HV20 effectivly has AE +/- adjustments?!
 

Reading HV20 PDF I notice two ways of adjusting exposure - looking for comments from owners on the operation, I don't have one.

1. 'Exposure adjustment' - which I read to operate in all "P" modes except fireworks - (limited use if scene lighting intensity changes)

2. 'Custom' mode in Image Effects has a brightness' adjustment - this seems a way to apply Auto Exposure adj which some have derided Canon for not having on the cam. I'm used to Sony Cams that can set an AE +/- adjustment, so say one can have the camera under-exposure by 1+ unit measurement while still in auto exposure mode.

Shows the adjustment on page 49, the adjustment can be used in conjunction with Zebra...

just turn on Zebra, and when you see the zebra lines indicating blown exposure just hit the joy stick and the exposure setting can be adjusted for proper exposure.

yep - but like my sony's that will be a locked down exposure, having to reset every time lighting/scene changes, rather to achieve what Sony call "AE Shift" I see the brightness in 'effect' menu as the answer. I guess my query relates to the use of the term "effect" which suggests simple digital processing, if this is the case it would be better done in NLE.

Yes Mark, the Canon does have this. You can adjust brightness, contrast and color as a constant from what the cam would have done. This is much the same as an exposure adjustment that constantly biases against what the cam would have done. Therefore if you set the Canon to +1 on brightness & contrast, it will always peg that against the normal AE the camera would have used.

Great, thanks for the clarification. I shoot with 2x PD170P & TRV18E, hence Sony centric and little pandentic about the degree of control I can achieve.

I downloaded HV20 & HC7 PAL M2T clips & played from a USB stick on PS3...thrilled to get an accurate preview of how it will perform on my Sony Bravia HD.

Almost every hour I flip-flop between the two cams - LANC coming to the fore as I ponder the usefulness of my ZR1000 with such small zoom rockers, but the video quality, esp 'bee' footage hands it to HV20.

If I can convince myself a HV30 won't soon appear with LANC I'd order the HV20 tomorrow, but it's a want not a need as I'll continue to deliver anamorphic SD projects w/ vernerable Sony PD.

Degree of control of HV20 (use interface aside) has me thinking any more upgrades will have it cannibalising HDV semi-pro lines.

These are very usefull, but it seems you can not select a degree of ajustment. Most cams +/- 1,2,3,4,5. HV-20 has just +/-.

But the great thing is ...we got this ability. It seems like the adjustments, for example the color adjustment, from 0 to +1, jumps more than a few degrees (as in your example) instead of just 1 degree. In other words the color jumps quite a bit to me when I hit that +1. Or is it just me?

Yes I agree, but I don't see a 0 or +1. All I see is a slider that can only be positioned at the mid point (default) or at the extreme ends of the slider. Another words, you can't slide it to vary the amount. all I can get is default, extreme - or extreme +. Is your camera different, or am I in the wrong place on the menu. Thanks - PK

This is what it looks like..for example: COL.DEPTH < - 0 + >
...with a little slide bar underneath. You can only choose (-) or (0) or (+). When people make reference to +1 they are really talking about the (+) sign. Also there is a small (0) in between.

When I mentioned "it seems to jump more than a few degrees" what I was trying to say is there seems to be a drastic (noticable) change instead of it being very subtle. I guess if I owned the A1 I could actually fine tune the color more a litle bit in between the HV20's 0 to +.

Thanks Ian
 

Thanks Ian. That is what I thought, but since I've only had a few days to play with it, I thought maybe there was some thing I had missed - some advanced menu or something. Thanks for your time in responding - PK

I'm glad you guys delved into the detail I assumed there was more than 1 step adjustment for image parameters...still better than nothing I guess.

Years ago I made an RS232 serial to lanc cable and "enabled" advanced menu options on lowly Digital8, a shame the lack of a LANC port precludes the possibility of ever releasing hidden A1 firmware!