First Look: Canon's HV20 Camcorder

By Chuck Gloman

There has always been a divide between consumer equipment and professional gear, but Canon has produced a rather tempting prosumer camcorder that provides quality HD images at a surprisingly low price point.

Weighing slightly more than a pound without battery, the HV20 is one small camcorder, though it includes a color viewfinder and a 2.7-inch widescreen flip-out LCD monitor. Its single CMOS sensor has more than 2 million active pixels (1920x1080) when shooting 1080i60 HDV and more than 1.5 million active pixels when shooting DV.

Taking control

Turning the camera on is slightly awkward; you use a thumb-activated wheel in the rear. Push down on the green button and slide the switch to the left to open the external lens shutter (no dangling lens cap that is quickly lost) and you are in camera mode. If the same switch is slid to the right, the camera is in tape mode.

The zoom switch is a tiny toggle directly in front of the photo button (the HV20 doubles as a digital still camera). Sized for third graders or those with dainty fingers, linebackers will have to have someone else zoom for them. If you plan on sharing the HV20 between several users, this switch could become inoperative quickly.

On the same side, the HV20 sports a microphone input (mini connector), a mini-plug AV output branching to the RCA video and audio cables (it’s also the headphone jack if switched accordingly in the menu), and the component out port. The back of the camera has a plastic-covered HDMI output and FireWire port. The AC jack is directly below this cover and will power the camera as well as charge the battery if the optional CB-2LW battery charger isn’t purchased.

The included BP-2L13 lithium ion battery lasts about an hour with the LCD open, which is pretty typical for a Canon battery of this size. I recommend the BP-2L14, a larger battery that sticks out farther but will give you more shooting time.

The menu took me a little while to find because the Function button must be pressed and then "Menu" selected. Under the Effect menu, you can turn the digital effects on and off, with options for in-camera fades and wipes. If you’d rather not wait until post for some specialized images, you can also record in black-and-white or sepia, while the “Art” option posterizes your world.

Unlike some of the competition out there, the Canon HV20 does downconvert, but you don’t get the options (letterbox, squeeze, or edge crop) that Sony offers. You can have an SD image, but your editing software must format it for 4:3 viewing.

In the field, in the air

The flip-out LCD screen is large enough for a camcorder of this size and has touch-sensitive tape control buttons at the bottom of the screen. With glasses, the viewfinder is difficult at best to use.

A small wheel, designed for people with long fingernails, controls the manual focus. A dial or lens ring would have been much better, but these are the kinds of concessions you must allow for when you settle for consumer-level gear.

Canon’s “Instant AF,” found on other cameras in its line, also has a home here, which is evident by the sensor to the left of the lens. When I reviewed the XH A1 (see review at www.governmentvideo.com), I found this auto focus system to be extremely fast.

The lens is an F1.6, 6.1mm-61mm 10x zoom using 43mm filters. It will focus as close as three feet, and requires only three lux if the shutter speed is set at 1/30. Also, the optical image stabilizer is superior to the digital units found on most inexpensive camcorders.

I took the HV20 along with me on a shoot where I was using the Sony HVR-Z1U as my main camera. I decided to use the HV20 as my B-roll camera, and it wound up being a godsend. The shoot was at an air show, and the point-of-view cockpit shots were too cramped for the Z1. While in a World War I biplane, I had no room for my knees, let alone the Z1. No problem for the HV20—it fit snugly in my hands while flying in the open cockpit.

For my outdoor shoot, the HV20 images were amazing and cut perfectly with my Z1 footage. But don’t expect the HD video shot with the HV20 to be in the same ballpark with footage shot with something like Sony’s XDCAM HD. A camcorder that costs more than $50,000 (with lens) is going to outperform a consumer model that has an estimated street price of $1,100.

Also, the HV20 did just fine side by side with the Z1 on an outdoor shoot, but it couldn’t compete in low-light situations. Please, keep your expectations realistic.

For its price point, nothing can beat the HV20. Sure, the controls are small, and it’s light on many of the professional features you want or need. However, on shoots where I have more control, this is a great B-roll camera that is less obtrusive than the larger HDV offerings.

Chuck Gloman is an awarding-winning producer/director of photography with more than 800 commercials to his credit, and is an associate professor at DeSales University. He's also a frequent contributor to DV sister magazine, Government Video.