|
 | 
 enlarge
| Brand: Canon
Category: Photography
List Price: $899.99
Buy New: $588.95
You Save: $311.04 (35%)
New (29)
Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Monitor Size: 270
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 10
Digital Zoom: 200
Connectivity: IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Display Size: 2.7
Maximum Focal Length: 61
Minimum Focal Length: 6.1
Maximum Resolution: 2070000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.6 x 5.5
nv:Sensor: 2.96 Megapixel
Size: 1/2.7-inches
Image Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Movie Resolution: 1440 x 1080
Storage Media: High Definition miniDV (recommended) (63min.) or miniDV cassette
Storage Media: MiniDV Cassette
Compressed Format: JPEG
Movie File Format: HDV
Movie File Format: DV
Optical Zoom: 10x
Digital Zoom: 200x
Focal Length: f=6.1-61mm
Focus Mode: Manual
Focus Mode: Instant AF
Focus Mode: TTL - AF
LCD Monitor: 2.7-inches
LCD Pixels: 211,000 pixels
LCD Coverage: 100%
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
MPN: HV30
Model: HV30
UPC: 013803091595
EAN: 0013803091595
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
| Customer Reviews:
 lots of research before purchase... now well pleased September 11, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Wrestled with this decision for a long time. Reviews were so helpful, I decided to post mine. I will try to address the main things that concerned me from other reviews before I purchased.
Battery Life: I bought the extended battery, but probably wouldn't do that again if I had a do-over. Battery life is fine for my needs (couple hours of clock time, 60-90 min recording time). Try it yourself before you buy the extended one if you're looking to save $.
Start/Stop Record Button Location: The location of the start/stop record button, but to me it feels very natural in it's location. The "joystick" is a bit weak feeling, but not to the point where it annoys me.
Sound/Mic: Just not a problem at all for me. I'm a consumer-level person who makes family videos in Final Cut Express, and the sound quality is no better/worse than the last three camcorders I've owned. It was nice to know, however, that I can attach a directional mic if it ever becomes a problem.
Rattle Noise: I am VERY glad I read the reviews on this or it would have freaked me out. The thing does rattle when you move it around and boy does it sound like something is broken. It is not. Others have explained what it is, but suffice it to say, it saved me some panic time knowing it was there in advance.
Only complaint I have (and boy is this a small nitpick) is that the cover to the component jacks doesn't easily go back into place nice and tight. I feel like one day this is going to break or lose its tight fit, but hopefully not.
So far, so good. Quality is great. Final Cut Express recognized it right away. Imports fine in both SD and HD recordings. One thing you may want to be aware of is that when you import into FCE, your sequence settings will show 1440x1080, not 1920x1080 as you may have thought. There are TONS of info on this on the forums, but again, it is normal. MiniDV tape requires 1440x1080 anamorphic to fit on the medium. I didn't know that when I bought, but now am very glad it is like that because FCE handles 1440x1080 without any issues, which isn't true of 1920x1080. So it turned out to be a blessing. Very happy so far. All the features I need, and nice that it came with the component cables when I want to plug right into an HDTV for playback before editing. Used the light to film the kids goig to sleep on our vacation in a dark room and was just enough light for a cool "bedtime" effect. Good stuff. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Great camera, high quality video, low built in sound May 9, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Great camera! There's a great website hv20 dot com that show how to get the most out of this camera and answer questions that are vague in the manual. This camera doesn't need more help but there's a lot more you can do than what comes out of the box. The video quality is superb, but the sacrifice is that you might want to buy an add on mic. I got the canon boom mic for another $150 to get a great whole package.
 Read the Fine Print June 16, 2008
9 out of 120 found this review helpful
I bought this camcorder specifically to record a conference I was hosting but then a buddy of mine, who is a professional videographer, offered to do it. I decided to return it even though I had not opened it. I always assume when I buy a product from Amazon that there is a 30 return policy and a full refund but to my suprise, Ace Photo & Digital, the company that sold me the camcorder through Amazon, said their return policy was only 10 days and there was a 10 percent restocking fee. They refused to budge even though I spoke to a manager and plead ignorance. So my suggestion is to make sure you check out the company you are buying your product from and read the fine print or else it will cost you a pretty penny.
 Excellent Looking Footage, could be wider lens. August 9, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I question the value of most reviewers who write something after a short experience with a product. I fall into that category myself but here goes. I've "played" with this camcorder for a month and did one serious shoot - a talking head interview miked with a lavalier mike. I used professional studio tungsten lighting. It looked very, very good for a camcorder at this price. Sounded great which had more to do with an external mike than the camcorder. The sound may suck with the camera's mike but I don't intend to use it much. I am thinking I will have to do some rube goldberg adjustments to get what I want from this camcorder but so be it. I shot the interview at 30p and cinema mode(vivid) which seemed to work nice. The image under my lighting looked washed out so I over rode the auto lighting minus two. Worked fine in this instance.
I was attracted to this camera because most reviews suggested the video quality was very good. I concur. Also like the 30p & 24p and cinema mode and ability to use external microphone. With good technique I think I can produce videos that rival the models that cost 3-4K, particularly when you convert to quicktime or flash for the web.
I use a new MAC and Final Cut Express to edit my stuff. The HD footage from this camera takes some horsepower to edit i.e. hard drives, processor, video card, etc. If all I wanted was some family stuff to play back on my TV through the camera I wouldn't go with this camera -- probably would get one of the camcorders with a card and avchd format.
I'm a professional still photographer. This camera is meant to be an extension of some of the work I do in that capacity. So far I'm happy with it. It's a consumer camcorder with enough bells and whistles to make decent video if used carefully. The price is outrageous (in a good way). Am anxious to do more with it.
The only negative I might bring up is that the zoom is only around 48mm (35mm camera equivalent) at the wide end which makes basically a normal field of view. Lots of telephoto reach but I would prefer it the other way around. I notice that the Canon wide angle converter lens is .7x which would be around 34mm when attached. Still not extremely wide but so it goes.
Best Video Quality I've Ever Seen in a <$2000 Camcorder November 7, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I've been buying camcorders since they've existed and every time I've brought a new camcorder home I've had the same experience, that is, the picture I saw on my TV never matched my expectations, it never even came close. I always hoped to see the quality of video I saw on the TV and news shows I watched and was always disappointed when the camcorder video quality always fell well short of that expectation. Until now! The Canon HV30's 1080i HD video quality on my 46" LCD screen is stunning, better than I could have ever hoped. The first time I saw some video I took of beautiful Snoqualmie Falls I kept saying "wow" over and over. The video quality was far above any non-HD broadcast video and, to my eye, on par (or close to) with the video I see on many HD broadcast channels. OK, this camera is obviously not of the same caliber of those used for network HD televison, but dang, it comes as close as any "prosumer" camcorder I've ever seem.
I also must say the the image stabilization is the best I've ever seen as well. Rock solid video even at long distance, 10x zoom. Pans can be made easily to look Steadicam solid. Very impressive.
I can't really think of anything negative to say about the HV30. I guess if I had to pick something it would be battery life of under an hour. The can be addressed with an optional long life battery. But that is really being nitpicky, this camera is fantastic.
You can read all about the bells and whistles elsewhere, but if VIDEO QUALITY is THE most important thing to you then this camcorder should be your only choice.
|
|
|
2005-2007 Zone1electronics All rights reserved.
| |
