Camcorder of the year '2007' the Canon HV-20 has a new friend now, an old bird in new clothes. The new Canon HV30, or i would prefer to appropriately call the HV-20i (improved).

 

The plastic HV20 has gone for a makeover and now its back with better look, better feel but almost identical HV20 only with a few minor changes, a tweak to its zoom control of which i must shout out and say....super! super! super! The HV30 is a better looking camera now with a color change but it's very much still Paris Hilton in Black Leather now.

 

I think that full Canon HD Cmos Sensor with it's on chip camera noise reduction circuitry has work well for Canon and now with the launch of the HV-30 I believe will be another good year for Canon with the HV-30. Generally for those who have not yet own a HV20 or perhaps not even bought their HD camcorder yet. This is a great time to acquire your first High Definition camcorder now!

 

The full HD 1920x1080 pixel sensor I am sure has also given Canon an edge over all the rest of it's competitors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The HV30 has the same identical 1/2.7 inch cmos sensor with a gross pixel count of 2,960,000. The ability to shoot in 25p for Pal land owners and 24p for NTSC lubbers. Manual controls on the HV30 remain the same with Canon's TV mode as well as the AV mode which in actual fact stands for Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority. There is also cine mode as well scene modes that you can choose from.

Scene modes include (portrait, sports, night, snow,beach,sunset,spotlight as well as fireworks) There is also the program AE mode that allows the user still some manual control like exposure via the toggle button.

 

 

 

Nothing has change in this area in the HV30. Well, at least for the recording modes.

 

HDV

HDV25

DV (Wide)

DV (Normal)

 

For those who purchase their camcorders in NTSC, you will get an additional HDV 30 frame Progressive Mode including ther 24 frame Progressive mode. I have taken the liberty to put a link here for those to assess this new mode especially if you intend to upload your videos to YouTube etc..

 

This feature of course is the first offered in the consumer camcorder market and by Canon. Well for those naturally who understand their NLE better will not find this feature naturally to die for.

 

Well is the screen any better? To be honest is has improved but then it hasn't like improve drastically as I would have liked. A slightly bigger screen perhaps would have been helpful for HD focusing or even for that matter a revamp in the design so that the LCD screen does not get in they way of the focus wheel when you perform mid level shots would have been a big plus point in my opinion. You will find the exact same problem even in the new Sony HC9 or for that matter the HC7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camcorder Type: Mini DV

LCD Monitor : 2.7 inch Widescreen Multi Angle 211,000 pixels

Image Sensor: 1/2.0 inch CMOS sensor RGB Primary Color Filter

Lens: 10 X Optical Zoom 11 Elements in 9 groups using 2 Aspherical lenses and featuring a gradation ND filter.

Filter Diameter: 43mm

Image Stabilizer: Optical

AF System: Auto Focus Normal & Instant AF (High Speed)

Recording Standard: Mpeg 2 (m2t)

Minimum Illumination: 3 lux in Auto Mode & 0.2 lux in Night Mode

 

 

 

I would say that the biggest and most significant improvement in the HV30 over the HV20 is the Zoom. The HV30 zoom control is bigger now and sensitivity and the ability to control zoom to a minute one point crawl is not possible but very easily achieved without much effort. This alone is already a reason to buy the HV30 in my opinion.

 

The Zoom capability remains the same with a 10X optical and a digital capabilty of 40/200x of which I fully recommend turned off at all times.

 

The HV30 still has a fixed EVF of which would have been great if they made it extendable including titltable.

They could have definitely done better in the eye cup area as well.......

The manual focus wheel is still loose as ever and would have been better if they gave it a little more friction for feel.

Tape housing is still flimsy and cheap.

A diopter that is stuck underneath the viewfinder small and hard to get at unless you move your eye away...so whats the point then?

Small LCD..perhaps a SR1 size LCD would have been great.... 

Overated Improvement 

 

The HV30 now has an advance accessory shoe cover that when flipped open at least stays on the camcorder rather than pop away like a loose 'CANON'

 

I mean how you could you even call this an improvement as i find it more of a hindrance now with this stupid cover stuck to the camcorder when you want to attached accessories to the built in hot shoe.

 

Like the HV20 the on board microphone still captures motor noise on tape whilst recording. This is unlike the HG10 which records on a 40GB hardisk where motor noise does not pose a problem. 

 

I guess it's a matter of choosing what is more important to you? As far as I am concerned, I rather deal with the noise by using an external microphone mounted on a shock mount then deal with the AVCHD codec. LOL! Afterall, we all know that on board microphone performs poorly anyway in capturing audio.

 

Indeed, i was hoping for some improvement in this area but I guess it was wishful thinking afterall the camcorder is really essentially a HV20 underneath that black stealthy body.

 

If you haven't bought a HDV camcorder yet.. You may want to consider the HV30. It's a great camcorder and though it's tape base and still recording in the m2t format, i would say it's still the best working solution anytime over the AVCHD CODEC now!

 

What is even better is that though it may not have significantly improved in terms of features over the HV20, one BIG BIG improvement is PRICE. LOL! The HV30 cost so much lesser compared to the HV20 when it was first launched. And I guess that seals the fate of me getting to sell my HV20 now with the entry of the new HV30. And oh! by the way not to mention those poor blokes who bought the HV10 when it was first launched, my sympathy is with you!

 

For those who buy their HV30 (PAL) versions you will also note that there will be no VIXIA printed on your camcorder.. not that it bothers me.

And for those who think they want to save even more money,  my advice is to buy a HV20 that would now probably go for a song which in my honest opinion is still the best HDV Camcorder right now Consumer range.. Below is a link to a HD footage shot with the HV20!