| |
Model
|
| Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Canon 
| JVC
|
| Name | HV20 | GZ-X900 |
| European name ? | HV20 | GZ-X900 |
| US name ? | HV20 | GZ-X900 |
| lowest US price | | |
| On the market since | April 2007 | May 2009 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Canon | link to JVC |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Satisfactory
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| Video formats ? | MiniDV
HDV
| AVCHD
|
| Recording Medium | MiniDV/HDV-Cassette
| SDHC card
|
| video resolutions EU ? | HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/25F
HDV 1440 x 1080/25p
| AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
|
| video resolutions US ? | HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
HDV 1440 x 1080/24p
HDV 1440 x 1080/30p
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i
720 MiniDV x480/24p
| AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 25 Mbit/s | 24 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | DV
MPEG2
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Canon
| Konica Minolta
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 10 x | 5 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 43,6 mm | 43,6 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 43 mm | 34 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optical
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | Yes
| No
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 1 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/2,7 inch | 1/2,33 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 2070000 Pixel | 5300000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CMOS
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto
manual
presets
| auto
manual
presets
|
| Focus ? | auto
manual
| auto
manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/2.000 | 1/4000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/2 | 1/2 |
| Apperture control ? | auto
manual
AE-Shift
| auto
manual
|
| Infrared recording ? | No
| No
|
| Expanded Focus ? | Yes
| No
|
| Peaking ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | Off
70%
100%
| No
|
| Histogram ? | No
| No
|
| adjustable sharpness ? | Yes
| No
|
| Adjustable color ? | Yes
| No
|
| Cinegamma ? | Yes
| No
|
| Black Strech ? | No
| No
|
| Knee ? | No
| No
|
| Colorbars ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Shot Transition ? | No
| No
|
| Custom Presets ? | No
| No
|
| Set Time Code ? | No
| No
|
Configuration
|
| Connections |
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite | In
Out
| Out via Docking Station
|
YC ?
synonymous: S-Video | No
| No
|
YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out via Docking Station
|
| HDMI ? | Out
| Out mini
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | In
Out
| - |
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | Mini-jack
| No
|
| Headphones ? | Mini-jack
| No
|
| Lanc ? | No
| No
|
| Time-code interface ? | No
| No
|
| Genlock ? | No
| No
|
| Accessory shoe ? | Intelligent
| No
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | | 246 g |
| Weight (with battery) | 535 g | 298 g |
| Battery type | Canon BP-2L13
| JVC BN-VF908U
|
| Battery capacity | | 705 mAh |
| Charger ? | internal
| internal
|
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 80 mm | 37 mm |
| Width | 88 mm | 66 mm |
| Depth | 138 mm | 124 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 9 | 3 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | Yes
| No
|
| Color Viewfinder ? | Color
| - |
| Viewfinder format ? | 16:9 | - |
| Viewfinder pixels ? | 123000 Pixel | |
| Display |
| Display available ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Color display ? | Color
| Color
|
| Display size | 2,7 Inch | 2,8 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | 210000 Pixel | 207000 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | No
| No
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | Wheel
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| Menu
|
| Manual Aperture ? | bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| Menu
|
| Focus switcher ? | Yes
| No
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| No
|
| Exp Lock ? | No
| No
|
| Gain ? | No
| No
|
| White balance ? | No
| No
|
| Push AF ? | No
| No
|
| Audio Levels ? | No
| No
|
Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons | No
| No
|
Audio
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| Audio Formats ? | MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1
| Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
|
| Microphone ? | Stereo internal
Mini-jack external
| Stereo internal
|
| Audio Control ? | auto
manual
| auto
|
| Audio levels ? | No
| No
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| Recording Medium ? | MiniSD
| SDHC card
|
| Medium included ? | No
| No
|
| Effective pixels ? | 2760000 Pixel | 9000000 Pixel |
| Resolutions ? | 1920x1080
1440x1080
848x480
640x480
2048 x 1536 | 3456 x 2592 max
|
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| Specials | | progressive 50/60p output,Laser Touch operation |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| 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 | Satisfactory |
| Resolution ? | Very good | Very good |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | Good |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Poor |
| Wide Angle ? | Poor | Poor |
| Configuration / image ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Poor |
| Handling ? | Sufficient | Sufficient |
| Portability ? | Very good | Excellent |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Good |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
| Satisfactory
|
Total score ?
(maximal 570) | 340 | 311 |
| Pros | + Excellent resolution in brightness and color
+ Compact
+ Very good price / performance ratio
| + lots of manual controls
+ very sharp picture
+ good photo functions
|
| Cons | - small wide angle
- slight problems with reds
- over-simplified operation
| - manual controls not really feasible
- no audio connectors
- no view finder
|
| Conclusion | Thanks to the excellent resolution of its CMOS the Canon HV20 makes almost full use of the HDV-system in brightness as well as color.Noticeable is the high resolution in diagonals.With enough light the HV20 makes a very clean picture, only in low light there is visible image noise.The optics has very little distorsion, but offers only a small wide angle. | The X900 showacases JVCs ability to be one of the frontrunners in the race for sharpness.Until today nobody packed so much sharpness in a body so smallThe colors are a matter of taste.Controls are miseable: the laser-touch panel allows no precise control of parameters.That the nice manual control possibilities are buried deep in sub-menus is not understandable.For everyone filming mainly in auto-mode and wanting to eliminate the need for a digital photo camera, this is the right cam.But for a considerable amount of money. |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Canon HV20 | JVC GZ-X900 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests |  www.videomaker.com
www.camcorderinfo.com
| |
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|
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