Video Accessories Misc

Canon HV20 One-Chip HDV High Definition Video Camera

Introduction

When Canon released its HV10 HD video camera on the heels of the first consumer HD video camera that Sony marketed, well, maybe it was just a bit too fast. There were a couple of things missing, such as an HDMI output and external microphone input. At least that was what consumers complained about on the various forums out there.

So, a few months after the HV10 came out, the HV20 was released. It has the HDMI output and external microphone input, but it is also a much different shape. Whereas the HV10 was higher than it was wide, the HV20 is the other way around.

I have to say right up front that the HV20 is a fantastic camera. It has a very good image sharpness bench test result, even compared to cameras costing more, and image quality is, to me, the most important factor. All the video cameras have the basic features now, and they all fit in your hands very nicely. Sure, some have more convenient user interfaces, but as far as I am concerned, I will put up with a less convenient and  harder to use camera if it has a top notch image quality. Well, the HV20 has a pretty good user interface, fits in my hand almost but not quite as well as the HV10 (I have very big hands), but has a superb image.

The reason for the much better than average image quality is straightforward. Canon has been making lenses and cameras since the 1930's. So, they really know their image quality standards. Other companies who market cameras these days include some that were really not in the camera business until digital imaging came along. So, you will see their cameras listing other lens manufacturers. They are good lens producers, but there is something about having the camera and lens made by the same company - one that has been making such devices for the major part of a century - that insures the very best final image that can be had. Canon is one such company.

The HV20 is so good in fact, that there is a forum out there dedicated to the use of this camera. Mods include ways of attaching conventional 35mm lenses so that the video can have depth of field quality just like regular movie film. Using such a lens with the HV20 set to its 1080p24 mode (24 frames per second in progressive scan) will allow Indie film companies to make movies at very good quality, with a camera/lens combination costing about $2,000. Plug in a couple of wireless microphones, bring along a van full of lights, and you are in business.

The Design

There are several types of video cameras now, in terms of how they store the video content. One is the oldest method: tape. This is the way that the HV20 stores its recorded video. Second is on a hard disc drive, called HDD, and third is on memory cards. The memory card method is probably the method of the future because there are no moving parts, which means better long term reliability and easy access to all the files for reviewing them while they are still in the camera. The P2 memory card, used by Panasonic, works very well, but the cards are expensive right now ($1,000 for 16 GB) because they have to be extremely fast and they are not at the state of mass production yet (they are still a professional product rather than a consumer product).

Because tape can hold a lot of data, the HV20 uses MPEG-2 compression, which is an older technology, but it is a good one, and the video files are easily accessed by any modern NLE (Non-Linear Editor) for compiling into your home video album. If you use the HDMI output connected to a computer with a special video card, such as from Black Magic Design, you can capture (record) full uncompressed 1920x1080 video. This is the way to use it if you are making an Indie film (make sure you have a BIG hard drive, because uncompressed video streams are huge). Otherwise, onto tape, it records the HDV standard, which is 1440x1080.

The HV20 uses a CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor chip rather than CCD (Charge Coupled Device). CCDs have been used in the past because they were less prone to noise, but improvements in CMOS technology have resulted in more and more camera companies moving towards using CMOS because the noise factor is not an issue anymore. CMOS is more energy efficient and, thus, the camera battery lasts longer, for more pictures before having to recharge it. CMOS is also a lot less expensive to manufacture. So, it appears, CMOS is the future for digital cameras.

As I mentioned, the HV20 follows on the HV10. Although the shape is different, the HV20 has the same lens, sensor chip, and same size LCD monitor screen.


The microphone ports are on the front instead of the rear, and the camera has an HDMI output as well as an external stereo microphone input. These are all things that consumers complained about not having in the HV10. So, my impression is that the HV20 was designed simply to mitigate the complaints with the HV10, and the picture quality is the same (excellent). That means you can pick up an HV10 for a song, if you can find one, and if you don't care about not having the HDMI output or external microphone input. In fact, I use an HV10 for high definition video interviews (courtesy of Canon), and it is a wonderful little camera.


Viewing the camera from the rear left side (shown below), you can see the LCD screen which has push buttons on it (differs from the HV10)


Near the front of the camera are the BackLight Control (BLC) for when the sun is behind the subject, manual focus controls, and then to the right of the LCD screen are the Display button (so you can see how much tape and battery time are left), a speaker out (so you can hear the sound when reviewing your recording), the HDMI output jack, and a flip-down panel to insert an SD card for still photography.


On the rear right are the On/Off dial, the Start/Stop button (starts and stops recording), the controls for setting menu items, the Auto/P switch (sets the camera's functions automatically, or P for Program, where you can set the functions manually), and a switch to go from taping videos to taking still photographs. The battery is at the extreme rear and snaps in and out. If you only have one battery, you can leave it attached to the camera for recharging. At the top left is the eyepiece for using the internal, smaller viewing screen (when the sun makes viewing the external LCD screen difficult).


Screen shots of the various menus are shown below. The first one is what you see when you are shooting your videos, unless you press the Disp button which turns it off. The push buttons for zoom and other controls are beneath the screen. The other screen shot menus are for setting up different options. When I purchased my first Canon video camera 20 years ago, there was really just On, Off, Record, and Play. The resolution was only 230 lines in height.