Digital Home Thoughts: Canon's HV20: A High-Definition, Vista-Certified Delight

Product Category: High-definition video camera
Manufacturer: Canon
Where to Buy: Low Price Search
Price: $865 to $1099 (at the time of this writing)
Specifications: 1/2.7" CMOS Sensor, RGB Primary Color Filter. 2,960,000 total pixels. Zoom Ratio: 10x Optical/200x Digital. Supported Playback Modes: 1080/60i, 1080/24P, 1080/30F, 1080/24F. Dimensions (WxHxD) 3.5 x 3.2 x 5.4 inches. 1.2 lbs in weight, not including lens and battery pack. Further details on the Canon specifications page.

Pros:

• 1080/60i quality in a small package;
• Excellent image quality and colour;
• Certified for Windows Vista;
• Surprisingly good still photo capture.

Cons:

• Small, awkwardly-placed zoom control;
• No exposure adjustment/override;
• Ridiculous that no Firewire cable is included;
• Spartan out of box experience.

Summary:
Canon's HV20 is a breakthrough video camera: it hits a trifecta of high quality, reasonable price, and small size that will make it a winner in the consumer market. The video quality is excellent, and while it lacks an exposure control to help with those shots that have tricky lighting, for the most part pointing and pressing record will get great-quality video.

Read on for the full review!