To buy or not to buy Canon HV30
 

I have been tracking the price for the Canon HV 30.

On Amazon it went from $582 to $587. It is still a good deal.

I am thinking of waiting till after Christmas to see if the price goes down further.

What do you all think?

yeah im tracking it too
$587 is a good deal considering it was near $700 before
but i have the same question
should i buy it now or wait after christmas
for a possible price drop?

(im afraid too after christmas price could raise again... what you think?)

Are you kidding? It was about US$1,000 when it was released. The camera hasn't changed. It's just now priced at a 40% discount. If you like it and have the cash, buy it.

and if you do, don't look at prices ever again. ;-)

bought mine from B&H when it was $699.(and free shipping) which was a great price at the time, and I'm happy with it. All I am saying is you will drive yourself nuts if you continue to look for price drops. If it suits your needs, and is within your budget, do it and put it to work.

I ran into this dilemma when I bought my HV20 last year. I pretty much run into this problem whenever I make a substantial purchase.

The thing with any product, especially electronics, is that they will always be going down in price because the next best thing is right around the corner. I would say you should get it if you can use it now. Saving a few bucks won't matter if you get ample use out of the camera shooting projects.

Technology advances so fast nowadays that anything you buy now will be 'old' in the next couple months so if you should take the plunge so time isn't wasted waiting.

Best,
Andy

You spend the money once... you use the camcorder over and over.

Any price below MSRP is a good deal.

I paid mine 779$ and I have been using it for he 5 months and no regret.
Remember they may also go up, just look at the HV20.

Service Plan
 

Thanks everyone! I am actually getting very close in taking the plunge. I am also considering taking the service plan. Do you think it is worth it or should I just stick to the warranty?

http://www.amazon.com/4-Year-Service...o_sp_SVC_1_img

One more thing. Can anyone recommend any good head phones?

Stick to the warranty and take good care of your camera. It will be replaced within 3 or 4 years anyway. As for headphones, you might want to search through this forum, as it has been covered extensively. My preference is earbuds that block ambient sounds (Creative Labs makes a very good one called Aurvana, but there are plenty others to choose from).

Incorrect -- Canon HV series camcorders have been replaced *every* year.

2006 -- HV10
2007 -- HV20
2008 -- HV30
2009 -- ?

2009? I bet the HV30 was the last of the tape drives. I shall mourn its passing, even with the falling price of SDHC cards. Putting a MiniDV tape up there on the shelf is just so sensible a way to archive, as well as being cheap, compact, reliable and re-useable (should you want to).

It seems that tape is going the way of the Victrola and the engine choke. While I understand the benefits of a tapeless workflow, the whole archiving thing just makes me nuts. But I'm old. Old enough to have made the jump from analog to digital lo those many years ago.

If you want a good quality, cheap, high definition cam that uses tape, you cannot go far wrong buying the HV30 now.

I don't know about it being the last tape-cased camera. Seeing how they are just releasing the new XH cameras now, they are going to need an accompanying "deck". So I think we'll see at least one more HDV based consumer camera from them. Or they'll at least keep selling the HV30 as such.

I only meant in that class of camera Michael. The typical customer for a 'dinky-cam' is seized upon by the camcorder salesman and told how 'old fashioned' tape drives are. They're out to sell HDD, flash memory, Mini DVD - anything but tape.

You and I know that tape has a great deal going for it, and so do Canon and Sony. The XHA1s and the Z5 are so new most places don't stock them, yet they're without doubt tape drive camcorders with huge potential sales.

tom.

Hey Tom. I actually meant in this class of camera too.

With the new XH just coming out, there will be a need to have a "deck" out there for professionals as well (hence why these consumer HV cams can read the "F" modes of their pro series camcorders). No other consumer HDV cameras can read the "F" modes, only Canon.

I would bet either on one more new tape based HDV Consumer camera (HV40?) or just a continuation of selling the HV30.

Okay. Now the price has dropped down about 39%. I am really tempted to wait till after New Year's. But do you think Amazon would raise it after Christmas?

It's such a great price for it now! If you were wanting to get this camera, now is better than ever.

Only reason I would wait at this point would be to see what they release at CES 2009.

But even then, the price of the new models will not be anywhere near what the HV30 is now, at least for the next 6 months ...

Locally here in Ontario, Canada, the Boxing Day special price at a known chain (Henrys) is $600can = $480us at close Wed's exchange rate. Can't see large increases given the current state of the economy.

It's the first time in a long time that I've seen Canadian prices below US prices, and it's $120 less than a week ago.

Hope this helps any sitting on the price fence.

Cheers, Ian

Compatible w/ everything
 

B&H has HV30 for 539.00 picked one up the other day it's compatible w/ all my editing software right now and the video quality seems much better than ACVHD. In a few years I'll probably migrate to a hard drive or flash based camera. In the mean time ACVHD software and compression schemes will get better - less artifacts better video ect. ect.

Steve

I am considering the HV30 also. But tell me why I shouldn't buy the HV20 instead, when it looks I can get one for about $350.

The HV30's only main differences are it has:

30P
A better zoom toggle
A better LCD
It's black.

Otherwise, it's the same as the HV20. Do those differences justify the cost? THat's up to you.

The saga continues
 

So I have not bought my camera yet and now prices have kicked upa bit. Do I regret it? No.


Yahoo! News Search Results for retail sales, discounts

It is bad all over and I am curious to see how low things will go.

Your patience has been rewarded. Canon announced the HV40 last week.


Canon VIXIA HV40 High Definition Camcorder

That's awesome.

Speaking of which, I noticed something very odd witht eh prices.

On Google it states the price on Amazon is $526.73
Canon HV30 Camcorder - 2.96 MP - 10 x optical zoom

However when I click onto Amazon that price is nowhere to be seen.

Amazon.com: Canon VIXIA HV30 MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom: Camera & Photo