 Great HD Camcorder |
| Review Date: March 14, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Douglas M. Edstrom, Atlanta, ga |
| Did a lot of research on HD consumer camcorders and believe this one and the HV40 are the no brainers for people who dont mind using mini DV tapes. Have talked to several professional's in the field whom all seem to agree that this camcorder is hands down the best consumer camcorder. Have owned it for a year and haven't had any problems. The picture is great and seems to do well in low light also. |
If You Like Overexposed Video, Buy This Camera
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| Review Date: February 20, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Richard Sullivan, Los Angeles, CA USA |
Others seem to love this camera, but really, after owning it for a just few days, what could one possibly know? My report is based on a full year's use under all kinds of weather and lighting conditions. There is no in-between rating option, but I actually give the Canon Vixia HV30 two and a half stars.
A huge and unforgivable --and easily fixed problem with the Vixia HV30-- is consistently overexposed images and blown-out highlights. Software such as iMovie may compensate somewhat, but certainly cannot correct this flaw. It's impossible for software to create pixels where the Vixia HV30 never did, so don't count on software to save your images --because you shouldn't have to.
Much of my dissatisfaction comes from shooting video of whales from my yard in Hawaii under every imaginable lighting condition. Whales are completely unpredictatable, and when one appears you have to press the record button, or else lose the shot. There is no time for adjustments.
Under average-scene brightly-lit conditions the camera performs well, but in bright sunny conditions, and anywhere near the water it fails with horribly blown-out highlights and by consistently overexposing the entire scene no matter what the weather: sunny, overcast, or gray and stormy. This cannot be easily compensated for, because when set to P for program mode, a lot of fidgeting must be accomplished very quickly before this exposure compensation option disappears from your screen, and you have to start the steps all over again, faster. Very frustrating. This would be bad enough when setting up for a planned shoot, but most good shots are serendipitous grab shots, with no time for complicated adjustments. Whether it's the kids, the dogs, or whales, it's either shoot it, or lose it.
When the P mode's exposure is turned down/darkened to try to compensate for the overexposure-prone HV30, the settings go away when the camera is turned off. There should be an option to set the exposure where we want and leave it there until we want to change it. Or as in the Canon xti, a dial that allows you to instantly dial it down without first going through a dozen adjustments on tiny little buttons. Or, a center-weighted metering option, right at your fingertip.
Another reviewer, "Sounds of Kauai", posted a video that illustrates exactly what I mean: note the first half a dozen shots of turtles and seaside scenes are way too light with the highlights completely blown out.
On a sunny day and zoomed in on people standing in front of dark-colored but sun-lit cliffs, with bright sunlit trees in the same frame, the people are completely blown out as well. The HV30 seems to be way overzealously weighted toward capturing detail in dark areas while overexposing mid range areas and the complete exclusion of any detail in the highlights.
Why does the still camera function allow for adjusting the meter from an averaging meter to center-weighted metering, but not the video? How crazy is that? Flipping a switch to center-weighted metering would solve 95% of my overexposure complaints and allow this camera to be light-years more valuable to all videographers. There's such a button to toggle between auto focus and manual, and another for back lighting compensation, Canon, so what are you dunderheads thinking of anyway?
People who have trouble with the TV remote will bristle at the unintuitive function menu, which after a year still trips me up. And I'm great with the TV remote. To go through a dozen steps to make a simple adjustment is a real negative. The manual is difficult to decipher as well and not clearly written or well presented, and I say that as an author of Hawaii guidebooks, in which I try my best to assume the reader knows nothing about Hawaii, and it's my job to inform, or "teach".
One of the most diabolical problems with the HV 30 is this: when skies are stormy, and the image is almost monochromatic due to absence of color under those conditions, troubling colored artifact fields appear in the scene, with magenta/purple coloring appearing all over the edges of the scene, and cyan/green artifacts in the middle. To view what should be a gorgeous rich monochromatic smorgasbord of grays and silvers in a scene of stormy skies and diamond-colored water with whales spouting in the distance is ruined by the intrusion of large areas of purple artifacts on both sides of the image, and cyan/green artifacts in the middle. These either don't appear in scenes shot under richly colored conditions, or are just not noticeable.
The still camera is a real pain primarily because Canon didn't want to spend fifty cents to include a card that fits the stupid thing, and hunting one down is ridiculously difficult. Also, you must choose between shooting video and shooting stills, even though other makers allow shooting stills while you are recording video.
The eyepiece is absurd, with no cup or sun shield, so when the sun is bright and at either side, or low in front, you cannot see through the viewfinder, much less the little monitor. You're shooting blind. This is an egregious flaw, easily remedied by Canon, so to have this problem not change, apparently, from the HV20 to the HV30 to the HV40 in unforgivable.
Errant sun also can destroy the contrast in your images, so invest in a lens hood; I found one on eBay for $12, expensive for just a piece of plastic, but priceless for improved colors and good contrast. Canon should have included one.
Tapeless = Clueless. Do not run wild with the hard drive-crazed herd. I do like tape: the image is better than on hard drive, people say, but having a tape copy as back up is terrific, and having a full hard drive with no place to download it when you are on vacation or assignment and still need to shoot more stuff is absolute torture. There are lots of ways you can miss a great shot, but a full hard drive has to be the most ridiculous of all.
As a professional photographer on assignment, I've always said I'd rather a thief stole my camera than the film I had just shot, and I feel the same way about video: drop a hard drive camera or lose it, and the masterpiece you shot is gone as well.
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OUTSTANDING camera
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| Review Date: January 11, 2010 |
| Reviewer: DK, Colorado Rockies |
I'll try not to restate what others have already said.
This camera produces excellent quality video.
You need an external mic to escape the tape motor whine.
You absolutely need the Canon WD-H43 Wide angle converter.
I dislike the eyepiece (or lack thereof).
There is no image stabalization to speak of (I only use zoom from a tripod anyway).
I record in 30p - it looks wonderful.
Experiment with the P Tv and Av features (these will make sense to all you SLR owners).
Buy extra batteries. Don't expect too much from the "still photo" capabilities. (Spend a few bucks and get a Rebel Xsi for those)
HDV is still the best choice. AVCHD is still a few years from working well in your video editing software - unless you have an extrodanary computer. You should consider that many pro level cameras continue to use HDV. Also I like to use the tapes to archive video (3 bucks = 14 GB). |
Great Camera
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| Review Date: December 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: G. Williams, |
| I have had this camera for over a year and have had no problems with it. If you want to record to tape and want a light, portable camera then this is for you. I have had no problem with the "lightness" of the camera and have, in fact, felt it to be just the right size and weight for shooting a video with or without a tripod. Again, portability is a key issue. The picture is great, especially in good lighting. I bought a wide angle converter which I would highly recommend, especially when filming inside. I also bought the larger battery which helps a lot and a shotgun mike which I have not had really great results with. I have used most of the settings including 24p which I think is a great advantage to this camera. Overall a great camera for recording to tape. |
Great camera but what's with the price? $1.500.00???????
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| Review Date: November 28, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Shadowman, Alaska |
I have had this camera for more than a year and have shot a lot of video. I was looking to pick up another as a backup for when I am traveling and saw the price of $599.99 here on Amazon, about what I paid for mine a year ago. But when you click on the item, it comes up with a proce of $1,499.99! What's with that? If true, I should have invested all my money in HV30's.......
Anybody have any ideas? Anybody at Amazon???? |
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US $204.01
