 you have to remember is a consumer camera and is produced at a way higher rate than any pro cam. I have heard of intense blurring when there is a lot of camera movement with the rolling shutter.
philipbloom.co.uk has some examples in a short of his under "trench" or something else recent. I still would buy a hv20 if I were you or a Sony Z1-U, HD is the way to go and I think sony and JVC are bringing us up on how it should be done under budget. Canon is great for lenses but almost crap on the tape heads and interfaces they produce.

My recent video was shot in HD with an HV20 at night for those wondering about it's low light capabilities.

vimeo.com/1457177