Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Anyone with experience with this cam? Worth it, given a somewhat tight budget?

No hands on experience of the Sony but in that price range it is widely recognized (search review sites) that the Canon HV30 (superseded by the new HV40) is the best HD video camcorder. If you look around you should be able to find a HV30 for around $5-600.

Thanks Ken..... I don't want to spend money on a camera to be completely unsatisfied. And as much as hard-drive and flash based camera's are making a mark in the video world these days -- I still prefer tape storage, and so do professionals, as all pro cam's are either DV cam, MiniDV or HDcam tape formats. So the HV30 actually works out really well.....

There is one on CL selling for considerably less than what a new one was going for, so I am going to check that out.


David

Great recommendation Ken.

I have the Canon HV20, basically the same as the HV30 except for a smaller LCD screen and silver finish instead of black but pretty much the same. I also prefer using tapes rather than HD or flash drive. If you're on a trip and don't have time to dump your captures from the HD or flash systems, you're screwed. Tapes are inexpensive and I can store them without having to risk accidentally deleting a video clip.

The Canon HV-20/30/40 series are so good that film companies have been using them as disposable cameras where the risk of damaging a camera is high. The 24fps is also very "film" like.

The only drawback is that it larger in size than comparable HD or flash drive units.

Ya, size doesn't matter ... I am coming from having used a Canon GL-1 which is considerably larger. I want to be able to shoot 1080P at 24fps when I am in Vancouver... so hoping to pick one up by Monday.

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As Carlton says, don't hesitate. The image quality is superb. I also have a HV20 and miniDV tapes are inexpensive and much easier to catalogue and archive than digital media. A friend who is a film maker recommended the HV20/30 to me. He said the image quality (not audio) is comparable to HD cameras costing tens of thousands of dollars and a number of prestigious film schools use the HV series of cameras because the price/image quality is unbeatable at the moment.

So what's the best way to convert miniDV to digital? Back in the day I used winDV but haven't kept up with the latest software.

I have my eyes on a used HV30 -- as you can't get them new in the store new anymore. The HV40 is the new model. I was speaking with a guy today who speculated that the HV40 may be the last model to include MiniDV in the consumer market.

I also have a friend with an HV20, and she loves her camera -- uses it for amateur film making.

Just be aware that the HV40 is indeed the last consumer HDV camcorder Canon will make, so while miniDV is reasonably archival, the machine to play it back is not, and tape heads and mechanisms have moving parts, and will need to be replaced. I'm already hearing about HV20/30/40 users who are having a hard time finding another machine due to hardware failure.

Support for MiniDV will not die anytime soon. As a vast majority of professional HD camera's are still using the miniDV format.

miniDV vs HDV - you cannot read HDV with a miniDV machine, and since you're not keen on paying $$$$ for one, how are you going to get the footage off the tapes if/when your HV30 dies?

Again, I know it's not impossible, but factor in the $$$ question since you're already mentioned the tight budget. It's painful to pay out another few $$$ later-on.

I think it will all be good. Thanks.