 It was a hard decision, but I'm happy. |
| Review Date: June 16, 2008 |
| Reviewer: lewko, USA |
Canon VIXIA HV30 MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
I'm very happy with my Canon HV30. I rate the picture quality, color quality, low-light ability, white balance all excellent. The zoom control is a little close for my fingers and I found myself holding the camera less firmly (ie with the tips of my fingers rather than my whole hand) which would be wearisome on a long shoot, but tripods are still the best way to shoot video for steady pictures. On the other hand the anti-vibration correction seems to help a lot.
The total package is good, not excellent and includes a battery with a nice contact protector that doesn't look like it will fall off (unlike the protector plate on the Elura and Optura that has to be taped on because it is so loose.) The plate keeps the battery from discharging on the keys in your pocket or bag. It also includes a charger which will also operate the camera without the battery, which is very handy. This is only good, because it won't charge the battery unless it is in the camera, so you can't charge while shooting with another battery.
The package also includes a remote control (see above) that frustrated me the first time I used it and seems to be of marginal utility. However, all of the minor problems with the package can be remedied with an add-on accessory. The camera is what does the work and it is excellent.
I've had this camcorder only one week. It was a busy week with kids graduation and parties and night club rock concerts on the video agenda but I learned a lot shopping for this camera and using it all week, so maybe my story will help you.
First, why miniDV rather than flash, hard disk or dvd? I already have two mini dv cameras, a Canon Optura and an Elura. These have given me good service and images that were the envy of my Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic-owning friends. The only brand I compare to Canon is Sony (for similar consumer equipment). I rejected the flash and DVD models because the recording time is too short. DVD, in particular, is a rip-off with just 15 minutes for a $10 disk.
This kind of short recording time is OK if what you want is to capture 1 or 2 minutes of magic moments and have them immediately available to put in a player. Personally I find the tape just as good for instant replay on the built-in video screen. It takes a couple minutes longer to rewind the tape.
The hard drive models have a recording time advantage that initially attracted me, but the transfer issue is what made me decide to stay with a minidv. Ultimately all video has to be transfered to another medium to be used and archived. I have been transfering my minidv tapes to computer hard drives and dvd for years.
Transfer is a tediuos, time-eating process that has caused me to spend more upgrading my computer and software than I spent on the cameras. Yes, I can make DVDs with my video; I can make YouTube videos; and I can put my own video stuff on my iPod and Zune. But it takes a lot of time to get the results I want.
Why tape? It's cheap and convenient. Video takes a lot of disk space to store the original and then to edit and render into other formats. I buy the cheap tapes but I only record them once. I can carry 2 or 3 which give me 2 or 3 hours recording time. The real restraint is the batteries. Once I have the image on tape I don't erase it. I can play it immediately if I want to, but the ultimate goal is to transfer it to hard disk for editing and archiving. The real godsend is the recent plethora of cheap 500 GB (now 750 and soon 1TB) external USB hard drives. The transfer time is a chore; so is the indexing.
Tape is patient. I can do it on my schedule. With a hard disk, it can get full at a time that is inconvenient to transfer but I need to do some more shooting. Then I would have to consider the dreaded DELETE of something I shot. With tape I can postphone transfering and editing for months without impairing my camera readiness. After I transfer, I still have the tape.
I considered the Sony HDR-HC9 and the older Canon HV20 vs. the Canon HV30. I was tempted by the 6MP in the Sony and also by the low prices on the HV20. I saw a deal on an HV20 for $520 but it was gone before I made up my mind to settle for it. Ultimately I was looking at $999 for the Sony or $771 for the Canon. The HV30 had 30p mode and the $228 savings provided a budget for extra batteries and other goodies.
So am I happy? Yes.
My wife used it at my kids' graduation. Perfect color and detail, oohs and ahs from everybody. My wife just uses automatic mode with the lcd screen hanging out. I took some mobile shots in my car, one-handed through the windshield. The anti-vibration mode works great, as does the autofocus. During this shoot there were times when the camera was looking almost directly into the sun. The meter responded quickly and closed down the aperture, but the resulting scene was a little dark (not too bad, actually). There is a back-light compensation button that could have helped but I didn't think about until later.
Then it was off to a night club. I took a recharged battery, not totally topped off because of numerous replays of some of the recent shooting. The lighting was typical dim night club ambiance with flashing disco lights on the dance floor and stage. My plan is to film the whole show.
I have plenty of tape but just the BP-2L13 that came with the camera, which the manual rates at 75 minutes using the viewfinder, or 70 minutes using the LCD. I also know that new Li-on batteries need to be recharged a few times before they reach their full capacity.
47 minutes of continuous filming is what I got, using the viewfinder. The image in the viewfinder was bright and easy to see. I wear bifocals but I was able to hold the camera several inches from my face and still see the edges of the viewfinder screen enough to frame the picture I wanted. My Optura and Elura both had decent viewfinders, but many was the time when I just pointed the camera and hoped my framing was ok because the image was so dim. The HV30 is really a huge step up.
I haven't had enough experience with this camera to fiddle with the focus and white balance while shooting so I left it on automatic. The colors of the spotlights were changing very quickly and I was panning the stage and the crowd, zooming in and out. After the battery died I took it off and held in my hand to warm it so after the show it gave me a few more seconds of shooting. Considering it wasn't topped off on the charger and it was only the first time it had been cycled I wasn't that disappointed. I just ordered a BP-L24H rated at 145 minutes recording time on the viewfinder from Amazon for $99 with some of the money I saved over buying the Sony.
The images were fantastic. I've shot in light like this with my Optura and ELura and there were always dark shadows with almost no detail. The Vixia showed great detail in the shadows. The automatic white balance reacted in a pleasant way to the red, orange and blue spotlights. Occasionally, on a wide shot of the band, while I was panning, the lead singer would be washed out from the bright spot on him while the rest of the band was in shadow but the overall effect made him look rather god-like which was cool. When I zoomed in the aperture closed down and I got excellent skin color and detail on his face. The anti-vibration did a great job because most of the images were pretty steady even though I was handholding and the crowd was bumping me often.
The sound was the only detail that keeps this from being perfect. The sound started out OK for the first few numbers, but as the night went on and the playing got louder, there was a lot of distortion because of the overloading. The band used big Marshall amps and I was standing 3 feet in front of an eight-foot high stack of speakers so it is to be expected. For a more acoustic or quieter show the automatic limiter would have been fine. Next time I won't stand in front of the speakers.
At home I hooked it up to the HDTV with the HDMA cable, tuned to the HDMA input with the TV remote and fired up the camera with the included remote control. The remote is a little skinny thing that does't provide any feedback when you select a function. My bedroom is less than 15 feet long so it couldn't have been more than ten feet to the camera. I had to get up and check the display in the camera to make sure the tape was rewound. This would be strictly an experimental item to be used at close range in a shooting situation.
On batteries: I have bought the "compatible" batteries and been burned many times. On my Canon sure-shot the compatible batteries would be charged (Charger light is green) but the battery would run the camera no more than 5 minutes. Same problem on my phones. For my Optura, I bought three "compatible" batteries and they worked fine. YMMV.
For editing, I've been using Ulead Visual Studio 11.5. The HV30 doesn't come with any software for movie editing or even transfering to disk. The included CD has software to transfer still pictures to a computer, but you don't need it. I verified that the HV30 is recognized automatically as a digital camera when you plug in the USB cable to the computer running XP.
I didn't install the Canon software, but I did install a miniSD chip (not included) and take some pictures. There is a different button to snap still pictures which I missed the first time I took a picture. Even if you have the switch on the still position, it starts the video tape recording if you press the camera start button. The three megapixels doesn't maake for a great picture but it may come in handy. This isn't one of the feaatures that attracted me to the camera but it may come in handy.
It copied my video from the camera and I edited it into a DVD. My Visual Studio 11.5 edits and burns AVCHD, but I haven't got a player that will read AVCHD anyway (other than my computer). I'm waiting for the Blue Ray burners to come out at reasonable cost, then I'll probably get some software that burns those. My computer is a quad-core Pentium with 4GB RAM.
If you read all the way to the end you are really a glutton for detail like me. I don't really care if you buy this camera or not. You should buy the camera that is right for you and your budget. If I felt I could afford it, I'd get a 3CCD profesional model with interchangeable lenses. I'd hire a grip to carry my equipment and set up and hold the boom mikes. I'd get some professional grade editing equipment too, like Avid. I'd get one of those business disk duplicators that print the labels and burn the disks while I sleep. OK, I'll stop. |
Great camcorder!
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| Review Date: April 2, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Michael Chung, Houston, TX |
I've had the HV30 for about 1 week now, and so far I think it's great.
I previously used the Sony TRV38, another very capable camcorder. The HV30 comes in a slick, black color and is slightly smaller than my Sony TRV38.
I have three young kids, so I take tons of video mostly indoors. The HV30 has very good low light capability. There's some grain in the darker videos, and the shutter speed also slows (you can see the stuttering movement in the video when taking in very low light). However, you can still see faces clearly. One cool thing I like about this camera is that it has a manual controlled LED light that can add about 3 feet of light when it's too dark. Sony has that 0 lux Night Shot that works in complete darkness, but the colors change to green and black and makes the eyes look scary. I prefer the LED light feature on the HV30 over Sony's Night Shot.
You can select from 5 different shooting modes:
1. DV (regular)
2. DV (wide screen)
3. HDV (high definition - wide screen by default)
4. HDV 24P (cinema mode)
5. HDV 30P (progressive mode)
Although I don't have a high definition TV yet, the colors in every mode looked great on my regular TV. The 24P and 30P modes give the video a "movie look and feel" (thus the name cinema mode), and this is cool just to have. I look forward to shooting something all in 24P or 30P and showing the DVD to family/friends. I'm sure they'll be amazed that my home videos don't "look" like home videos.....and this is all due to the camcorder modes.
You can take photos using the HV30 (saves onto mini SD card). You can use the camcorder as a stand-alone digital camera (3 megapixels), and there's even a flash on the camcorder for the digital camera. You can also take still photos while you're recording video. I use this to take photos while recording only because it's a nice little extra thing to have. The pictures are not all that great but not bad either. It's definitely a bonus that both video and still pictures are built into this one camera. I would still recommend a dedicated digital camera to take better quality still photos.
I backup all my videos to DVD because it's easier to watch that way. I prefer the miniDV tapes because it stores "pure" video and information like the time and date. I just started doing a little video editing using Sony Vegas software....and that seems to be a nice software package. The final video on the resulting DVD looks great.
I thought I would stick with Sony products, but so far I am enjoying the Canon HV30 and have no regrets.
I will probably be adding more to this review as I use the camera more.
Update April 7, 2008
Still liking the camcorder because of the 24P and 30P modes. You can really see that difference in the images compared to regular mode. Your video editing software must support HDV (high definition video) in order for you to edit any high definition stuff. Sony Vegas Movie Studio doesn't have it, but the Vegas Movie Studio Platinum edition DOES have it. Make sure to buy the right software if you're going to do editing.
I noticed that the sound is a little soft. Maybe there's a setting for this, but another possible reason is that the Canon's HV30's microphones are on the top of the camcorder facing up compared the my Sony TRV38's microphones on the front facing forward. This does not bother me too much.
There's an automatic lens cap which makes protecting the lens very convenient. No more fussing with a lens cap or having it dangle in your videos.
The package does not include a neck strap...you would think Canon would throw in a strap for a $900 camcorder. I bought a regular Canon strap at a local shop for $18. I think this is worth to have to keep the camcorder secure.
The battery is a cheap one and keeps a charge for about an hour or less. Since a miniDV tape is 1 hour, it would be prudent to get a better battery just to be safe. Canon makes an extended battery for about $60. |
Awesome HD camcorder
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| Review Date: May 29, 2008 |
| Reviewer: AlanV, Austin |
I bought this camcorder for a recent trip to Europe, and the results are spectacular. I'm very pleased with the quality of the video and the vibrancy of the colors (almost *too* saturated). The image stabilization is good, and the zoom is great. I haven't really played with any of the other features, but I recorded 8 hours of video from my trip, and all of it looks wonderfully sharp on my Plasma TV.
Battery life was better than I expected (unlike some of the other reviewers, I was able to fill a one-hour tape on a single battery charge), but I do recommend buying a second battery. If you do so, also invest in a battery charger, as the kit only allows you to charge a battery when it is attached to the camera (it would've been nice to have one battery charging while I was using the other).
My minor complaints are as follows:
- As other reviewers have noted, the 'record' button is not intuitively placed, nor is it easy to tell when you're recording, especially in bright sunlight when one is wearing sunglasses and the screen is washed out. As a result I've got about 15 minutes of video of my pants leg instead of the desired content.
- The 'wide angle' simply wasn't wide enough to capture some of the views I wanted. I wish I had spent more time using the camera prior to the trip, as I likely would have invested in the available wide-angle lens extender.
- Low-light performance is quite grainy -- but understandable given the circumstances. The included light doesn't help all that much.
- The manual focus dial is basically useless.
- The internal microphone picks up everything - including camera hum, wind noise, etc. In especially windy conditions, this resulted in very poor audio quality.
I bought 2 of the expensive "HD" tapes, but also used 6 standard mini-DV tapes. I see no quality difference between the two. I don't know if a difference would show up with multiple recordings on the same tape, but for now, I'm more than satisfied with how standard tapes work.
Bottom line: This is an excellent consumer HD camcorder for those who want to watch high-quality home movies on their high-definition TV. |
lots of research before purchase... now well pleased
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| Review Date: September 11, 2008 |
| Reviewer: coachboz, |
Wrestled with this decision for a long time. Reviews were so helpful, I decided to post mine. I will try to address the main things that concerned me from other reviews before I purchased.
Battery Life: I bought the extended battery, but probably wouldn't do that again if I had a do-over. Battery life is fine for my needs (couple hours of clock time, 60-90 min recording time). Try it yourself before you buy the extended one if you're looking to save $.
Start/Stop Record Button Location: The location of the start/stop record button, but to me it feels very natural in it's location. The "joystick" is a bit weak feeling, but not to the point where it annoys me.
Sound/Mic: Just not a problem at all for me. I'm a consumer-level person who makes family videos in Final Cut Express, and the sound quality is no better/worse than the last three camcorders I've owned. It was nice to know, however, that I can attach a directional mic if it ever becomes a problem.
Rattle Noise: I am VERY glad I read the reviews on this or it would have freaked me out. The thing does rattle when you move it around and boy does it sound like something is broken. It is not. Others have explained what it is, but suffice it to say, it saved me some panic time knowing it was there in advance.
Only complaint I have (and boy is this a small nitpick) is that the cover to the component jacks doesn't easily go back into place nice and tight. I feel like one day this is going to break or lose its tight fit, but hopefully not.
So far, so good. Quality is great. Final Cut Express recognized it right away. Imports fine in both SD and HD recordings. One thing you may want to be aware of is that when you import into FCE, your sequence settings will show 1440x1080, not 1920x1080 as you may have thought. There are TONS of info on this on the forums, but again, it is normal. MiniDV tape requires 1440x1080 anamorphic to fit on the medium. I didn't know that when I bought, but now am very glad it is like that because FCE handles 1440x1080 without any issues, which isn't true of 1920x1080. So it turned out to be a blessing. Very happy so far. All the features I need, and nice that it came with the component cables when I want to plug right into an HDTV for playback before editing. Used the light to film the kids goig to sleep on our vacation in a dark room and was just enough light for a cool "bedtime" effect. Good stuff. Hope this helps. Good luck. |
Best Video Quality I've Ever Seen in a <$2000 Camcorder
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| Review Date: November 7, 2008 |
| Reviewer: D. Nutt, Snoqualmie, WA USA |
I've been buying camcorders since they've existed and every time I've brought a new camcorder home I've had the same experience, that is, the picture I saw on my TV never matched my expectations, it never even came close. I always hoped to see the quality of video I saw on the TV and news shows I watched and was always disappointed when the camcorder video quality always fell well short of that expectation. Until now! The Canon HV30's 1080i HD video quality on my 46" LCD screen is stunning, better than I could have ever hoped. The first time I saw some video I took of beautiful Snoqualmie Falls I kept saying "wow" over and over. The video quality was far above any non-HD broadcast video and, to my eye, on par (or close to) with the video I see on many HD broadcast channels. OK, this camera is obviously not of the same caliber of those used for network HD televison, but dang, it comes as close as any "prosumer" camcorder I've ever seem.
I also must say the the image stabilization is the best I've ever seen as well. Rock solid video even at long distance, 10x zoom. Pans can be made easily to look Steadicam solid. Very impressive.
I can't really think of anything negative to say about the HV30. I guess if I had to pick something it would be battery life of under an hour. The can be addressed with an optional long life battery. But that is really being nitpicky, this camera is fantastic.
You can read all about the bells and whistles elsewhere, but if VIDEO QUALITY is THE most important thing to you then this camcorder should be your only choice.
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