Canon HV20 Press Release, Overview and more
 

Here's a copy of the HV20 press release from Canon USA:

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/cano...essrelease.php

And a brief overview... what's new, etc:

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/canon/hv20overview.php

And some images:

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/canon/hv20images.php

Looks like some head to head competition with the Sony HC-5 and HC-7.

HV10 should remain a good seller as a smaller cheaper alternative.

24p Cinema Mode!

Oh my God! This is IT! After looking at the FX1 two years ago, the HC1 arrival, ..the HC3...the Canon HV10 and the announced HC7..I think this is the HDV camera I have been waiting for...

I think I want to pre order! This is huge.

The only thing running through my mind right now is Justin Timberlake's "Bringing sexy back"

This is beyond huge!! True 24P in 60i from a $1099 camera! Double bonus for the Cinema mode with cine color, low knee and black stretch! Triple bonus for Vegas users who will probably be able to remove the pulldown right now thanks to the work done for the Sony V1. Quadruple bonus for that CMOS sensor from the HV10 which is something else. The images it makes really has an amazingly nice texture to it.

Only bummers are no LANC, maybe no manual focus ring and the lens isn't wide at all. Colored peaking and a histogram would have been nice too.

I'm just an enthusiast, but I remember seeing the 24P mode of DVX100 at a professional video show here in NYC when it was first introduced. I thought to myself, "One day... perhaps this feature will trickle down to a consumer level camcorder."

A couple years later, I remember going to the FX1 HDV launch in NYC and thought to myself...one day..it will trickle down to something affordable.

I can't believe that with this one camcorder..both of those dreams will be realized for me.

That day is today. I'm so excited.

I am very excited too!

I think this camera would be perfect for all the hobbyist and enthusiast who want to make movies but aren't making money from it. What you would save over a $3K+ camera you could buy quality accessories like tripods, sound and lighting equipment. I cringe when people buy expensive cameras like the XH-A1 or HVX and then get a $300 tripod. There is so much more to video/filmmaking than just the camera.

This camera is going to be huge. It has an awesome pedrigree inherited from the HV10. If nothing else, it's going to drive the other manufacturers to add similar features at this price point. It's small size and weight has all sorts of crash cam, B-roll, and remote mount applications for pros. And another thing, the 24P in 60i could be recorded by the little HVR-DR60 hard disc recorder by Sony! Oh man, hahaha!!!

I have the HV10, and I think the reason that the Hv20 will have better lowlight performance is because IMO, the HV10 was intentionally crippled in low light.

It only makes sense because now the HV20, has progressive, which uses a stop of light and adds noise, yet the HV20 has 'better' low light performance. There is now way they could squeeze that much sensitivity by tweaking the DSP.

In any case the HV10 is still a great cam, but cant wait to see how the HV20 stacks up.

If you can only record 24p in HD, will you be able to record in HD then downconvert in camera to SD?


Well you be able to put a good mic on the HV20 like a MKE300? Or will it have to be a Canon mic?

In one of my older posts I remember to have complained about the practices of big manufacturers to overcharge for features and leave the "low-end prosumer" (i.e. the serious hobbist, no-budget indie filmaker) continuously unsatisfied. I also remember to have predicted a camera coming out from Canon at the price range of 2500 to 3000 with "24f, focus ring, mic jack, headphones jack and no xlr's". Excluding the focus ring (add a focus dial instead) I guess I was dead right in my dream and dead wrong in my understanding of the new marketing approach of Canon!

1099$ !!!

Wow!!!

With their A1 and now the HV20, they seem to be the only company (out of the "big 4") to actually learn from the RED project and follow up aggressively, in their own way (and market)!

Way to go Canon!

Thanasis

P.S.1 Can you control exposure from the focus dial? I remember the XM dial control was quite usable (with the exception of the big visual steps up-down in the picture). But as a control was fast to access (one push) and friendly. Is this similar?
P.S.2 Can you add a non-proprietary microphone in the shoe of HV20? Or we will have to devise our own solution?
P.S.3 In the accessories page of the HV20 (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...modelid=14869), there is no wide angle lens! Rather strange, no? Is this a mistake, or what?

I'm very happy that I waited a bit. I was going to get a HV10 for b-roll and deck, but now I'll surely wait for this camera.

Thanks Canon.

Mike

Incredible!
 

For this price, you could buy two, and still come in under the xh a1. And imagine the possibilities if you were to combine this with a redrock micro! I am so jonesed about this camera. I was saving up for either the xh a1 or the Sony hvr v1u, but I think this will do just fine. I could get one sooner! Is it as pro as those to other cameras? Of course not, but I can get near the same visual quality for such a low price.

Take a bow, Canon.

Same thought here ... I really wanted a LANC jack. But it's impressive that Canon actually LISTENED to customers and provided the mic input that everyone was howling for. And the form factor will appeal to those who didn't care for the upright look of the HV10. Overall, sounds like a KILLER package.

Unfortunately I don't think you'll ever see a LANC jack on any consumer Canon camcorder anymore (pretty sure they just got tired of paying that licensing fee to Sony). Canon seem to have relegated LANC to the realm of three-chip "professional" camcorders only.

Just updated the "overview" page:

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/canon/hv20overview.php

Added a paragraph about Frame mode and why it can't happen in the HV20.

Great job Chris. You might want to check the last paragraph as it still makes reference to the HV10 as a deck to play H1 and A1/G1 footage. I think you probably copied and pasted this from the original HV10 article. It might confuse some people so you might want to update it to make reference to the HV20 instead!

Thanks!

Thanks Marty -- now fixed. You're right, I'm such a hack that I did a cut and paste job on the whole lower half of that page. Too much to do and not enough time, as usual!

That's not being a hack. That's working efficiently. Sometimes little things slip through the cracks! It's all good!

It's too bad about the LANC jack. For operating on a tripod you often need a zoom controller and for remote mounting (car mounts, helmet mounts, etc) you might need to start/stop the camera from a cable. I guess we can't complain too much since the camera is so inexpensive but it's so tantalizing close to having no major limitations. The LANC jack limitation can be worked around, but the solutions are pretty ugly, like a fiber optic extension for the IR remote or a servo actuator for the zoom controller.

chris h.,

i'm curious as to how many times prior to HV20 has DVI not report on somn and have the product debut as a 'surprise'. typically DVI'ers are the first ones to read/hear things about new products in the pipeline from different vendors. HV20 was a TRUE surprise for many of us here as we'd assume that HV20 was just a typo... but it turned out to be real. any other similar happenings in the past?

Can you think of any, Yi? Because I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning.

DVI has never been concerned with being "first" with any news... all that matters is getting it right...

Chris: you had soylent green for breakfast. That's what you have everyday. ;)

Great job on the news releases.

Coming from a Sony HDR-HC3 , Will the HV20 allow you to use full manual mode and adjust the Gain, Aperture, and Shutter speed ? I can't do this on my HC3 . Also does Canon usually have some sort of interval record mode ?

Thanks Joey

Gain is either on or off. There's some control of iris and shutter. No intervalometer in Canons.

The JVC Everio GZ-HD7 will have all those features plus a focusing ring around the lens.

That JVC won't serve as a deck for my XLH1!

Mike

Oh, it will be more than competition for the Sonys, it will be superior! All they have to do is retain the unparralled small cam PQ of the HV10 and the myriad of features they're now adding, including 24p, and no Sony cam out there can match it....certainly not anywhere near its price range! This will be a KILLER cam.

I wouldn’t call it superior to the HC7 just yet. Its basically a tossup.

No, not really. The specs don't say if it's interlaced mode or progressive...I'd bet it's the interlaced mode. They also mention on-chip noise reduction which will help and I'm wondering if the lens is bigger. All these could add up to the better low-light. But I honestly don't think it was intentionally 'crippled'. Remember it had a full rez 1920X1080 sensor that no other cam had. This in itself was more light hungry.

When Sony offers their small cams with a 1920X1080 sensor and 24p, I may agree with you! No such features in either Sony cam. ;)

Wow... what a great sounding camera!
 

The HV-20 sounds great! I would love to see any footage of it as soon as some is available. Here's a side question: which do you think gets better low-light: the GL2 or this new HV-20?

Sorry, but do you know what's even more amazing? Here their most inexpensive Canon HDV camcorder has HDMI and the larger Canons (bar the most expensive one) don't. I'd be a bit ticked off if I owner a larger Canon.

The JVC Everio GZ-HD7 still have much more manual features than both the HC7 and the HV20. We just have to see how its picture holds up.

In the bright side, the HV20 may actually force Sony to lower the price of the HC7 to be around the same.

Two questions:
I read on this forum that the HV10 had poor performance in high motion scenes, compared to sony's HC3. What does this mean? Artifacts or distortion in the image? Do you think that the HV20 will retain this problem?

This is a documentarist's dream camera
 

Tape based recording.

Small form factor super portable.

Great picture.

Improved low light.

Way to go, Canon.

Progressive.

One theory for this .... Perhaps because the HV20, like the HV10, is also targeted as an edit deck, so the HDMI is more important with an edit deck than a camera (like the A1) that's intended to be used primarily as a camera.

Editing
 

Very curious as to how you would edit the 24p footage. FCP with pull down removal via Cinema Tools? Native HDV editing? Or dump it to another codec like AIC, or even DVC Pro HD? I realize you could just edit the 24p in the 60i stream, but native 24p would be so much easier/cooler.

Any thoughts?

I like the implementation of putting it into a 60i stream...makes it easier for hobbists and enthusiasts to just start editing with the stuff you get out this thing.

It's just editing HDV! If I had to get Final Cut Pro HD just to edit the footage from this thing, I would have to spend another thousand. As of now, I can edit from either iMovie or FCE.

Way cool.

Since the HD 24p mode is recorded to tape as 60i, I don't see any reason why the camera couldn't do an SD downconvert over FireWire upon playback, as usual.

The Sennheiser MKE-300 will mount on the camcorder's accessory shoe and connect through the stereo mini-jack mic input. You can put any mic on the camera... if it's an XLR mic then you'll need an adapter of course. It's no different than any other consumer-grade camcorder with a 3.5mm stereo mic input.