Canon HV20 Mini DV/HDV Camcorder
The HV20 is a follow up to the hugely successful HV10. This being an upgraded version of the HV10, it shares quiet a few of the features with it but also boasts some impressive new features. Features such as plus 24p recording, HDMI output, longer lasting battery life, presence of an accessory shoe and horizontal design makes the HV20 a better camcorder than the HV10.
The HV20 has dimensions of 3.5 x 3.2 x 5.4 in (W x H x D) and weighs around 1.2 lbs without batteries and lens. The camera has a nice shape making it easier to shoot with but this comes at the price of a larger size. Presence of a 10x optical, f/1.8 to f/3 zoom lens dose not help matters when considering the size department but it does make the features list look impressive. The lens also comes equipped with Canon’s Super-Range Optical Image Stabilization. The results using this are better than the standard optical image stabilization but the camcorder still fails to provide shake free handheld shots with 10x zoom being used. The camcorder employs an impressive instant auto focus system which has very fast measurement rate when the lighting conditions are good. The performance of the auto focus system falls considerably in dim lighting conditions with wrong subject focusing being the main problem. 
The HV20 has a 3 mega pixel 1/2.7-inch CMOS sensor which has the ability to capture 1,920 horizontal and 1,080 vertical pixels for both 1080i high-definition videos and the wide-screen standard-definition videos. Still images are captured having resolutions of 1,920×1,440 in 4:3 mode and 1,920×1,080 in 16:9 mode. The HV20 has very good button setting with nearly all buttons present being easily accessible. The camcorder has a 2.7-inch, wide-screen LCD screen and below this are four buttons. They perform tasks such as zooming in and zooming out, starting and stopping recording, accessing focus mode assist and they also double up as playback controls.
To appeal to the professionals the HV20 has a 24p shooting mode which has frame rate of 24fps. If one wants to obtain a film look and cope with 30fps video the HV20 has a cine mode which can be combined with the 24p mode and attempts to provide film like look. The only disappointment in this is lack of white balance options while the shooting is in progress. One needs to make the required changes before the recording begins. Looking at the basic picture quality the videos come out extremely good. They are sharp and colours produced are vibrant and natural. The camcorder comes up with exceptional results when used outdoors and in good lighting conditions. One disadvantage of the HV10 that the HV20 inherits is the tendency to lose information during highlights. But still it performs better than most of the other non-HD camcorders. The performance of the HV20 falls dramatically when used in dim light. The exceptional shadow detailing in high lighting condition seems to lose all its detaining power when used in low light conditions. As in the HV10 the HV20 still images are good and better than what one might expect from a camcorder.
The various Programmed AE modes present are Auto, Program, Av, TV, CINE, Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight and Fireworks. One can also set the exposure manually if required. The different playback modes supported are 1080/60i, 1080/24P, 1080/30F and1080/24F. The white balance options present to choose from are Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent and Fluorescent H. The camcorder also has Type A (19 pins) 480i/ 480p/1080i Format Supported HDMI Terminal, 3.5 mm Stereo Mini-jack Microphone Terminal and 3.5mm 4 Pole Mini-jack AV Mini Terminal /Headphone Terminal.
Despite a few short comings the HV20 is an excellent camcorder with its high-definition video and easy to use button settings. The camcorder surely is one the front runners of its type in the market currently but one can’t consider it to be the absolute number one with its failure to perform in low lighting conditions.
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Filed Under: Canon Digital Camera
