7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Amazing Camera For The Price
Date of Review: Jul 18, 2008
The Bottom Line: It's great for families, filmmakers, videographers, etc. It's just superb all around and it doesn't cost much. I always thought I'd have to spend thousands for quality like this.
The Canon HV20 is very impressive for such a low price. It can be now be had for about $500-$600 on Ebay and the quality you get dollar for dollar make it the best p4p camcorder on the planet.
The resolution is 1440x1080p at 16:9 ratio. It's not the expected 1920x1080p resolution for a 16:9 HD resolution, but it doesn't matter. The quality is jaw dropping.
One thing I really wanted an upgrade for was for low light shooting. My Canon Optura became junk from the moment the sun just started to set. It got all grainy. With the HV20 I can literally light one match in a room and the quality is smooth and after thrown into an editing system with color correction/gamma adjusting features I can get lots of detail without the grain...with just one match lit. It is such a vast improvement over my optura in that area (along with resolution). I want to make a movie that involves a lot of dark scenes and it just wasn't possible with my optura without buying very expensive lighting kits. With the HV20 I can make do easier.
The resolution upgrade over my Canon Optura is huge as well and it's very noticeable on an HDTV or Projector. I use a high definition DLP projector to view footage on and the HD quality can often resemble Hollywood quality at time, especially after tweaking in an editing program with good quality correction controls.
The cinegamms mode is very useful if you are a filmmaker. Actually, it's useful regardless. It adjusts the gamma to extend the dynamic range. You get shadows in many scenes where without it would be hidden. It gives the footage more of a movie look. Without it you might find shadows clip (disappear) or whites clip (where whites blow out) more in certain scene types, requiring more exposure control
The manual controls are decent, but not pro level. For the average user it's good enough and even many filmmakers can make do if they are creative. It doesn't have the many many adjustment features of say, a Panasonic DVX100A/B, but it's also not a $3000 camera, but it still gives a more detailed and sharper image since it's HD. I would like to see more gamma features and a more adjustable gamma curve in future installments of this model line.
The dynamic range (contrast) is very impressive for the price. With cinema mode you get a great and natural movie like image. 24p modes shoots at 24 frames per second like movies in the cinema, for that movie like motion. Combined with Cinegamma the picture can take on a very film like look, which makes it great for filmmakers who hate the video look of the news. So, it's a great budget camera for filmmaking.
The camera has a nice look even though I prefer the look of larger professional looking cameras, but it's decent. If you add a 35mm adapter such as the Brevis 35 you can used 35mm lenses, make your camera look more pro and get film like shallow depth of field. The Brevis is worth it if you shoot movies. It looks so much like film it's scary and makes your HV20 look really professional looking when added. Check ebay.
The battery life is plenty good. It'll last longer without the LCD, obviously. If you need more recording time don't use the LCD or just get a batter with longer life. It's that simple.
One thing. You will need a decent computer to be able to edit with the HV20. The newer PCs are all fine, but if you have an older pc it may not have enough power to run the footage. Check an online forum for the camera to find out the specs you will need. They are of great help. Also, definitely make sure you have an HDTV, but this camera even on an non HDTV will look great.
