| Canon VIXIA HV30 MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom | 
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| List Price: $999.99
Buy New: $765.99
You Save: $234.00 (23%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 14 reviews)
Sales Rank: 259
Category: Photography
Publisher: Canon
Studio: Canon
Brand: Canon
Label: Canon
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: 0
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Monitor Size: 270
Included Software: Yes
Special Features: nv:Sensor^2.96 Megapixel|Size^1/2.7-inches|Image Resolution^1920 x 1080|Movie Resolution^1440 x 1080|Storage Media^High Definition miniDV (recommended) (63min.) or miniDV cassette|Storage Media^MiniDV Cassette|Compressed Format^JPEG|Movie File Format^HDV|Movie File Format^DV|Optical Zoom^10x|Digital Zoom^200x|Focal Length^f=6.1-61mm|Focus Mode^Manual|Focus Mode^Instant AF|Focus Mode^TTL - AF|LCD Monitor^2.7-inches|LCD Pixels^211,000 pixels|LCD Coverage^100%|Shutter Speed^1/2000
Optical Zoom: 10
Digital Zoom: 200
Connectivity: IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Display Size: 2.7
Maximum Focal Length: 61
Minimum Focal Length: 6.1
Maximum Resolution: 2070000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.6 x 5.5
MPN: HV30
Model: HV30
UPC: 013803091595
EAN: 0013803091595
ASIN: B00114PN1U
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Capture high-defintion video to MiniDV | | • | 10x optical zoom; SuperRange Optical Image Stabilizer | | • | 24p Cinema Mode; 30p Progressive Mode | | • | 2.7-inch widescreen Multi-Angle Vivid LCD | | • | Simultaneous photo capture |
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Product Description
The dramatic Canon VIXIA HV30 incorporates advanced features to bring knowledgeable and demanding videographers the ultimate in HD video and digital photo quality. The VIXIA HV30 is packed with Canon exclusive features you won't find anywhere else. Canon's full HD CMOS sensor and advanced DIGIC DV II image processor deliver breathtaking detail and the best in color reproduction. SuperRange optical image stabilization and instant auto focus gives you the shot control high definition demands. With the genuine Canon 10x HD video zoom lens and a host of other advanced features the VIXIA HV30 is sure to be your choice in high definition camcorders. And, with its HD and standard definition recording modes, you can make the move to HD without making your SD equipment obsolete.The VIXIA HV30 is easy to use and delivers the high level of performance you've come to expect from Canon. It's the next step in premium quality high definition camcorders for which sophisticated and discerning videographers have been waiting.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Read the Fine Print June 16, 2008
4 out of 35 found this review helpful
I bought this camcorder specifically to record a conference I was hosting but then a buddy of mine, who is a professional videographer, offered to do it. I decided to return it even though I had not opened it. I always assume when I buy a product from Amazon that there is a 30 return policy and a full refund but to my suprise, Ace Photo & Digital, the company that sold me the camcorder through Amazon, said their return policy was only 10 days and there was a 10 percent restocking fee. They refused to budge even though I spoke to a manager and plead ignorance. So my suggestion is to make sure you check out the company you are buying your product from and read the fine print or else it will cost you a pretty penny.
 It was a hard decision, but I'm happy. June 16, 2008
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
Canon VIXIA HV30 MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
I'm very happy with my Canon HV30. I rate the picture quality, color quality, low-light ability, white balance all excellent. The zoom control is a little close for my fingers and I found myself holding the camera less firmly (ie with the tips of my fingers rather than my whole hand) which would be wearisome on a long shoot, but tripods are still the best way to shoot video for steady pictures. On the other hand the anti-vibration correction seems to help a lot.
The total package is good, not excellent and includes a battery with a nice contact protector that doesn't look like it will fall off (unlike the protector plate on the Elura and Optura that has to be taped on because it is so loose.) The plate keeps the battery from discharging on the keys in your pocket or bag. It also includes a charger which will also operate the camera without the battery, which is very handy. This is only good, because it won't charge the battery unless it is in the camera, so you can't charge while shooting with another battery.
The package also includes a remote control (see above) that frustrated me the first time I used it and seems to be of marginal utility. However, all of the minor problems with the package can be remedied with an add-on accessory. The camera is what does the work and it is excellent.
I've had this camcorder only one week. It was a busy week with kids graduation and parties and night club rock concerts on the video agenda but I learned a lot shopping for this camera and using it all week, so maybe my story will help you.
First, why miniDV rather than flash, hard disk or dvd? I already have two mini dv cameras, a Canon Optura and an Elura. These have given me good service and images that were the envy of my Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic-owning friends. The only brand I compare to Canon is Sony (for similar consumer equipment). I rejected the flash and DVD models because the recording time is too short. DVD, in particular, is a rip-off with just 15 minutes for a $10 disk.
This kind of short recording time is OK if what you want is to capture 1 or 2 minutes of magic moments and have them immediately available to put in a player. Personally I find the tape just as good for instant replay on the built-in video screen. It takes a couple minutes longer to rewind the tape.
The hard drive models have a recording time advantage that initially attracted me, but the transfer issue is what made me decide to stay with a minidv. Ultimately all video has to be transfered to another medium to be used and archived. I have been transfering my minidv tapes to computer hard drives and dvd for years.
Transfer is a tediuos, time-eating process that has caused me to spend more upgrading my computer and software than I spent on the cameras. Yes, I can make DVDs with my video; I can make YouTube videos; and I can put my own video stuff on my iPod and Zune. But it takes a lot of time to get the results I want.
Why tape? It's cheap and convenient. Video takes a lot of disk space to store the original and then to edit and render into other formats. I buy the cheap tapes but I only record them once. I can carry 2 or 3 which give me 2 or 3 hours recording time. The real restraint is the batteries. Once I have the image on tape I don't erase it. I can play it immediately if I want to, but the ultimate goal is to transfer it to hard disk for editing and archiving. The real godsend is the recent plethora of cheap 500 GB (now 750 and soon 1TB) external USB hard drives. The transfer time is a chore; so is the indexing.
Tape is patient. I can do it on my schedule. With a hard disk, it can get full at a time that is inconvenient to transfer but I need to do some more shooting. Then I would have to consider the dreaded DELETE of something I shot. With tape I can postphone transfering and editing for months without impairing my camera readiness. After I transfer, I still have the tape.
I considered the Sony HDR-HC9 and the older Canon HV20 vs. the Canon HV30. I was tempted by the 6MP in the Sony and also by the low prices on the HV20. I saw a deal on an HV20 for $520 but it was gone before I made up my mind to settle for it. Ultimately I was looking at $999 for the Sony or $771 for the Canon. The HV30 had 30p mode and the $228 savings provided a budget for extra batteries and other goodies.
So am I happy? Yes.
My wife used it at my kids' graduation. Perfect color and detail, oohs and ahs from everybody. My wife just uses automatic mode with the lcd screen hanging out. I took some mobile shots in my car, one-handed through the windshield. The anti-vibration mode works great, as does the autofocus. During this shoot there were times when the camera was looking almost directly into the sun. The meter responded quickly and closed down the aperture, but the resulting scene was a little dark (not too bad, actually). There is a back-light compensation button that could have helped but I didn't think about until later.
Then it was off to a night club. I took a recharged battery, not totally topped off because of numerous replays of some of the recent shooting. The lighting was typical dim night club ambiance with flashing disco lights on the dance floor and stage. My plan is to film the whole show.
I have plenty of tape but just the BP-2L13 that came with the camera, which the manual rates at 75 minutes using the viewfinder, or 70 minutes using the LCD. I also know that new Li-on batteries need to be recharged a few times before they reach their full capacity.
47 minutes of continuous filming is what I got, using the viewfinder. The image in the viewfinder was bright and easy to see. I wear bifocals but I was able to hold the camera several inches from my face and still see the edges of the viewfinder screen enough to frame the picture I wanted. My Optura and Elura both had decent viewfinders, but many was the time when I just pointed the camera and hoped my framing was ok because the image was so dim. The HV30 is really a huge step up.
I haven't had enough experience with this camera to fiddle with the focus and white balance while shooting so I left it on automatic. The colors of the spotlights were changing very quickly and I was panning the stage and the crowd, zooming in and out. After the battery died I took it off and held in my hand to warm it so after the show it gave me a few more seconds of shooting. Considering it wasn't topped off on the charger and it was only the first time it had been cycled I wasn't that disappointed. I just ordered a BP-L24H rated at 145 minutes recording time on the viewfinder from Amazon for $99 with some of the money I saved over buying the Sony.
The images were fantastic. I've shot in light like this with my Optura and ELura and there were always dark shadows with almost no detail. The Vixia showed great detail in the shadows. The automatic white balance reacted in a pleasant way to the red, orange and blue spotlights. Occasionally, on a wide shot of the band, while I was panning, the lead singer would be washed out from the bright spot on him while the rest of the band was in shadow but the overall effect made him look rather god-like which was cool. When I zoomed in the aperture closed down and I got excellent skin color and detail on his face. The anti-vibration did a great job because most of the images were pretty steady even though I was handholding and the crowd was bumping me often.
The sound was the only detail that keeps this from being perfect. The sound started out OK for the first few numbers, but as the night went on and the playing got louder, there was a lot of distortion because of the overloading. The band used big Marshall amps and I was standing 3 feet in front of an eight-foot high stack of speakers so it is to be expected. For a more acoustic or quieter show the automatic limiter would have been fine. Next time I won't stand in front of the speakers.
At home I hooked it up to the HDTV with the HDMA cable, tuned to the HDMA input with the TV remote and fired up the camera with the included remote control. The remote is a little skinny thing that does't provide any feedback when you select a function. My bedroom is less than 15 feet long so it couldn't have been more than ten feet to the camera. I had to get up and check the display in the camera to make sure the tape was rewound. This would be strictly an experimental item to be used at close range in a shooting situation.
On batteries: I have bought the "compatible" batteries and been burned many times. On my Canon sure-shot the compatible batteries would be charged (Charger light is green) but the battery would run the camera no more than 5 minutes. Same problem on my phones. For my Optura, I bought three "compatible" batteries and they worked fine. YMMV.
For editing, I've been using Ulead Visual Studio 11.5. The HV30 doesn't come with any software for movie editing or even transfering to disk. The included CD has software to transfer still pictures to a computer, but you don't need it. I verified that the HV30 is recognized automatically as a digital camera when you plug in the USB cable to the computer running XP.
I didn't install the Canon software, but I did install a miniSD chip (not included) and take some pictures. There is a different button to snap still pictures which I missed the first time I took a picture. Even if you have the switch on the still position, it starts the video tape recording if you press the camera start button. The three megapixels doesn't maake for a great picture but it may come in handy. This isn't one of the feaatures that attracted me to the camera but it may come in handy.
It copied my video from the camera and I edited it into a DVD. My Visual Studio 11.5 edits and burns AVCHD, but I haven't got a player that will read AVCHD anyway (other than my computer). I'm waiting for the Blue Ray burners to come out at reasonable cost, then I'll probably get some software that burns those. My computer is a quad-core Pentium with 4GB RAM.
If you read all the way to the end you are really a glutton for detail like me. I don't really care if you buy this camera or not. You should buy the camera that is right for you and your budget. If I felt I could afford it, I'd get a 3CCD profesional model with interchangeable lenses. I'd hire a grip to carry my equipment and set up and hold the boom mikes. I'd get some professional grade editing equipment too, like Avid. I'd get one of those business disk duplicators that print the labels and burn the disks while I sleep. OK, I'll stop.
Amazing Camera June 3, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
While it does not have three chips like more expensive cameras, it is PERFECT for shooting lower budget shots.
After getting a rig for it to allow for manual focus... were off and running!
Awesome HD camcorder May 29, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I bought this camcorder for a recent trip to Europe, and the results are spectacular. I'm very pleased with the quality of the video and the vibrancy of the colors (almost *too* saturated). The image stabilization is good, and the zoom is great. I haven't really played with any of the other features, but I recorded 8 hours of video from my trip, and all of it looks wonderfully sharp on my Plasma TV.
Battery life was better than I expected (unlike some of the other reviewers, I was able to fill a one-hour tape on a single battery charge), but I do recommend buying a second battery. If you do so, also invest in a battery charger, as the kit only allows you to charge a battery when it is attached to the camera (it would've been nice to have one battery charging while I was using the other).
My minor complaints are as follows:
- As other reviewers have noted, the 'record' button is not intuitively placed, nor is it easy to tell when you're recording, especially in bright sunlight when one is wearing sunglasses and the screen is washed out. As a result I've got about 15 minutes of video of my pants leg instead of the desired content.
- The 'wide angle' simply wasn't wide enough to capture some of the views I wanted. I wish I had spent more time using the camera prior to the trip, as I likely would have invested in the available wide-angle lens extender.
- Low-light performance is quite grainy -- but understandable given the circumstances. The included light doesn't help all that much.
- The manual focus dial is basically useless.
- The internal microphone picks up everything - including camera hum, wind noise, etc. In especially windy conditions, this resulted in very poor audio quality.
I bought 2 of the expensive "HD" tapes, but also used 6 standard mini-DV tapes. I see no quality difference between the two. I don't know if a difference would show up with multiple recordings on the same tape, but for now, I'm more than satisfied with how standard tapes work.
Bottom line: This is an excellent consumer HD camcorder for those who want to watch high-quality home movies on their high-definition TV.
 Great image, poor "feel" in your hand May 23, 2008
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
I've used higher-end ProSumer camcorders for a while and virtually every other generation of video camcorder since 1980. I recently used a Sony HC3 HDV handheld but gave that to my daughter when I got this HV30.
The HV30 has a great picture and all that. So I think I'll focus on what's either really cool, or a bit off-putting for a buyer.
Really Cool:
Video quality is the best you can find on today's one-chip HDV camera. Some 3-chip cameras have a better color depth but many 3-chip cameras actually have a worse picture. They did a great job.
It plays other Canon HDV tape. I own and use a XH A1 3-CCD canon HDV camera and the HV30 plays its tapes even better than the XHA1 seems to. That's great because I can save the A1's guts for a few more years.
It has virtually every output port you could wish for (today). HDMI, Component (yes Component!), Composite, USB and Firewire. Its very complete.
It worked with Apple FinalCut Pro without any trouble. I can't even get he XHA1 to work with it without screwing around with it for a while.
It has a mic input jack which Podcasters love, but I and other have been having trouble with it. I believe Canon didn't make a simple mic jack but some kind of phantom powered mic this or that, which hobbyist would not really use. So to make it work, and this is the tip, you have to go into the menu and turn on an option, then go into a different menu and adjust the gain and/or volume. Oops, maybe this should be a "not so cool" item.
The Not so Cool.
The ergonomics are poor. My hand doesn't feel comfortable holding it no matter how I adjust the hand strap. I've never had this issue with any other camera.
The Record start/stop button is in the wrong location. They put their goofy "joy stick" right where a person's thumb falls while holding the camera, so you're instinctively pushing on the joystick instead of the start/stop button while filming. The worse part, the Joystick is really crap as an interface element.
Noisy camera. The camera makes noise when you move it (shake it) it makes noise when you zoom and it makes a ton of noise when you insert or eject a tape.
Poor image when filming motion. If you're filming a scene and you move the camera, you are going to get streaking of the image. Why? I believe/assume its because unlike Canon's great D-SLR cameras in low light, their video equipment doesn't have the lower ISO (low light) capability that Sony's or everyone else has. Not sure why, but it seems to be a consistent theme with Canon. Fortunately it has a built-in light useful for those birthday parties but not much else.
The Bottom Line
For the under $800 it costs, its worth it if you're filming your vacations, holidays, birthdays and whatnot.
If you're a podcaster and want something with every connection known to man, its more than worth it for the HDMI and mic jacks alone.
If you wish you could afford the Canon XH A1 or better and want nearly as good a picture, this is the camera for you.
If you simply want a tape drive for your XH A1, this is actually cheaper than a commercial CANON HDV tape drive.
The bottom, bottom line is Sony had lost its way and CANON's HV30 is the current champ in the hand-held HDV camcorder race. I like sony better, but I don't like getting nickeled and dimed to death. You buy the Canon HV30 and you'll be happy with the results.
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