I'm almost def. gonna buy one of these very soon, any of you have one, opinions?

I've been looking through some of the footage on vimeo, and that combined with the ~670 price tag you can sometimes find makes me splooge.

http://www.vimeo.com/431500

http://www.vimeo.com/365747

http://www.vimeo.com/435808
^poor mouse :[

the last one's not great, but it was pretty cool nonetheless.

those aren't the best i found, those are what i found quickly after deciding to make this thread

12/25/2007 3:43:27 AM

To answer honestly, I do not have a Canon HV20.

But from the position a non-camera owner... I would recommend you buy it.

Hey statefan24! great night (or day? I don't remember (alcolhol)) on iSketch!

[Edited on December 25, 2007 at 7:46 AM. Reason : de-capitalize the n in non]

12/25/2007 7:43:45 AM

Aight, I'm about to buy an entry level HD video camera, and i'm a total noob with this stuff.

Based on my google research, i've basically narrowed it down to the Canon HV20 or the Canon HG10. As far as I can tell the main differences are price and that the HV20 uses MiniDV (uncompressed) vesus the HG10's HDD (compressed AVCD)

I'll be using it mostly for filming family stuff, and doing editing on an intel macbook with imovie.

- given that the HG10 has a hard drive, and given that hard drives in portable devices tend to have a high failure rate, how much does an HDD replacement on a HDD video camera typically run? couldn't really find anything about this via googling.

- How big of a difference in quality is the compressed vs. non-compressed format going to really be? (my untrained eye doesn't see a noticeable difference in quality between 720p, 1080i, and 1080p -- they all look great to me)

- Is there a better camera for my needs (hopefully at a better price)?

- What's the best reputable site to buy from?

3/9/2008 10:07:03 AM

Quote :

"^poor mouse :[ the last one's not great, but it was pretty cool nonetheless."

haha that's so sad, the mouse was so cute

$675 doesn't seem all that bad, seeing as the last time I looked at buying a video camera was back in 2000, where HD wasn't out and the mid-range digital video was > $1500.

I'll give my buddy a call and see what he recommends. he's really into video and video editing and has a few HD video cameras.

3/9/2008 10:42:06 AM

You guys seen this?

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08010601casiof1.asp

Quote :

"CES 2008: Casio today announced its EXILIM EX-F1 - a six megapixel camera with 12x zoom and some very impressive burst shooting capabilities. Capturing up to 60 frames per second at full resolution and a staggering 1200 fps if you drop the image size to 336 x 96, this innovative camera will also shoot 1920 x 1080 Full HD movies at 60fps. Helping to ensure the moment isn't missed is a buffer system which continually updates then saves the contents to card when the shutter is released. Illumination is taken care of by a conventional strobe which works at up to 7 fps and a cellphone-style LED for 10-60 fps. The EX-F1 will be available from March 2008 priced at $999.99."

3/9/2008 1:43:26 PM

interesting, but it's not really a video camera. a flash card is going to fill up very quickly trying to shoot HD video....

3/9/2008 2:22:28 PM

i swear i replied to this this morning, maybe its in the wrong thread lol

i found the hv20 for $595 shipped (a very well reviewed site) doing some googling

3/9/2008 7:38:33 PM

That's great and all, but it doesn't answer any of my questions.

3/9/2008 8:13:23 PM

i can definitely tell the difference between 720 and 1080, especially with my ps3

if money isnt a concern just futureproof yourself and go with the BEST product (highest resolution)...as for hard drive or tape, id do HDD just because tapes get worn if you reuse them and my old dv camera ruined tapes after maybe 3 or 4 uses

3/9/2008 8:28:33 PM

I'm a complete hack but when I do shoot I do it with a Canon XH A1. Amazing camera, also extremely expensive. From lots of reading and talking to people, a lot of guys use the HV20's as secondary cameras and also as tape decks for capture, as they're much cheaper than your full-fledged dv tape deck.

That's not to say that the HV20 is a "secondary" type camera for anyone though. As the XH A1 isn't mine personally, I've been thinking about getting an HV20 for the past year. Like statefan24 linked at the top, there's lots of quality footage on vimeo and elsewhere of the HV20 that looks amazing.

Tough call between the HG10 and HV20. I can't find it, but I read an article a while back comparing AVCD and HDV and its conclusion was to go with HDV always, probably based on the compression. My money, I go with the HV20 with the caveat that tapes by their nature require time to capture and what not. If that's too much of a pain (I don't find it to be), then I don't think you'll see a huge difference in the HG10.

Have fun! OK - back to work now.

3/10/2008 2:04:21 PM

awesome, that was very helpful.

3/10/2008 3:20:01 PM

ha ha, im about to hook myself up with a hv30 for $799 through work

don't hate the player...

3/10/2008 9:40:33 PM

If this means anything to you, the Washington bureau of the McClatchy Company owns two HV20s.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com

3/11/2008 10:28:08 AM

oh sweet, in that case....

i've settled on the HG10, probably gonna order it today.

3/11/2008 10:28:51 AM

hey man, I was just pointing out that it's good enough for a respected news company.

3/11/2008 10:31:43 AM

yeah, it's definitely a good camera, but ultimately i don't want to deal with tape. Most of what i'm using it for will be home videos of my daughter, so the easier to use, the better, especially with a wife that is only moderately tech-savvy.

3/11/2008 10:51:55 AM