Canon improves HV20- Now: “Vixia” & HV30!
It’s Canon’s new Vixia line.
This is the HV30. Look familliar?
It looks a whole lot like the HV20 we’ve already grown to love. But with a slightly higher price, manual exposure, and a black case.
How does it compare, feature by feature with the HV20?
Lets go through the rundown and find out.
Little has changed cosmetically, or overall, and that’s a good thing.
Here’s a comparison of the HV20 and the HV30 and Canon’s specifications for each camcorder (cleaned up to make it easy to compare)
1/2.7″ CMOS Sensor, RGB Primary Color Filter Approx. 2.96 Megapixels HD/DV (16:9) mode: Approx 2.07 Megapixels (1920 x 1080)DV (4:3) mode: Approx 2.76 Megapixels (1440 x 1080) Record Time (80-min. tape) Lens Max. F/Stop: f/1.8-3.0mm Focusing System Manual Exposure Programmed AE Supported Playback Modes Max Shutter Speed Auto Date/Time Minimum Focusing Distance White Balance Image Stabilization Viewfinder LCD Screen Recording Media Audio HDV: MPEG1 Audio Layer II (2ch) HDMI Terminal Microphone Terminal AV/Headphone Terminal Dimensions Weight (less battery pack) |
 1/2.7″ CMOS Sensor, RGB Primary Color Filter Approx. 2,960,000 HDV/DV (WIDE): approx. 2,070,000 — approx. 1,550,000 — SP: 80 min. — Zoom Ratio: 10x Optical Focal Length: f=6.1-61mm Zoom Speed: Variable/ - 3 Fixed Zoom Speeds Max. F/Stop: f/1.8-3.0mm Focusing System Manual Exposure Programmed AE Supported Playback Modes Auto Date/Time Minimum Focusing Distance White Balance Image Stabilization Viewfinder LCD Screen Recording Media Audio HDV: MPEG1 Audio Layer II (2ch) HDMI Terminal Microphone Terminal AV Headphone Terminal Dimensions Weight (less battery pack) |
So, As you can see, there is little difference between the two camcorders.
A slight chip difference enables more formats, not just 1080 30p playback, but also shooting DV and DV LP, both of which were not listed for the HV20. Lets hope that the HV30 also enables more downconverting options when playing back HD footage to SD systems- letterbox, squeeze or edge crop, like Sony’s HDV camcorders offer.
One sorely needed feature was not added- no Lanc control. So remotely administering camera features is still a job for the infrared remote, which simply pales in comparison to using a nice, variable speed Varizoom when the camera is on a tripod, Steadicam, crane, or whatever. It’s simply a shame that the camcorder underwent an upgrade, color change, yet the one feature keeping from use for numerous readers was not addressed.
The price has also jumped a few hundred dollars. Whether the slight improvements to the HV20 warrant the additional price will soon be tested.
Here’s looking forward to some pretty new HD images.
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