I notice on the HV30 page on B&H, there's a optional battery listed:

Canon BP-2L24H Rechargeable Battery Pack

It is described as a "lithium ion secondary battery" (graphite type)

and it's $100.

Anyone have any further info on this? Is this a new type of battery? Have a longer run-time? Compatible with my other HV20?

Just Curious
Brian

I purchased a couple of the 24 batteries a few weeks ago for my HV20. They work fine. Gives you almost double the time of the original. I bought mine via other vender for $35 each. They aren't original Canon's but I don't care, so long as they work. I've probably purchased a dozen non brand batteries for my Canon camcorders.

Canon BP-2L24H Rechargeable Battery Pack Compatible with my other HV20?

Yes. I have one on my HV20. It' s bit big and it sorta pokes you in the eye, if you're one of those rare people who use the viewfinder. You can also get an aftermarket (not Canon branded) version @ www.bestbatt.com:

http://www.bestbatt.com/Canon_BP_2L24H_Battery_p/bbbp2l24h.htm

The BP-2L24H takes longer to charge and I would suggest getting a separate charger, rather than charging it in the camcorder.

Thank you for the replies John and Jay, that satisfied my curiosity... it's a larger battery with higher capacity.

Very welcomed news for me, but not Earth-shattering. The teeny weeny pic and lack of specs on Canon's site had me wondering if it was some revolutionary new type of battery that was higher capacity but the same size...

Thank you for the link, Jay.

I'll live with the loss of the viewfinder, as I never was able to use it on the HV10 or HV20 as well.

I have BP-2L24H batteries for sale. They are all brand new

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=116942

I have been using them myself too. For a full charge, I can get almost 4 hours of usage with LCD on and in recording mode too. It does take long time to charge.