Canon Vixia HV30 Camcorder - Black

I have been using the VIXIA HV30 for several years now, and just purchased a second one for my production company in order to get two simultaneous camera angles.

This camera has been replaced in the Canon line by the HV40, which brought true 24p recording and slightly better low light performance. The one main drawback of the HV30 is that recording in 24p adds a 3:2 pulldown to the footage, requiring pulldown removal through third party programs (Adobe After Effects or Cineform NeoScene). However, for me upgrading to the HV40 did not make financial sense, since I already own the Cineform software. The HV30 is now even lower priced because the HV40 exists.

This camera uses the same CMOS sensors as its prosumer cousins, and is really only lacking in pro options such as interchangeable lenses and multiple audio ports. However, I have found its options more than adequate for my small independent films.

It has an external mic port, which is very important for any quality filmmaking (though the onboard mic is also very good in many situations, where there is slight background noise and echos are not a huge issue). It gives you complete control of exposure, shutter speed, frame rate, and everything else the prosumer cameras can do... it just takes a little more effort to achieve it.

I highly recommend that anyone looking into this camera for professional purposes google the "hv30 forum" and read the low light shooting guides there, specifically the "cell phone trick" for eliminating gain when you lock the exposure. This one tip will get you beautiful low light performance with this camera.

I recently took my two cameras into a cave, pitch black inside, and lit my scenes there with four LED lanterns. The footage we were able to get even in this extreme low-light setting was breathtaking. This was achieved using the "cell phone trick" to lock the exposure with 0 gain (controlling the fstop in shutter priority mode). I also had to use manual focus, since autofocus fails in low light. I also use the Raynox 6600 HD Pro wide angle lens to get a little more light to the sensors (the 6600 is the best wide angle you can get for this camera, resulting in no distortion or vignetting).

If this all sounds extremely complicated, yes it kind of is. However, to be able to get professional-looking footage from a camera you can now pick up for $300-$400 is remarkable. Even with the wide angle lens and external mic, you will probably come in under $1000 and be able to produce footage that looks like it came from a $3,500.00+ prosumer model. Both of my cameras came in under the base price of a prosumer camera, for which I would still have to buy many accessories. These are GREAT starting cameras for small production companies.

If I had one major gripe about the camera, it would be the placement and ease of use of the manual focus button and focus wheel. In low light, the camera's autofocus is useless (and would be on any camera), and using the manual focus on the HV30 is a real chore. There are focus wheel attachments out there for the camera, but I haven't yet tried them out.

In short, though I know many people are flocking to DSLRs for video now, the only advantage there is the depth of field. The compression artifacts alone in DSLR footage makes it unappealing. I am happy with my HV30s, and will continue to use them even with my paid work for now. I would recommend this camera to anyone.

One of the last MiniDV compact camcorders made, so if you have tapes from an older model standard definition camcorder, this one can replay SD MiniDV tapes (even from my old Sony MiniDV camcorder, which had failed long ago, leaving me no way to view my extensive tape library of past videos). And it can record in several excellent HD quality modes as well. It is lightweight, feature packed and creates exceptional quality videos. Stills at 3.1mp are not bad either, but will not replace even a modest quality still camera.

This a great little camcorder! I did some research before buying my first HV30 (I now have three of them) and it was the top camcorder for HD recording in its class with Consumer's Report. It has everything one needs to produce a great movie, public service announcement, or advertisement. I am planning a new TV show that I will shoot with just three of these.
The picture quality is pristine; however the built in sound mic lacks the ability to cancel out the camcorder noise. I got a Rode's shotgun mic for my first one and was still dissatified. The third camcorder I bought had an attached Canon mic that finally satisfied me.
This little guy uses video tape to record on; which is still the best picture quality of the formats, it has built in headphone and microphone inputs, takes still shots during recording and send them to memory card which downloads via USB. The video information downloads via firewire.
This is the finest camcorder of its size and price range; of course, thats an opinion but having a degree in video engineering enables me to make that assumption (my opinion also)!

I have had this Canon HV 30 HD camera for 6 weeks now and it is everything I expected and more. I mainly use it for shooting family home videos. However, the other reason I wanted this camera was for transferring older analog DV videos to my computer. This camera converts them beautifully so I am now in the process of getting all my older DV videos to my computer. The analog to DV converter is built into the camera so it is seamless. As far as the quality of the HD video is concerned is absolutely beautiful. I plugged the camera in using an HDMI cable into my Samsung 55" TV and it was like watching HD except this was my homemade videos on screen. Unfortunately it also showed every wrinkle..... but that is the price you pay for HD Quality. I have no negative comments as I have had no issues with this camera so far. I am using an iMac computer with Final Cut Express HD software.

I got this camera for a couple reasons. Number one, it's HD, which is AWESOME! Also, I researched and found it has mnay manual options, and it's a tape camera (a big bonus when trying to edit video in realtime). I got it for Christmas. I've only toyed around with it so far, but it is VERY nice. The camera has a really nice feel in your hand. The menu interface is very intuitive and easy to use, unlike certain touch screen ones I've had the "pleasure" of using (Sony, cough, cough)... Anyway, for its price, mnaual options, and lots of bonus features (CINE Mode, anyone?), this is an AMAZING camera for anyone, whether you want a great-quality recording of a family event or are a professional. Definitely recommend it!!!