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Model
|
| JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | JVC 
| Canon 
|
| Name | GZ-HM550 | HV20 |
| European name ? | GZ-HM550 BEU | HV20 |
| US name ? | GZ-HM550 | HV20 |
| lowest US price | 550 $ | |
| On the market since | March 2010 | April 2007 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to JVC | link to Canon |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Good
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| MiniDV HDV
|
| Recording Medium | SDHC card built-in flash memory
| MiniDV/HDV-Cassette
|
| video resolutions EU ? | AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
| HDV 1440 x 1080/50i MiniDV 720 x 576/50i MiniDV 720 x 576/25F HDV 1440 x 1080/25p
|
| video resolutions US ? | AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
| 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 ? | 24 Mbit/s | 25 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| DV MPEG2
|
| on-board memory ? | | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Konica Minolta
| Canon
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 10 x | 10 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 48 mm | 43,6 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 37 mm | 43 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | electronical
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| Yes
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 1 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/2,33 inch | 1/2,7 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 5650000 Pixel | 2070000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CMOS
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual presets
| auto manual presets
|
| Focus ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/4000 | 1/2.000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/2 | 1/2 |
| Apperture control ? | auto manual
| auto manual AE-Shift
|
| Infrared recording ? | No
| No
|
| Expanded Focus ? | No
| Yes
|
| Peaking ? | Yes
| Yes
|
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | No
| Off 70% 100%
|
| Histogram ? | No
| No
|
| adjustable sharpness ? | No
| Yes
|
| Adjustable color ? | No
| Yes
|
| Cinegamma ? | No
| Yes
|
| 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 ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| In Out
|
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | No
| No
|
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| HDMI ? | Out mini
| Out
|
DV / HDV (FireWire) ? synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394 | - | In Out
|
| USB ? | USB 2.0
| USB 2.0
|
| Microphone / Audio input ? | No
| Mini-jack
|
| Headphones ? | No
| Mini-jack
|
| Lanc ? | No
| No
|
| Time-code interface ? | No
| No
|
| Genlock ? | No
| No
|
| Accessory shoe ? | No
| Intelligent
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 260 g | |
| Weight (with battery) | 300 g | 535 g |
| Battery type | JVC BN-VG114E
| Canon BP-2L13
|
| Battery capacity | 1400 mAh | |
| Charger ? | internal
| internal
|
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 55 mm | 80 mm |
| Width | 62 mm | 88 mm |
| Depth | 110 mm | 138 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 3 | 9 |
| Viewfinder |
| Viewfinder available ? | No
| Yes
|
| 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 | 2,7 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | 123000 Pixel | 210000 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | No
| No
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | Menu
| Wheel bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
|
| Manual Aperture ? | Menu
| bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
|
| Focus switcher ? | No
| Yes
|
| 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 ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| Audio Formats ? | Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
| MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1
|
| Microphone ? | Stereo internal
| Stereo internal Mini-jack external
|
| Audio Control ? | auto
| auto manual
|
| Audio levels ? | | No
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| Recording Medium ? | built-in flash memory SDHC card
| MiniSD
|
| Medium included ? | No
| No
|
| Effective pixels ? | 9290000 Pixel | 2760000 Pixel |
| Resolutions ? | 3520 x 2640 - Max
| 1920x1080 1440x1080 848x480 640x480 2048 x 1536 |
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| Specials | Bluetooth | |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| 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 ? | Very good | Satisfactory |
| Resolution ? | Excellent | Very good |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Very good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Good | Very good |
| Optical Zoom ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Wide Angle ? | Poor | Poor |
| Configuration / image ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Sufficient | Satisfactory |
| Handling ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Portability ? | Very good | Very good |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Good
 |
Total score ? (maximal 570) | 357 | 340 |
| Pros | - Adjustable aperture and shutter -Very good sharpness -Very good low light behavior
| + Excellent resolution in brightness and color + Compact + Very good price / performance ratio
|
| Cons | - manual controls are a bit slow - sparse wide angle - display not sharp enough - "loud colors"
| - small wide angle - slight problems with reds - over-simplified operation
|
| Conclusion | Such a remarkable sharpness, good low light and manual options cannot be found elsewhere in this price range.However, the complicated operation of the camera with its deep submenus ruins the potential fun of manual control.Also, one should be aware of the creative limits set by the minimum focal length of about 48 mm (kb).Setting the focus maually is difficult due to the small and not very sharp display.Clearly, this camera is interesting mainly for "automatic" film makers, who do not need much manual control or wide angle, but are searching for great sharpness and a good low-light performance without having to spend much. | 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. |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | JVC GZ-HM550 | Canon HV20 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | www.videomaker.com
www.camcorderinfo.com
|
| Forum posts | Review: JVC GZ-HM550
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