Canon HV20 first impressions.

[pwrlogic]

Hey Y’all.
I told you i was getting a canon hv20 to tide me over until i got my xh a1.
well i got the hv20 and here is a short rundown so far.

canon hv20 first impressions

this thing is little.
is this thing made for a 12 year old girl?
for me it was impossible to work any of the controls on the camera with one hand without shaking the shot like crazy.
the zoom controls would be better off in the hands of a three year old.
when i look at it, it does not say professional camera
my canon L2 hi8 looks like a professional camera
the lense on the hv20 is like 60 percent the circumference of the canon L2
i was going to be using the l2 to tape spoken word poet kamal supremes new poem called "the response" at the international african arts festival but i decided to try the hv20.
i’m hoping this thing lives up to it’s hype, if not i’m going to be pissed.
i already don’t like the fact that it does not have dual rca stereo connectors,
the headphone jack acts as a av out. i fooled around with it on the avenue and i must say i was not impressed. i had it in cinema mode and portrait mode. all in HDV not sd.
it was cloudy and overcast maybe there was not enough light.
that does not bother my L2.
but yet the stuff i see from other people on the web looks great.
i will take my trusty L2 and hv20 to the event and use both cameras and see what happens.
i got it at circuit city for $969.00 plus tax.
Take everything i say with a grain of salt because i am not a hidef expert, but i think i know my stuff about audio and video in general.
i will post the kamal supreme video on youtube so you guys can be the judge. 😯

[pwrlogic]

Update.

I did the shoot yesterday and reviewed the b roll footage i took with the HV20.
I am not satisfied or happy with it.
Maybe this is all because i am watching this stuff on a television via the hv20’s av out.
It did not come with the correct firewire cable to hook it up to my mac so i had to order it from amazon.
that is why i have not posted the results yet.
to me the footage looks like home video fottage.
i just can’t figure out how all of these other people got such great video.
is it a question of av conversion or something.
In the pro audio world we drool over converters.
Apogee, Mytek and Nyquist, Make all of the difference in sound.
If it does not give me better results via a digital hook up i don’t know what i’m gonna do.
Circut city charges a $150 restocking fee.

[pwrlogic]

Update #2

I finally got the cable to use the camera with my mac.
I got it on amazon for $2.95.
Anyway i can now see the video on my 22" lcd monitor.
The video looks much much better via the firewire out as opposed to the analog AV out.
As in the audio world i bet converters makes all the difference;
Come to find out my mac is struggling with the HD fottage.
Good thing i had ordered another 512 of ram so i have a gig of ram now, but the computer is still struggling. (dual G4 867)
It plays the capture in slow motion 50% behind the camera source.
I really won’t know what this camera can do until i spend alot more time with it.
i’m much more satisfied and happy now that i have seen the digital output.
i do see that you need alot of light for it to reach it’s potential.
It may not look pro but i think it can get the job done.

[Endeavor]

Sounds like it’s time to trade that thing in for a new computer! 😀

[pwrlogic]

Yeah you’re right, looks like it is dual G5 time.
The only thing is, the core of what i do is Pro Audio.
To switch from this computer to a G5 and then upgrade Pro tools and all of my other audio software is a nightmare.
I’m going to go up to 2gig of ram and see if that helps.

[pwrlogic]

It’s the video i’m concerned with not the audio.
1. hv20 on auto and vivid color effect http://www.newblackmusic.net/KamalSupremeHV20.mov
2. Canon L2 on full Auto with color corretion in final cut express.
http://www.newblackmusic.net/KamalSupremeL2.mov.

[pwrlogic]

so ok , ok already my first impression were unfounded.
the hv20 does take great video.
just remember when looking at it that it is best to do it in digital and in 16:9 aspect ratio.
Thats what thru me off, i was checking it out from the AV out in 4:3 ratio.
I found a way to make it LOOK more pro too.
Stick it on a nice non extended tripod or some kind of pistol grip stabalizer and put on a rode video mic on the hot shoe.
Then clients won’t look at yoou so strange.
All in all im glad i got it. 😀

[cubicrubik]

Canon HV20 HDV camera is good and simple for consumer-level user
but not a pro camera of cause.
It is probably one of the best "consumer" HDV cameras on the market.
I managed to make good HD video with it using tripod if sunlight is good.
See for example video of Moscow Circus performance on a web site
http://www.homehdvideo.com/
I use it to make HD video for the web site.
It can shot 24p but I had hard time with using 24p streams.
So I shot interlaced 29.97 1080i, than deinterlaced and resized to 720p.

[Anonymous]

I personally believe that the Canon HV20/HV30 is one of the best consumer HD video cameras. One of the things that is great, is that it is able to shoot in 24p for that “film look” that most people want, but usually only in the more expensive cameras. If you are interested in looking at more footage shot from either of these, here are some great sites:

http://www.vimeo.com/431500 Rainy Day Cinematography

http://www.vimeo.com/717956Wildlife

http://www.hv20.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8 HV20 forum (FOOTAGE)

As you can see, the HV20/HV30 has great quality, and is a very big hit for the price (<$1000)!

I do not have one as of yet, but hat first video is possibly responsible for selling alot of these camcorders!

[Author]

Posts