/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Canon

Name

HV10

HV40

European name ?

HV10

Legria HV40

US name ?

HV10

VIXIA HV40

lowest US price

585 $

On the market since

October 2006

April 2009

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MiniDV
HDV

Recording Medium

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

video resolutions EU ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/25F
HDV 1440 x 1080/25p

video resolutions US ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
HDV 1440 x 1080/24p
HDV 1440 x 1080/30p
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i
720 MiniDV x480/24p

Max Bitrate ?

25 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

DV
MPEG2

on-board memory ?

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Canon

Optical Zoom ?

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

43,6 mm

Filter diameter ?

37 mm

43 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/2,7 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

2070000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

auto
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/2.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/3

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual
AE-Shift

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70%
100%

Histogram ?

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

In
Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack
Cinch

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

440 g

535 g

Weight (with battery)

500 g

Battery type

Canon BP-310

Canon BP-2L13

Battery capacity

850 mAh

Charger ?

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

56 mm

82 mm

Width

104 mm

88 mm

Depth

106 mm

138 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

123000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

210000 Pixel

211000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Wheel
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

Microphone ?

Stereo internal

Audio Control ?

auto

manual

Audio levels ?

Still

Recording Medium ?

MiniSD

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

2760000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920x1080
1440x1080
848x480
640x480
2048 x 1536

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

Good charger for the Canon HV10 - 40 searched

luminance resolution

chrominance resolution

lens distortion

test small ISO image

noise / internal microphone

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode ?

Test image 12 lux optimized ?

slashCAM rating

Lowlight ?

Satisfactory

Resolution ?

Very good

Color performance ?

Very good

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Poor

Configuration / image ?

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Poor

Handling ?

Sufficient

Portability ?

Excellent

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Satisfactory

Dynamics ?

Satisfactory

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

not yet tested

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

318

Pros

+ Excellent resolution in brightness and color
+ Very small
+ Many manual functions
+ 25 FPS-mode

Cons

- Optics only average, small wide-angle
- No microphone jack
- unergonomic design

Conclusion

The Canon HV10 has an CMOS with excellent resolution, which almost uses the HDV possibilities of brightness and color resolution to the full.The lens shows very little distorsion, but offers only a small wide angle, and throughout the focal range slight chromatic aberrations can be seen.Under lowlight conditions the HV10 performs - as expected with a camcorder in this price range - average, a better configuration rating is hinderd by lacking audio-I/O options

More information

Reviews and Forums

slashCAM Review

external reviews/tests

www.camcorder-test.com

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