Im driving myself nuts with this decision. Im looking at either an FX7 for manual control+20x zoom or the hv20 for being able to choose the shutterspeed or aperture at least. I have the HC3 and plan to keep it no matter what I get as a travel/2nd cam .

I shoot for family and personel use mainly but I really want manual control. This is killing me .

Joey the FX7 is a very good camcorder. If you get it you won't regret it. You'll regret it if there's something better that you are looking at and it doesn't meet that expectation. Do you need or want 24p? If so get the HV20. Is 24p of no importance to you? If it's not get the FX7. You'll be very happy with it. If you plan on doing some pro work, having the bigger cam will help for appearance purpose also.

Monday

You have all these options on the FX7. Why would you think you can't?

Monday, Im leaning toward the FX7 just the price is holding me back as opposed to going with the HV20 and saving money and hoping I will have enough video adjustment. At this point 24p is not even a feature Im looking at.

Steve , I meant I wanted to get an FX7 not that I have one for full manual control .

Thanks Guys

Joey

Wait a few days and see if NAB brings a Sony A1 replacement. More money, but smaller than a FX7 yet bigger than a V20. No need to rush.
Steve

Or take a look at the HC7 - same size and some shared accessories with your HC3 - they've dropped to almost the same as the HV20 street price - competition is GOOOOOOD ;-))

The 7 is a nice step up from the 3 all around and pretty comparable or better than the HC1 (the A1U's dearly departed li'l bro). It's of course the small form factor, but so is the HV20, so worth a look. Because it got panned by CCI (and they got a LOT of things just plain flat out dead wrong...) it's not gotten much attention, but you should at least take a look at it!

The small cams are never going to do everything well, just no room for realistically usable controls... barely room for controls at all! BUT that doesn't mean they can't have more than enough control for most "prosumers" who want to be able to override the "auto" settings.

OH YEAH... try lugging a Z1 on the family vacation... I'll take the small camera PLEASE! Not having "hands on" with an FX7, I don't know how portable it is in practical terms, but the FX1 and Z1 are not casual cameras... and the FX7 and V1 don't look THAT much more petite.

DB>)

I did a shoot with the V1, Z1, and Sony A1 (pro relative of HC1?) and we were able to get a decent match in good light. These cameras are all after the Sony "coolgreen" cameras where the image seemed too cyan compared to the Canon models. Sony has a different look now with all these cameras and most people seem to like it. As long as you are in decent light conditions, you should be able to get within the same ballpark with an FX7 and something like the HC1. They both use CMOS, so that probably makes it easier. The consumer models are at least an f-stop less sensitive, so they won't work in dim lighting as well as the other cameras.

I hear you on the price weighing in. When I first bought a Panasonic DVC80 it was because of the price tag, later became my favorite cam over the Sony VX PD models. I agree with Steve, wait a few more days see what is coming at NAB and make your final decision. Take Care

Monday