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| 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
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| Customer Reviews:
 Covers all the bases March 23, 2008
29 out of 36 found this review helpful
I did extensive research before making this purchase about a month ago. Bought it at a Best Buy location for $999 and probably paid a bit too much. Now that I have it, I'm very pleased. Given all of its features and flexibility, its fairly simple to use and the film quality looks great on my HDTV - even for a rookie like me. Just a quick note to Mac users - I haven't been able to download footage to my Mac thus far. Pretty sure I need to get a specific Firewire cable for Mac, vs the USB cable that came with the camera.
 Great image quality- good value. May 9, 2008
24 out of 25 found this review helpful
I've spent the weekend shooting and editing with my Canon HV30, and overall, I'm very pleased with it. The image quality and color reproduction (when you switch "vivid" on in the settings) is superb. It's small, lightweight and the controls make sense. In a couple of hours I was able to put the manual away and know what I was doing. Low light performance is pretty good, with just a bit of noise all the way at iso 1600 (outside at night). It shoots very well indoors in normal lights and the auto white balance works perfectly as well.
It isn't all perfect, however. The manual focus control is inaccessible and sloppy. Thankfully the autofocus is very accurate and doesn't do a lot of hunting for what to focus on. The other problem is the zoom control. It is WAY too sensitive. You can set it for variable speed, but the slightest tremble in your finger causes a bump in the speed. I think I can learn to handle it. I'll just have to be very aware of keeping a light touch. I don't think I'll be able to work with the manual focus.
The camera doesn't come with a firewire or USB2 cable to connect to a computer. You need to buy that separately. But I was able to download hidef video effortlessly to iMovieHD using a Mac without any other installed software.
The built in microphone sucks. Definitely get Canon's optional shotgun mike Directional Microphone DM-50. That will handle just about any sound situation you run into. Also count on getting an extra battery pack or two. The included battery won't shoot long enough to fill an hour long tape. There are different sizes of batteries. Get the biggest one you can afford, along with the outboard charger, so you can be charging up the next battery while you are shooting. Also get at least four blank DV tapes to work with. You don't want to switch framerates, resolutions and aspect ratios on the same tape if you can help it.
Your whole kit, including all the accessories will fit in a very small camera bag. Pretty slick. And the quality of the movies you'll shoot will amaze you. Played back on a hidef screen, this camera is capable of producing very professional looking video.
Awesome HD camcorder May 29, 2008
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
I bought this camcorder for a recent trip to Europe, and the results are spectacular. I'm very pleased with the quality of the video and the vibrancy of the colors (almost *too* saturated). The image stabilization is good, and the zoom is great. I haven't really played with any of the other features, but I recorded 8 hours of video from my trip, and all of it looks wonderfully sharp on my Plasma TV.
Battery life was better than I expected (unlike some of the other reviewers, I was able to fill a one-hour tape on a single battery charge), but I do recommend buying a second battery. If you do so, also invest in a battery charger, as the kit only allows you to charge a battery when it is attached to the camera (it would've been nice to have one battery charging while I was using the other).
My minor complaints are as follows:
- As other reviewers have noted, the 'record' button is not intuitively placed, nor is it easy to tell when you're recording, especially in bright sunlight when one is wearing sunglasses and the screen is washed out. As a result I've got about 15 minutes of video of my pants leg instead of the desired content.
- The 'wide angle' simply wasn't wide enough to capture some of the views I wanted. I wish I had spent more time using the camera prior to the trip, as I likely would have invested in the available wide-angle lens extender.
- Low-light performance is quite grainy -- but understandable given the circumstances. The included light doesn't help all that much.
- The manual focus dial is basically useless.
- The internal microphone picks up everything - including camera hum, wind noise, etc. In especially windy conditions, this resulted in very poor audio quality.
I bought 2 of the expensive "HD" tapes, but also used 6 standard mini-DV tapes. I see no quality difference between the two. I don't know if a difference would show up with multiple recordings on the same tape, but for now, I'm more than satisfied with how standard tapes work.
Bottom line: This is an excellent consumer HD camcorder for those who want to watch high-quality home movies on their high-definition TV.
A great camcorder April 15, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is a great camcorder. I'm filming in 30p mode to upload video online, and I'm extrememly happy with the results. I'm using Final Cut Express 4 with no setup or capture problems - great compatibility with my Mac Pro. I attached a Canon VL-10Li II on-camera video light (it's a big light) and a good-quality, sturdy plastic lens hood I bought on e-bay. The hot-shoe cover is attached to the camera and is not detachable. Many owners complained about losing the cover with the HV20, but the cover gets in the way of my video light, so I'm thinking about cutting the attachment. The camcorder has all the ease and variety of functions for an intermediate videographer like me. My favorite functions: quick white balance setting; grid lines on the display; great instant auto-focus; allows for attachments like an on-camera light or microphone and filter lenses; manual focus option. I'm very, very happy with this camcorder after shopping and comparing different ones during the last few months.
BEWARE: Long term investment in learning this camera August 21, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
I have been taking family/travel DV for the last 5 years on a Canon ZR50MC, processing it on a PC and burning it to DVDs. I had this work flow down to a fine art. I replaced that (now worn out) camera with the HV30 about 5 months ago. It has been a 5 month learning experience (with a pretty steep curve).
The HV30 is deceptively powerful and complex camera. It has the potential in the right hands to film jaw droppingly good footage. Canon have included some pretty advanced features in the camera, but have omitted to explain the pros and cons of some of these features in the manual. This can lead to a lot of hair pulling and anger management classes, and frustratingly sub par footage. This is NOT a standard issue DV camcorder like the ZR50. It is waaaay more powerful, and can get you into trouble much more easily. You will need this website: hv20.com.
In full auto mode this camera shoots fantastic "local-news" style super sharp HD video - and if that's all you want then you will be one happy camper!!! My camera is also close to silent compared to the old ZR50MC - a big improvement.
However, if you want (like me) to dig into the progressive film modes (24p and 30p) things can get pretty weird, pretty quick. This film-ish HDV is somewhat prone to frame jitter / judder / shudder, MUCH more so than SDV. This is not a fault with the camera, but you could say it was unexpected and unwanted baggage. Jitter is when the edges of frame jump irregularly and potentially make the viewer feel somewhat seasick (not good). It becomes difficult to focus on elements in the picture. This is generally caused by pans and movement with an uneven or variable rate. Pans and movement must be very smooth, much more so than SDV. Smooth/even rate of change is more important than slow - for example filming through a speeding car windscreen is low jitter.
You might find yourself reading up on how frame rates and shutter speeds work to solve common judder and jitter problems with the HV30. The manual does not mention these very common problems. I can say you almost always need a tripod or a steadicam to get good low jitter footage, with the optical image stabiliser (OIS) turned OFF. However, the OIS is quite good when you are actually filming a static thing, but do not happen have a tripod in your pocket at that moment. Image stabiliser + any movement = Jittery Footage (bad). Hand held in general is really not a good idea. The manual does not address any of these subtle (but vital to success) points.
This brings us to pulldown removal and interlacing. This can get seriously weird. Again, it is not a fault with the camera - but it is yet ANOTHER issue to learn all about. The manual does not mention it. I can say that I now avoid 24p due to this problem - even on some TVs (which are meant to deal with this automatically) I can see interlace artifacts. After 5 months I am thinking that life is too short for amateurs to deal with this. Plus it gives me a headache.
Another important point is that you cannot faithfully assess this HDV footage on a PC. I have a dual core E6600 and a P4 - they both can add an additional layer of judder to the footage, since they cannot play it smooth enough. I use sensible settings in Vegas Pro for preview. To properly assess the footage you must use a TV. That was unexpected! Also there are major performance differences for mp4 video playback between the current media players. Something that plays/looks great in Quicktime will suck in VLC - yet more detailed trivia to be figured out.
All in all - this is great camera, but if you want to use it to its full potential, then you will be paying your dues for the next 6 months. It comes with A LOT of hidden baggage. If somebody could do a 1 hour training video, or an idiots guide on how to use it, I think it would be a much more appealing product (with hindsight). I will not be selling my HV30 due to the time invested; but I will never ever be upgrading a camera again.
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