Canon HV20
June 4th, 2007 | by David Elrich
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Average user rating from 8 users |
Perfect HD Quality - Easy to Use, great for iMovie Fans
by Jim Rucker on Dec 13th, 2007 at 11:00 AM:
Easily the best HD out there for the money. It was down to $698 through Amazon with free shipping when I took the plunge. The best part really was it's compatibility with iMovie HD 6 editing software. Perfect. 24P is excellent and as good as they say. Many complained about the zoom button, but that was one of my favorite features. Not sure what they were talking about. LCD is great, however EVF needs some work. Hard to adjust diopter, and does not pull out. Overall, go for it!!
A surprising performer
by Bob Dix on Dec 4th, 2007 at 2:05 PM:
1080i performance is outstanding, with the 1081p ok but, some motion judder on panning.
Many reviews said sound was substandard; however there is no motor noise and the resulting sound is very good. A pity it was not made a little bigger to allow for larger fingers. However, all manual controls are there to completely control its output.
The still images taken while videoing were simply amazing and give a great slide show on a High Definition LCD or Plasma.
Pound for pound, stunning
by Sam on Nov 27th, 2007 at 9:47 AM:
The top rating given tells you what I think of this cam, so instead of telling you how great it is (and it is)...some drawbacks: form (nice in the hand, but the zoom toggle is a disaster), feel (cheap), usable manual controls (without having to use Barry Greens workaround). And yet even with these drawbacks it pumps out a beautiful picture and perfect for low budget documentary use where a non-obtrusive presence is a must.
Near-to-pro
by Brian Boyko on Sep 11th, 2007 at 9:08 PM:
Chose this camera for my documentary because it was not only the best for the price but also because it's small enough to take internationally without worrying about having to check it. (Don't want your camera stolen when out on a shoot!)
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Unreliable
by Al Brenner on Mar 18th, 2008 at 11:29 AM:
My previous Panasonic camera worked flawlessly for four years before it was stolen. It even continued to work after I dropped it from a Ferris wheel in India.
Obviously, the fact that the HV20 is unreliable should be enough to dissuade anyone from buying one of this cameras but I will point out some other things.
First, admittedly the picture quality is wonderful, the best of any camera I have used, and I have been using video cameras for over 25 years.
On the other hand the controls are terrible, the worst on any camera I have ever used.
To begin with, Canon has decided to eliminate the projecting viewfinder. Because of this I find that every time I start the shot, my finger bumps into my nose and I get a jump at the beginning and end of every shot. (I am forced to view with my left eye.)
The zoom wheel is small and located in a spot where I always had to search around to find it again, often spoiling the shot. How much better to have had a small bar near the shooting button which could be raised and lowered by the thumb. Instead they choose to place the menu button there, a button that is hardly ever moved.
Thirdly, the on-off button is quite difficult to manipulate and I suspect it is the cause of my camera's problem. It seems to be very badly designed and difficult to use, particularly for a westerner with large fingers.
I suspect that the camera makers never really tested the camera with actual users.
I recommend that you avoid buying this camera, at least till Canon makes some serious changes to bring the mechanical quality of this camera up the picture quality.