I'm looking into a HV30 as a (H)DV-player-recorder (to spare the heads of my XH-A1) and as a second camera. I see the advantages, but are there any drawbacks I should consider? Would also be a handy camera to have permanently in the car...

Other than it struggles a little in low light compared to the XH-A1, the HV20 is great additional cam to have.

Thanks for the reply
Luc

There are still a few HV20s around and they're selling for much less than the new HV30. Unless you really need the clearer LCD side-screen, the HV20 does everything the newer one does. Get one before they're gone.

I just got my HV 30 and used it for the first time last night. I shot the dress rehearsal of a musical I am shooting live tonight. When I got the footage home I could not believe how the HV30 and A1 performed in the theatre

Had both cams set HDV 60i. I had my A1 set to Panalook 2 and spotlight mode and the HV30 locked down and set to spotlight mode. The footage is so close its scary.

I couldn’t be happier with HV 30. For $799(B & H) I think you get way more camera than the price suggests.

There are still a few HV20s around and they're selling for much less than the new HV30. Unless you really need the clearer LCD side-screen, the HV20 does everything the newer one does. Get one before they're gone.

Well, actually Canon has created a strange situation in Europe as far as price-setting is concerned: a new HV20 costs 899,- euros, while an - also - new HV30 is 915,- euros. BUT... on the latter there is a cashback action starting june 1st, of 100 euros. So in fact the HV30 sells new for 84 euros less than a brandnew HV20! I guess in that case the choice is quikly made...

I just got my HV 30 and used it for the first time last night. I shot the dress rehearsal of a musical I am shooting live tonight. When I got the footage home I could not believe how the HV30 and A1 performed in the theatre

Had both cams set HDV 60i. I had my A1 set to Panalook 2 and spotlight mode and the HV30 locked down and set to spotlight mode. The footage is so close its scary.

I couldn’t be happier with HV 30. For $799(B & H) I think you get way more camera than the price suggests.


Thanks for this comment Adam, I'll order mine tomorrow, so that I can get one of the first ones with cashback (= 815,- euros).

Thanks for this comment Adam, I'll order mine tomorrow, so that I can get one of the first ones with cashback (= 815,- euros).

You wont be dissapointed.

Just received mine today, and may have a problem.

Question for those who have the HV30. I notice that if i gently shake the cam i hear/feel something moving around inside. It feels like the movement is with in the lens housing in an attached way, not a completely loose screw or part clanging around. Not sure what to think of this as the camera works, no negative effect when shaking while recording. I will call canon in a bit, though would like to hear from HV30 users here.

Jim

Ok, well i guess this is something i will need to get used to.

I just hung up with canon tech support. A helpful woman was able to grab an Hv30 off the shelf and shake it there. Same result.

I was a little concerned, my Sony HC3 makes no noise as well as the A1 when shaken.

I just hope this rattle sound doesnt find its way into the audio when recording.

Just grabbed and shook mine...no rattle here

Interesting, so you hear absolutely nothing when shaking it? The canon techs camera sounded identical to mine when she was shaking it.

I will need to plan a camera shaking trip to some local stores.

I found in the troubleshooting section of the manual that the rattle is normal. The internal lens fixture CAN move when camera is not on. Turn the camera on (camera mode) shake it, no rattle.

Opps my bad, mine was on.

When turned off I got the rattle here too.

There are still a few HV20s around and they're selling for much less than the new HV30. Unless you really need the clearer LCD side-screen, the HV20 does everything the newer one does. Get one before they're gone.

Doesn't the HV30 have 30F, which the HV20 does not have? I've been thinking of getting an HV as a second to my XHA1 and I like shooting 30F. If the HV20 has it, and is cheaper, that would be a reason to go for the HV20.

the hv30 does 30p - the hv20 doesn't

if it was only a difference of 100 dollars i'd get an hv30

there are a couple of other little improvements - one being the size of the little zoom control
it's also black vs silver if that matters


trish

Greg, I found the hv20 and 30 to be about the same price. The 30 is now down at $760.00 through amazon with free shipping. This is from Amazon as the seller/shipper as well, not an amazon as middle man purchase. I normally buy through B&H but found i could save a few more dollars through amazon.

And correct the big difference in the models is 30p not available with the 20.

I've been playing with the 30 all day at work, its like a fun little brother to the A1. I just finished reviewing test footage with different settings, looks great.

Not sure if you've seen this vid, i just ran into it this afternoon. Side by side A1 and HV30.

http://www.vimeo.com/898785?pg=embed&sec=898785

Just something to add - as an HV20, HV30, and A1 owner (!), here's my 2 cents. MY (and it may be sample specific) HV20 exhibits some chromatic aberration at the tele end of the zoom range, while the HV30 does not and thus appears tack-sharp at longer zooms, it's a clearly noticeable difference on my 1080p projector (Mitsu HC4900).

While many people have said the HV30 runs neck-and-neck with the A1 in bright outdoor settings (which is most of what I shoot), after EXTENSIVE tweaking of my A1 and comparison testing I can unequivocally say this is not true. When properly adjusted, the A1 is sharper, more three-dimensional, has better dynamic range, has more accurate colors without blooming/overblowing the color, and looks more "3d" yet more natural/organic at the same time. I am simply amazed at the images I am getting from the A1 after extensive testing of image adjustments.

That said, the HV20/30 are the bargains of the year! I am using them as B-cams, and for more dangerous stuff that I don't wanna risk my A1 on, like underwater shooting, shooting from a waverunner, etc. When properly colorbalanced, the footage can be intercut (I'm editing using Premiere CS3) and all but the most picky videophiles probably won't notice the difference. But I do!!! :)

Patrick

PS- back to the original question - I do use my HV30 as playback deck of unedited footage, for the reasons of both saving head wear on the A1, as well as that the HV30 has an HDMI out which I can run straight into my projector.

Got my HV30 yesterday and played a few hours with it. What a little marvel! As you point out, it even has an advantage over the A1: the HDMI-out. I agree that - on first sight - the general image quality does not seem to be quite as good as the (intensively tweaked) A1's. But for the price, this is an absolute beauty. And now I have an extra player. BTW, thanks Jim, for the interesting link to the comparison video. Amazing!

Hey all,

I don't mean to cross post, so I'll just put a link to my original thread:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=122324

The long and short of it is that tapes from one production (using two XH A1s) will not digitize from the HV30 in HDV with Final Cut Pro. They will digitize using other codecs (Apple Intermediate Codec, ProRes) but for some reason HDV is not working.

Other tapes from other jobs shot on the XH A1 digitize just fine in HDV, but for some reason all the tapes from this one job are acting odd. Any insight much appreciated.

Michael Blieden

Just in case you guys have not figured it out already (in regards to the rattling inside your HV20/30 when off) ...it is your OIS lens dancing around in there. When your machine is off you will here it....once powered on it goes away. All cams with OIS exhibit this type of behavior.

Hey all,

I don't mean to cross post, so I'll just put a link to my original thread:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=122324

The long and short of it is that tapes from one production (using two XH A1s) will not digitize from the HV30 in HDV with Final Cut Pro. They will digitize using other codecs (Apple Intermediate Codec, ProRes) but for some reason HDV is not working.

Other tapes from other jobs shot on the XH A1 digitize just fine in HDV, but for some reason all the tapes from this one job are acting odd. Any insight much appreciated.

Michael Blieden

I use the HV30 purely as a player, that means: to play and show edited tapes with it. I do not use it to capture footage. That is still done from the XH-A1.

I'm using XH-A1 as the main cam. one HV30 as B-roll camera. Then another HV30 mounted on Steadycam Merlin, as well as using as playback deck. I mostly shoot all in 30F and 30P.

For a while I have HV20. So I shoot both XH-A1 and HV20 in 60i. Then I also tried both with Tv mode 1/30 setting for the progressive look. It works very well.

Doesn't the HV30 have 30F, which the HV20 does not have? I've been thinking of getting an HV as a second to my XHA1 and I like shooting 30F. If the HV20 has it, and is cheaper, that would be a reason to go for the HV20.


May PAL-version has 25f, so I suppose the NTSC-ones have 30f. Please confirm, someone. More important: from june 1st on, in Europe the HV30 sells cheaper than the HV20, thanks to a cashback action from Canon. I'm not sure if they do this worldwide, though...

Yeah HV30 NTSC version has 3 frame rates 60i, PF30 and PF24.