Canon HV20 HDV Camcorder Review
Canon’s new HV20 HDV camcorder was released with all the hype of a film star. It was a good competition to the Sony HDR-HC7 camcorder. Having a similar design, both the models produce great videos and a very strong set of features. But a deeper look into the camcorder proves that both the models are quite imperfect in their own ways. Canon HV20 HD Camcorder has been designed to be a camcorder that satisfies the need of a videographer, in short it is a part of the very few consumer camcorders in the market.
A compact camcorder:
At the very first look at the Canon HV20 HD Video Camcorder, you will be shocked to see how small it is. The feeling of inadequacy will be dispelled soon when it gives you a good solid feel and sits well in your hands. The Canon HV20 has a very similar design as that of Sony HDR-HC7, identical in size and shape. However, Canon has changed the vertical design that it gave to its predecessor which raised a lot of irksome ergonomic issues. Canon HV20 high definition camcorder includes most of the features found in Canon HV10 such as the HDMI output, plus 24p recording, an accessory shoe and long lasting battery, but all in a comfortable horizontal design.
Buttons, Controls and Ports on HV20:
The Canon HV20 has got a metallic two toned body. Once the 2.7-inch display is flipped open, it reveals an array of playback buttons that are placed on the bottom edge of the LCD panel. These standard controls of the Canon camcorders are a pain to access as you will not get to it unless you have sharp nails. Yet, we have to admit that they are better than the touch screen buttons. Inside the cavity of the LCD you would hardly find anything. All that you will be able to witness are a Mini SD card slot, a USB terminal and a round playback speaker. You might be wondering what about the other controls? Canon has condensed and simplified all of the buttons, jacks and dials of the HV20 by excluding some of the ancillary throwaways.
Canon has placed most of the controls of the camcorder in a convenient place of access. The only few control placements that you would not feel that easy to access are the auto or program mode switches that are placed on the right side of the device and the MiniSD flash memory or MiniDV tape card media. But this must not be a great problem as these ports and controls are the ones that are not that frequently accessed. All that we have to say is, they could have been accessed easily if they had been placed on the left side of the unit. That side of the camcorder sports two oval shaped buttons for auto/P switch and a tape/memory switch.
Canon generally adopts a very clever and meaningful way of placing the controls. It gives the menu based controls well by having the most commonly used controls such as the microphone level and exposure compensation quickly accessible by just pressing the joystick. On the other hand, the rest of the most accessed controls like shutter, program, aperture priority, scene modes, cine, white balance, image effects and still image mode are just hidden behind the function button. In the past, Canon had been equipping their camcorders with flimsy plastic port covers but this time round, the HV20 sports a blury and flexible enclosure. Canon has condensed the AV jacks and headphone into one, so make sure that you manually select the correct mode.
The Canon HV20 Mini DV Camcorder has got an oddly shaped retractable lens cover that seems to be more fragile than the other rest of its parts. As are almost sure that over a period of time, the lens cover will be the first part to wear off. Along the left side of the vertical panel of the lens is the instant AF sensor, flash and a mini video light. Based on the position we can easily say that the flash may not be able to produce even lighting and the lens barrel might cast a shadow. The instant AF sensor that is located just below the flash adjusts quickly to the changes in focal distance and objects on fast motion. The mini video light of the HV20 does not contribute any better than a cheap LED, it is just a convenient illumination.
The hand band provided is low strung and quite awkward. It is narrow and has got a cheap plastic construction. The top loading tape hatch of Canon HV20 does the open/close operation at a much faster rate than most of the other camcorders of its same class. The base of the hatch has three wave like grooves that offers additional grip. The fat and wide rear of the HV20 has a battery chamber that does not delve deeply into the body of the device. Canon has skimped on the viewfinder of the HV20 as it is short, has got no rubberised eyecup and cannot be even extended or pivoted upward. To the right of the battery is a strip containing the FireWire and HDMI terminals, housed by a thin, rubberized plastic enclosure. This enclosure is not as sturdy as the one that covers the tape hatch. Overall, the enclosure is flimsy and difficult to snap it back into its place.
When you look at the Canon HV20 Digital Video Camcorder from top, you will be able to see a built-in stereo microphone, which is designed to pickup the less harsh peaking sounds from the actions directly in front of the camcorder. Towards the battery end of the camcorder, you would be able to find a long shield like plastic cover which is a door to the Advanced Accessory shoe. But the cover is not attached to the body of the unit so make sure that you do not forget it on the go. We are disappointed with the zoom toggle too. It neither has a plastic platform nor a rigid grip, it is just a tiny tab that is stuck to the body of HV20.
Compression format and Media:
The Canon HV20 Mini DV/HDV Camcorder uses HDV compression which is a very efficient MPEG-2 codec that has fixed data rate of 25Mbps, which is identical to the data rate of the standard definition DV compression. This kind of compression does a great job when capturing high resolution video but is a little inferior to digital video when it comes to rendering motion in a realistic way.
As in the case of the other HDV camcorders, the Canon HV20 records to MiniDV cassettes, which is the same inexpressive and widely used format that is adopted by the standard definition SD camcorders. These cassettes have a run time of 60 minutes in SP mode but will also be able to hold up to 90 minutes of more compressed LP video.
Editing of the videos:
Canon HV20 records in both HDV and standard definition DV video, and both these formats are supported by the consumer and professional non lineal editors like Avid Liquid and DV Express Pro, Apple iMovie and Final Cut Pro, and Adobe Premiere. Transferring of the videos to a Mac or PC for the sake of editing can be done with the help of the included FireWire cable.
Still camera features in HV20:
As in the case of most of Canon camcorders, the HV20 also has some of the very impressive still camera features. It has a good set of still features with an impressive still resolution but we have to admit that none of the camcorders in the current market standout to be hybrid. The still photo resolutions can be set to 2048 x 1536 (4:3), 1920 x 1080 (16:9), 1440 x 1080 (4:3), or 640 x 480 (4:3) in memory mode. And the quality of each of these resolutions can be set to Normal, fine and superfine. In the video mode, there are two menu options, namely “Function” and “Main”. While the function menu has the most basic options, the Main menu has more interesting and advanced options.
Still images can be shot on both playback or even while recording at the current video resolution. For instance, during a 16:9 DV playback, the stills are captured at a resolution of 848 x 480. If you wish to capture still images in the highest possible mode, then you will have to first switch from Tape mode to Card mode. This will allows the still images to be stored in the SD card. The Canon HV20 also allows you to record stills in the video mode while recording video to tape but in this mode, the maximum still resolution is a mere 640 x 480.
Still performance:
The best still images can be obtained by reducing the exposure scale to -1. The colour error is higher than normal. Though most of the spectrum remains to be accurate, the blue colour is a little over saturated.
Features:
One of the main reasons why Canon HV20 has a bigger size than its predecessor is its 10x optical, f/1.8 to f/3 zoom lens, which includes Canon’s Super-Range Optical Image Stabilisation. Unlike the standard image stabilisation techniques, this version of canon incorporates a feedback from the processor in order to fine tune the camcorders shake avoiding features. This technology works out to be good, but cannot be said as perfect.
Instant auto focus:
The instant auto focus employed, with the aid of a sensor in the front of the tape compartment measures the distance to your subject. It works very fast in bright light but then slows down a considerable rate when in low light areas. Occasionally the HV20 HD Camcorder focuses on the wrong object. But these issues arise only at the 10X end of the zoom.
The CMOS sensor:
Canon has employed a 3-megapixel, 1/2.7-inch CMOS sensor in the HV20 that captures at 1,920 horizontal and 1,080 vertical pixels for either 1080i high-definition or wide-screen standard-definition video. In the case of standard definition, those pixels are down converted to fit the format. Canon has the net for the advanced level camcorder users with its catchy 24p shooting mode which mimics the 24fps frame rate of the movies. It does a good job but the slower frame rate of device might cause some of the objects in faster motion look choppy when compared to the videos of frame rate 30fps.
Though you cannot expect the same tonal characteristics as that of the films, Canon has included a cine mode which can be combined with the 24p mode if you desire to have a film like look. This works by changing the colour and gamma performance. Experts cannot be satisfied but it is worth a try.
Video quality:
The video shot with Canon HV20 Mini Camcorder is sharp and the colours show plenty of saturation. Little noise was surprising in good lighting conditions. As in the case of its predecessor, the HV20 also loses some information in highlights, though it preserves noticeably more highlight detail than most non-HD camcorders, and shadow details are impressive. Since Canon HV20 has a single chip design as opposed to the three chip design, the low light performance is not that great. Yet, the grains little and there is very little shadow detail.
Warranty:
Canon offers HV20 HDV camcorder a limited one year warranty.
Verdict:
Though, as we have pointed out in the review there are a few black spots with the Canon HV20, it will still prove to be one of the best seller for Canon. The HV20′s stunning high-definition video and comfortable operation make it a great choice for non-professional, HD-happy videographers. But if you are almost sure that you will be shooting in low light areas, then you could spend a little more and opt for Sony’s Handycam HDR-HC7.
Read reviews of Canon XH A1s HD Camcorder, Latest Camcorder Models in this website.
Canon HV20 Compact Camcorder – Technical Specifications, Features
| Manufacturer | Canon |
| Model Name | Canon HV20 HDV camcorder |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 89x137x81 mm |
| Weight | 544 g |
| Recording media | MiniDV |
| Number of CCDs | 1 |
| Sensor type | CMOS |
| Effective sensor resolution | 3000000 pixels |
| Min shutter speed | 1/2 s |
| Max shutter speed | 1/2000 s |
| Shooting modes | Digital photo mode |
| Shooting programs | Snow, Beach, Sunset, Fireworks, Spotlight, Night, Sports, Portrait |
| White balance | Presets, Automatic |
| White balance presets | Shade, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light |
| Exposure modes | Program, Automatic, Shutter priority, Aperture priority |
| Min illumination | 0.2 lux |
| Focal length | 6.1-61mm |
| Aperture | F/1.8 |
| Optical zoom | 10 x |
| Digital zoom | 200 x |
| Image stabiliser | Super-Range Optical Image Stabilisation |
| Display type | LCD |
| Display form factor | Rotating |
| Display size | 69 mm |
| Display resolution | 211 pixels |
| Audio input type | Microphone |
| Microphone type | Built-in |
| Sensor resolution | 2 megapixels |
| Maximum image size | 1920×1080 pixels |
| Recording media | MiniDV tape, MiniSD flash memory card |
| Accessory shoe | Yes |
| Microphone | Yes |
| Firewire | Yes |
| USB | Yes |
| Battery type | Li-ion |
| Included cables | USB, AV, component video |
| Included accessories | Battery pack, compact power adapter, wireless controller |
| Warranty | One year |
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