Upgrading to an HD Video Camera... Thoughts?

[Mark Farnik]

Greetings, gang

Well, I have decided to upgrade to an HD video camera for next chase season, so I just gave my one year old Panasonic GS-320 MiniDV camcorder to my younger sister as a 17th birthday present this last weekend, because she intends on pursuing a career as a filmmaker and needed a decent video camera.

Anyhoo, so I've been looking around the last couple of days, and am now very strongly considering the Canon Vixia HV30 HDV MiniDV camera. I've decided to go with a MiniDV model, as the footage quality is much better than with the HDD cameras, particularly in critical low light conditions.
It's currently the top rated HD MiniDV camcorder on the market in it's price range, and has a majority of extremely positive reviews on all the major electronics websites.
It has 10x optical/200x digital zoom, OIS, a 2.7" LCD screen and records in full 1080p using a 2.96-megapixel CMOS image sensor and Canon's DIGIC DV II processor. It only weighs 1.2 pounds and is slightly larger than than the palm of your hand, which when combined with the OIS would make it a great chase cam.
And the price point is perfect for my budget; I can buy it for $624.99 at B&H Photo with free shipping. Add in the cost of a large aftermarket battery and a battery charger, and I'll be sitting at about a $700 total investment.

Was just curious to see what everyone's thoughts were on this camera, and if anybody knows of any other competitive HD MiniDV video cameras under $800, I'd certainly like to know about them.

Thanks!

 

[Jason Boggs]

I was about to say, don't buy it if it doesn't have a focus ring. I see the focus is on the body on the left side. I bought a camera (Panasonic) that has manual focus (via menu) and I hate it. I might also look at a new camera for spring.

 

[Derek Weston]

Greetings, gang

Well, I have decided to upgrade to an HD video camera for next chase season, so I just gave my one year old Panasonic GS-320 MiniDV camcorder to my younger sister as a 17th birthday present this last weekend, because she intends on pursuing a career as a filmmaker and needed a decent video camera.

Anyhoo, so I've been looking around the last couple of days, and am now very strongly considering the Canon Vixia HV30 HDV MiniDV camera. I've decided to go with a MiniDV model, as the footage quality is much better than with the HDD cameras, particularly in critical low light conditions.
It's currently the top rated HD MiniDV camcorder on the market in it's price range, and has a majority of extremely positive reviews on all the major electronics websites.
It has 10x optical/200x digital zoom, OIS, a 2.7" LCD screen and records in full 1080p using a 2.96-megapixel CMOS image sensor and Canon's DIGIC DV II processor. It only weighs 1.2 pounds and is slightly larger than than the palm of your hand, which when combined with the OIS would make it a great chase cam.
And the price point is perfect for my budget; I can buy it for $624.99 at B&H Photo with free shipping. Add in the cost of a large aftermarket battery and a battery charger, and I'll be sitting at about a $700 total investment.

Was just curious to see what everyone's thoughts were on this camera, and if anybody knows of any other competitive HD MiniDV video cameras under $800, I'd certainly like to know about them.

Thanks!

How goes it. Sounds like the right move. My research about a year ago said that the Sony HV20 was best in its range... seems the HV30 is keeping up the tradition. So I'd be looking at an HV30 as well should I upgrade. Like you mentioned, the HV series seems to be very strong in low light conditions -- quite essential in our area of fun. Not sure if its that strong on frame grabs, if I remember right... (though, big deal?)

 

[fplowman]

Its an Ok camera Mark. Just keep in mind that CMOS has a rolling shutter issue. This means it will cause fragments and anomalies. Lightning in particular will not display correctly in your video footage.

 

[Brandon Headley]

I have an HV20 and love it. For the price you can't beat it. And while the focus is on the side and not a true ring it works well. I looked for quite some time before picking it up. I also like the fact that it has a mic input and a headphone jack.

The panasonic in the price range seemed to be missing one of those features, I believe the headphone jack.

The video quality is great. The low light is ok, not great. I think it would benefit from 3 ccds instead of cmos, but for the price I can't complain. There is a way to open the iris more and get better low light shoots.

Next chase season I may be using the HV20 as my dash cam and an vx2100 as my mobile. I haven't decided yet since it will be my first full chase season.

Really the only difference is the frame rates you can shot with the HV30. It is a great little camera and you would be very happy with it.

I have a little video I shoot of a storm in may that you might want to check out to see the video quality. Keep in mind vimeo downgrades it to 720, but still you get the idea.

http://vimeo.com/970579

 

[Bill Hark]

I did extensive research on HD camcorders earlier the year and bought the discontinued HV20. For an HD camcorder, it's fairly good for the price. The HV30 is similar. There is no focus ring but there is a small button that can held down for a couple of seconds and the camera goes to infinity. I found the low light capability to be almost as good as the old TRV-900. Of course, like all consumer grade camcorders, the HV20/30 is rather light and seems poorly built. The CMOS is a problem but even the pro level HD camcorders are going to CMOS. If you want CCD's, try the old Sony Z1 and FX1 camcorders but they are still more expensive than you price range. Finally, I like having the tape. There is instant archives. The tapes are cheap and can be easily swapped. Imagine having to download off of a harddrive in the middle of a chase. HDV video on tapes is currently better quality. The hardrive/flash HD camcorders usually use a higher compressed format called AVCHD. The quality has not been as good and editing can be difficult. Most camcorders currently are not at the format's maximal bitrate though they are improving each year and may eventually equal HDV. See this review of the Canon Vixia HF10.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-Vixia-HF10-Camcorder-Review-34711/Performance.htm
Still, I would stick with a tape-based model at present.

I think you made the right decision. Buy a wide angle lens attachment and extra capacity battery.

For those using more expensive HD camcorders, having an HV 20 or 30 is still a good idea. With a firewire cable, you can use the HV20 as a deck. The HV20 is a great size for a dashcam. Try mounting a FX1 on a dash! Finally, unlike many of the pro HD camcorders, the HV20 can make stills. Many chasers will take the HDV tape out of their expensive Z1 and make stills using the HV20.


Bill Hark

 

[Brandon Headley]

Here is a screen grab I got from the storms yesterday that I shot. This is full 1080i HDV. I set the camera to Manual and switched to TV and then used changed the shutter speed to 30. You can decide from this what you think. Personally you aren't going to find a better camera for the money.

 

[Eric Flescher]

thanks for posting abour HD camcorders

Thanks for posting. I just got another Panasonic 320 on ebay for a steal as I can't afford an HD one right now. The panasonic has great sound and very good color rendition and each to port to PC/or in my case Mac for editing.

I will use it for stormchasing and etc and for the upocoming Total eclipse in China 2009 July.

I was looking at those HD reviews so when I do get one or if I can come up with more money before the eclipse, I might get one of these.

 

[Greg McLaughlin]

I just purchased a JVC Everio HD hard drive camera this past April. It is a 3ccd that shoots 1080i. The coloring is quite amazing. The dashcam tornado video from May 24th was from the JVC and the quality is simply amazing. This camera isn't as great as my vx2100 in lower light situations (but what is), but for most day time chasing you cant beat the quality. The price tag was around $700 at Best Buy. The camera has a built in 60g hard drive that can hold up to 7 hours of video. The only setback to HD video is trying to render it as the files are huge. With that said, I can't pass up the amazing video detail.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

I recently bought a refub. HV20 for $530 w/4 year warranty, and it's a great little camera for the money. One of the big selling points for me is the true 24p shooting mode. This not only increases light sensitivity, but also give a movie feel to the video. The camera also has a "cinema" mode which eliminates all grain even in dark shots. Using a the 24p and cinema mode in combination works wonderfully in low light situations - it's obviously not as good as a 3CCD in low light, but it's better than other single chip cameras in low light using those settings.

The HV20 also has a jack for an external mic, and even though it doesn't have a focus ring, I've found the focus knob on the side to be quite useful. The camera also has a nice feature which allows you to digitally "instant" zoom to an object while manually focusing to make sure you get the sharpest focus possible.

 

[DMGullette]

I just purchased a JVC Everio HD hard drive camera this past April. It is a 3ccd that shoots 1080i. The coloring is quite amazing. The dashcam tornado video from May 24th was from the JVC and the quality is simply amazing. This camera isn't as great as my vx2100 in lower light situations (but what is), but for most day time chasing you cant beat the quality. The price tag was around $700 at Best Buy. The camera has a built in 60g hard drive that can hold up to 7 hours of video. The only setback to HD video is trying to render it as the files are huge. With that said, I can't pass up the amazing video detail.

I have that same camera, bought it last year right after it came out.
Paid a little more than you cause it was brand new at the time.
But you are absolutely right about the video quality, it is superb.

 

[Graham Butler]

Coming into this a little late but one thing I didn't see mentioned in the thread was the "infinity" function. I would go out of my way to purchase a camera that had this ability. Does Sony still offer this function on its new HD video cameras and how difficult is it to turn this on? I had an older Panasonic that did not have infinity and even to turn on auto focus was like inputting some secret code. Royal pain in the ass.

Any input video camera gurus?

Graham Butler

 

[Eric Flescher]

Canon Vixia HV30 and some videocorder offerings cited

in the pcworld 12/2008 issue
of the 5 Canon Vixia HV30 $1000 leads the way
good quality
superior battery
overall very good design
records bright high quality video to old fashioned tape and does the job quite well

Sony Handycam HDR-SR12 $1300
records more then 12 hours of great looking video to it s 120 gb hard drive

the SR11 costs $200 less with same features and imaging engine and uses 60 gig

DXG -566V
32 mb flashdrive SDHC card
Terrible quality high def though
$150