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Published On: Aug 05, 2007 08:38 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Aug 05, 2007 08:38 AM
A party and a toy
James' birthday
party.
James had his birthday
party today at his daycare center classroom. Mommy cut and served
the cake. William was allowed to hop out of his classroom and have some cake
with James'
class.
-----
I got a new camcorder today, on the way home from James' party. I got the Canon HV20 high definition miniDV camcorder. I got it to upgrade our old Canon ZR25MC miniDV camcorder. We got the ZR25 long ago, in preparation for William's birth. At the time, it was a middle- or entry-level digital camcorder, and it has suited us just fine. However, with consumer high definition camcorders priced around $1000, I thought it was time to upgrade. Also, digital camcorders nowadays take acceptable digital still photographs, and I'm getting tired of lugging around both a camcorder and a camera on trips to Disney World.
Actually, I was torn between the HV20 and the Canon HV10 , which is the smaller, lighter predecessor to the newer HV20. Portability goes hand in hand with consolidation, so the HV10 was initially my clear first choice. However, many reviews (at CNET and at camcorderinfo.com ) pointed out some ergonomic, performance, and feature flaws with the HV10 -- such as the lack of a separate microphone jack, a lack of an HDMI port, and poor low-light performance -- which the HV20 was clearly developed to correct. Reviews of the HV20 have been glowing. The problem is that the HV20 is a larger, regular-sized camcorder. I spent some time calling around local stores, trying to see if the HV10 was available so I could try one out in my hand and see if the small size outweighed, for me, the lack of features or performance. Unfortunately, despite having been in production since last year, the HV10 is nowhere to be found in local camera stores or Best Buy, while the HV20, while hard to find, is managing to trickle out into the retail channel. I interpret this to mean that Canon recognized the flaws in the HV10, corrected them in the HV20, and is pushing the HV20 out into the market to meet demand while slacking off on the HV10.
The HV20 is definitely heavier and bulkier than I'd like, that much is certain. It's shorter, wider, and longer than the ZR25, but it weighs about the same -- until I switch the ZR25 to its high capacity battery, which makes the ZR25 the heavier of the two. The HV20 itself is less of a burden than carrying the ZR25 and the Canon PowerShot A700 together, despite the A700 being a relatively light still camera. To make the HV20 easier to carry, I moved the ZR25's shoulder strap to the HV20, which doesn't come with a shoulder (or neck) strap.
However, setting aside the HV20's bulk, it's video performance is spectacular. I made a little test video, attached the camcorder to the plasma TV via the HDMI cable, and got a video of myself staring into the camera and saying it was a test video, all in full 1080i high definition, digital glory. (The HDMI connection is a definite plus over the HV10, as will be the ability to attach an external microphone if needed.)
iMovie HD (6) also handled the HV20 video quite well, even on the iMac G4, though this isn't something that the HV20 will likely do any better than the HV10 would have.
The photo above is from the HV20 as well. It took me a while to figure out how to transfer photos from the HV20. The problem was that I was using an unformatted mini SD card, which my iMac wouldn't recognize until after I formatted it.
It's time to bring this thing on vacation to see how it handles.
-----
I got a new camcorder today, on the way home from James' party. I got the Canon HV20 high definition miniDV camcorder. I got it to upgrade our old Canon ZR25MC miniDV camcorder. We got the ZR25 long ago, in preparation for William's birth. At the time, it was a middle- or entry-level digital camcorder, and it has suited us just fine. However, with consumer high definition camcorders priced around $1000, I thought it was time to upgrade. Also, digital camcorders nowadays take acceptable digital still photographs, and I'm getting tired of lugging around both a camcorder and a camera on trips to Disney World.
Actually, I was torn between the HV20 and the Canon HV10 , which is the smaller, lighter predecessor to the newer HV20. Portability goes hand in hand with consolidation, so the HV10 was initially my clear first choice. However, many reviews (at CNET and at camcorderinfo.com ) pointed out some ergonomic, performance, and feature flaws with the HV10 -- such as the lack of a separate microphone jack, a lack of an HDMI port, and poor low-light performance -- which the HV20 was clearly developed to correct. Reviews of the HV20 have been glowing. The problem is that the HV20 is a larger, regular-sized camcorder. I spent some time calling around local stores, trying to see if the HV10 was available so I could try one out in my hand and see if the small size outweighed, for me, the lack of features or performance. Unfortunately, despite having been in production since last year, the HV10 is nowhere to be found in local camera stores or Best Buy, while the HV20, while hard to find, is managing to trickle out into the retail channel. I interpret this to mean that Canon recognized the flaws in the HV10, corrected them in the HV20, and is pushing the HV20 out into the market to meet demand while slacking off on the HV10.
The HV20 is definitely heavier and bulkier than I'd like, that much is certain. It's shorter, wider, and longer than the ZR25, but it weighs about the same -- until I switch the ZR25 to its high capacity battery, which makes the ZR25 the heavier of the two. The HV20 itself is less of a burden than carrying the ZR25 and the Canon PowerShot A700 together, despite the A700 being a relatively light still camera. To make the HV20 easier to carry, I moved the ZR25's shoulder strap to the HV20, which doesn't come with a shoulder (or neck) strap.
However, setting aside the HV20's bulk, it's video performance is spectacular. I made a little test video, attached the camcorder to the plasma TV via the HDMI cable, and got a video of myself staring into the camera and saying it was a test video, all in full 1080i high definition, digital glory. (The HDMI connection is a definite plus over the HV10, as will be the ability to attach an external microphone if needed.)
iMovie HD (6) also handled the HV20 video quite well, even on the iMac G4, though this isn't something that the HV20 will likely do any better than the HV10 would have.
The photo above is from the HV20 as well. It took me a while to figure out how to transfer photos from the HV20. The problem was that I was using an unformatted mini SD card, which my iMac wouldn't recognize until after I formatted it.
It's time to bring this thing on vacation to see how it handles.
Posted: Fri - April 20, 2007 at 11:53 PM