i have found that i am in need of a second camera. I am thinking of a Canon HV20 for size and pricing reasons.

I am wondering if I shoot a tape in my GL2, can i then place that tape in the HV20 and capture it to the PC as i am still shooting with the GL2. (and vice versa)

In the rendering process I should be able to put both vids in the same format shouldnt i? IS there a standard def mode in the HV20 to allow this.

Thanks...

Really liking this videomaking!

Your HV20 will capture your GL2 tapes to your PC exactly the same as your GL2 would. No special rendering necessary.

Also, if you wish to shoot using your HV20, you can have the camera convert to standard definition as you capture it, or you can have it film in standard def to begin with.

Good luck!

Thanks for the response

To expand a bit: while the HC20 can do both SD and HDV formats, the GL2 only suports SD format. So that limits your options somewhat.

I.e., the HV20 can play anything the GL2 shoots, but the GL2 cannot play the HDV formats from the HV20, only the SD format.

Thats good to know... for right now all i am doing is SD. I 2was shooting an instructional video on saturday and would have liked to have been able to continue shooting the second tape while the first was being captured to the computer, but of course had the camera tied up during capture.

On a personal note, the HV20 looks a little bit more compact for traveling as I travel back and forth from the US to China. Looks like it will give me good quality too. (the HV20)

Just avoid recording at LP speed if you want to playback the tape on a different machine.