Canon HV20 Tips

[Trey Alvey]

I'm planning to go storm chasing later this month and just bought the Canon HV20 a few weeks ago. I've been reading a lot about this camera but haven't been able to find much on filming storms. I was wondering if anybody has any specific tips. What settings (shutter/aperture/etc) do you use in lower light or night time settings (structure shots during lightning strikes or just lightning strikes)? Also, what accessories would you recommend I buy for it (lens?hand stabilizer?)?

 

[Mike Peregrine]

Trey - good question and welcome to the board with your first post.

I learned some lessons this week with the HV20. The first is not to have it in Cinemode when you're under a storm! Cinemode looks great under normal conditions, but not low-light. I've since switched it to Av mode and it's much better. Yes, you can open the aperture. When I got into a pinch this week and things really got dark, I tried a little switch on the right hand side that moved the settings to automatic. It immediately improved. But I still could have done better in Av mode.

The other suggestion is to learn where the focus button is and how to use it. You can use an infinity setting, or you can manually focus. Either of those is better in low-light than letting the camera try.

Hope this helps - - -

 

[Donald Giuliano]

One of the most important things I've learned about the HV20/30 is that *every* time the camera is turned off or recording paused, you need to set the infinity focus again after turning it back on. Otherwise you'll have problems with the focus. Personally I shoot in Tv mode and use the slowest shutter speed possible without overexposing the shot (the shutter speed will flash when the shot is overexposed). If anyone knows of a good reason to shoot in Av over Tv, though, I'm all ears.

The other thing I've learned is the 30p absolutely rules...no more jagged lightning or anything else for that matter! Also, it's awfully nice to that extra stop for those low-light conditions (when compared to 60i) without having to shoot in 24p, since 24p requires special post-processing before it can be imported into a video editing program due to the way the 24p video frames are embedded into the 60i HDV stream. Of course this only applies to the HV30, though, since the HV20 doesn't do 30p.

 

[afischer]

If I'm not mistaken, anytime you even zoom in/out with the HV20, it immediately throws it out of infinity focus. I found that to be very annoying. I'm in a similar boat as Trey as I bought the camcorder before the season started and still have tons to learn about it. I shot in 24p on May 29 and it seemed to turn out fairly well. I need to experiment more with manual focus for low light/low contrast situations.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

You are shooting in 30p if you are using the standard HDV setting. It's a 60i stream. This means that there are 60 interlaced frames per second. So if you want 30p, you simply de-interlace the video. It's like 29.967 fps or something close to that. This is true of both the HV-20 and HV-30.

Andy - once infinity is locked, it should stay locked when zooming in and out. It was for me at least the other night. It is true that you do have to re-lock infinity whenever you re-start, though.

Edit - oops ... that's not right. I just tried it, and while zooming and un-zooming it did drop it back to manual. Bugger. I guess we'll have to get used to holding that focus lock down till we see the infinity mark a lot. It's all a learning experience -

 

[Donald Giuliano]

If I'm not mistaken, anytime you even zoom in/out with the HV20, it immediately throws it out of infinity focus. I found that to be very annoying. I'm in a similar boat as Trey as I bought the camcorder before the season started and still have tons to learn about it. I shot in 24p on May 29 and it seemed to turn out fairly well. I need to experiment more with manual focus for low light/low contrast situations.

Conflicting information on the web led me to think infinity focus was a problem for quite some time since the manual that comes with the camera is unclear, but after using the HV20/30 a lot I can say the camera will hold infinity focus just fine--as long as you do not turn off the camcorder. Once set to infinity focus, it will remain there while the camera is on, even though the display no longer displays the infinity symbol and instead displays MF as soon as you move the zoom toggle. I'm pretty sure (though not certain) it always holds the infinity when you stop recording without turning it off, but know for a fact it does not hold infinity when you actually do turn it off. The key to keeping the HV20/30 in infinity focus when it's most important is found in either (a) never turning the camera off when you're on a storm (in other words, buy the long-life battery), or (b) set it to infinity immediately every time you pick up the camcorder, whether you think it's already set or not. To be sure I find this behavior a little annoying, but the quality of the camera and the rest of its features more than make up for it.

To anyone thinking of getting the HV20/30, I suggest playing around with it quite a bit before taking it out in the field. The camera is definitely worth the money and is fully capable of getting exactly what you want, but take it from me--it's best to learn its quirks before showtime. To those who already own one and think it is not performing up to par, the quirks can easily be adjusted for, it just takes a little experimentation.

 

[Donald Giuliano]

You are shooting in 30p if you are using the standard HDV setting. It's a 60i stream. This means that there are 60 interlaced frames per second. So if you want 30p, you simply de-interlace the video. It's like 29.967 fps or something close to that. This is true of both the HV-20 and HV-30.

It's true you can deinterlace the HV20's 60i stream to get 30 fps, but that does not yield 30p video since the sensor on the HV20 still scanned it in an interlaced fashion. With the HV30, the camera's sensor performs a progressive scan at 30 fps and then saves it as a 60i stream. The HV20 is not capable of doing this, and can only scan at 60i or 24p (which it encapsulates in a 60i stream). So with the HV20 you can shoot in either 60i or 24p, whereas with the HV30 you can shoot in 60i, 30p, or 24p. Based on the video I've shot so far, I absolutely LOVE the new 30p option on the HV30. Of course you could argue I'm just biased since I still have a couple of HV30s to sell.

For example, here is a cropped, deinterlaced frame capture of lightning captured by the HV20 while in a moving vehicle that clearly shows the shortcomings of the interlaced scanning technique. A progressive scan sensor does not yield the ghosting/excessive blurring shown in this image.

 

[Bill Hark]

I just finished a chase season using the HV20.

I use the HV-20 as a dash cam. Although not as good as the FX1 or Z1 especially for low light, the HV20 is still good. I like the saturated colors. I haven't had a problem with the focus. The button is a bit hard to find and I have to get used to holding it down for a few seconds for the infinity sign to appear. The FX1/Z1 do not have an easy way to save vid caps. Thus I use the HV20 as a cheap deck to capture stills. The HV20 is also useful for making backup copies of HDV using firewire. Finally, the HV20 has a HDMI port and can be used to play high def video directly to one's television. I don't own an HD TV but have taken video to a friend's house for playing on an HD TV.

I definitely recommend getting one additional high capacity battery. A wide angle lens is also a must. I generally keep mine on throughout a chase.

Bill Hark

 

[afischer]

Conflicting information on the web led me to think infinity focus was a problem for quite some time since the manual that comes with the camera is unclear, but after using the HV20/30 a lot I can say the camera will hold infinity focus just fine--as long as you do not turn off the camcorder.

I was not aware of that... thanks for the tip.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

I was not aware of that... thanks for the tip.

Same here ... great stuff Don!!! Thanks -

I guess the zoom/infinity focus thing was the reason I was staying in focus the other night. I am SO glad it did that, you have no idea.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Hmmm, I must be missing how to do infinity properly. I normally just zoom all the way out, let it autofocus on the sky, then flip it to manual. I didn't know it did that at powering off though, and that would explain some issues I had. I figured I just bumped the stupid(!) wheel. How do you get it to infinity without guessing? I've never seen any icon for infinity.

As for tips, I agree....play with the menu. Hell I still don't even know how to shoot in 24p, though I haven't been looking. I switch to program mode, then use TV. I think after several chases with it, I am just now getting how the hell that menu works with that stick. I'd get lost in there and wind up unable to change the exposure level or shutter, thanks to how confusing that menu/stick control really is. Looks like you push up and go to the next option, after pushing in on it, but you have to just tap it up to access the option you wanted, not hold it up. Between that and the focus thing, it can be super annoying in the lower light driving times....ones with rain suck(since I have been letting it autofocus to infinity then flipping back to manual). (why does this not post two paragraphs, lol....I'm posting it with two, but it ain't saving it that way...yikes, had to html it)

 

[Mike Peregrine]

If you just hold the focus button (behind the wheel) down for a second or two, you'll see the symbol change to infinity. Pretty handy, really -

 

[James Langford]

Thanks for posting how to set to infinity! I'm one of those types that doesn't read the book too closely. Normally I just roll the wheel down till it's in focus. Anothing thing I've started using is the "Vivid" picture mode. This, IMO, makes the colors much more pleasing.

 

[CGeiken]

I have the HV20 and for the price it's a great camera! The focus knob is annoying, as well as the fact you lose infinity focus whenever you zoom in / out, but these are small complaints for a camera that performs as well as some cameras $500+ its price.
For me, I shoot in 24p Tv(Shutter priority mode). 24p for the dramatic look. HV20 does not have 30p. Tv mode because it provides great contrast which is needed when doing weather photography. Another reason being is with an SD card, you can essentially (using a little trick) control both the shutter speed and the aperture.. When you increase exposure in low light, the aperture is usually already fully open at 1.8, so the camera is now adding gain at that point to brighten the image... which creates noise in the image. Also, I don't recommend shooting with any in-camera color effects... use your manual whitebalance and color grade the image in your editor.

 

[Jared Orr]

I know that someone already recommended a wide angle lens, but I'm not sure if anyone recommended a UV Filter and a Polarizer. Those are great tools that really enhance the natural color and contrast of your footage. For the HV20 I believe you will need a 43 mm.

I found a great deal on Overstock.com for saving 80%

here's the link:
http://www.overstock.com/Electronic...oduct.html?searchtype=nr&keywords=43mm filter


Happy filming!