HV 20 with XH-A1 at 30f?
 

i have a chance to get a HV 20 cheap. i would like a HV 30/40 as i shoot 30f with the XH-A1, but i can get one later...
but for now, will i have problems because the HV 20 doesn't shoot 30f? the specs say it can playback 30f, but i don't think it shoots it...
i was thinking i can shoot 60 with the hv 20 and mix it with the XH-A1 30f footage. will this be more trouble than it is worth? if i have to convert the 60 to 30, will quality suffer?
i need a second camera, and if i get this cheap, i can then maybe have 3 cameras at a later date... worst case is i use it as a deck!!!
advice, suggestion very welcome!

Just one thought - if you shoot 60i with the HV20, and set shutter speed to 1/30, you will get video that, for all practical purposes, is 30P. This kills a little flexibility, but works out very well IMO. It's also pretty good for low light.

Also, my HV20 was recently used to capture a LOT of video from several XH-A1's because Sony and JVC decks don't understand the Canon 24F 30F formats. In other words, if you have an XH A1, the HV20 is a great companion for it, even if you do end up only using it as a deck.

hey, that is an interesting idea! though i want the camera for action shots (ie: strap it to a bike), so a faster shutter would be better.
have you shot 60 at 1/60 (or 1/120 etc.) and then converted to 30f? i'm wondering how the look/quality would differ from shooting 60 with the 1/30 shutter speed?

Hi Brian -

I did a semi-scientific yet mostly subjective test last night, and I think the answer depends on what your final destination is for the video. The biggest issue I noticed was that the A1 video at 30F 1/60 was smoother than the HV20 video at 60i 1/60. Not sure if this was due to the deinterlacing or not - At 1080p, I deinterlaced in the player rather than in Vegas, so your mileage may vary. If you are scaling your video down, I suspect deinterlacing becomes less of a problem. You may also get better results converting before rendering.

Other thoughts... Color matching is difficult - I have not tried it between my cameras yet, but I think making the A1 look like the HV20 might be easier. There was certainly a big difference between my A1 using PFVISION preset, and the HV20 using a toned down custom setting. There is a pretty big difference between the lenses, and the A1 has a shallower DOF. Finally, the HV20 has UGLY lens flare - when used with my Raynox WA adapter, the lens flare is diamond shaped (haven't looked at it without the adapter though). Despite all that, I still use it when I want a small, lightweight camera...