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Model
|
| Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Sony 
| Canon 
|
| Name | HDR-CX11 | HV20 |
| European name ? | HDR-CX11E | HV20 |
| US name ? | HDR-CX12 | HV20 |
| lowest US price | | |
| On the market since | August 2008 | April 2007 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Sony | link to Canon |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Good
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
| Video formats ? | AVCHD
| MiniDV HDV
|
| Recording Medium | Memory Stick PRO Duo
| MiniDV/HDV-Cassette
|
| video resolutions EU ? | 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
| 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 ? | 16 Mbit/s | 25 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | MPEG4
| DV MPEG2
|
| on-board memory ? | | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Carl Zeiss
| Canon
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 12 x | 10 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 40 mm | 43,6 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 37 mm | 43 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | optical
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | No
| Yes
|
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 1 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/3,1 inch | 1/2,7 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | | 2070000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CMOS
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto manual presets WB-Shift
| auto manual presets
|
| Focus ? | auto manual
| auto manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/auto
| 1/2.000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | auto
| 1/2 |
| Apperture control ? | auto manual
| auto manual AE-Shift
|
| Infrared recording ? | Yes
| No
|
| Expanded Focus ? | No
| Yes
|
| Peaking ? | No
| Yes
|
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | Off 70% 100%
| 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 ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
FBAS ? synonymous: RCA, composite | Out
| In Out
|
YC ? synonymous: S-Video | via accessories
| No
|
YUV ? synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| HDMI ? | Out
| 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 ? | AI
| Intelligent
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 370 g | |
| Weight (with battery) | 450 g | 535 g |
| Battery type | Sony NP-FH60
| Canon BP-2L13
|
| Battery capacity | 1000 mAh | |
| Charger ? | internal
| internal
|
| Remote control | Yes
| Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 69 mm | 80 mm |
| Width | 67 mm | 88 mm |
| Depth | 130 mm | 138 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 6 | 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 ? | 211000 Pixel | 210000 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | Yes
| No
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | Rocker
| Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| Wheel bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
|
| Manual Aperture ? | bi-functional focus or aperture wheel
| 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 ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
| Audio Formats ? | AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.
| MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1
|
| Microphone ? | 5.1 Internal
| Stereo internal Mini-jack external
|
| Audio Control ? | auto
| auto manual
|
| Audio levels ? | No
| No
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
| Recording Medium ? | Memory Stick Duo
| MiniSD
|
| Medium included ? | 4 GB
| No
|
| Effective pixels ? | | 2760000 Pixel |
| Resolutions ? | 640x480 1600x1200 2848x2136 3680 x 2760 3680 x 2070 | 1920x1080 1440x1080 848x480 640x480 2048 x 1536 |
| Standard ? | JPEG Exif 2.2
| JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
| Specials | -smile shutter: a photo is shot automatically when detecting a smiling face
| |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | 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 ? | Good | Satisfactory |
| Resolution ? | Good | Very good |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Very good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | Very good |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Sufficient |
| Wide Angle ? | Sufficient | Poor |
| Configuration / image ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Poor | Satisfactory |
| Handling ? | Good | 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) | 340 | 340 |
| Pros | + manual, multi-functional ring + focus and exposure control via touchscreen works well + Good image in terms of sharpness and color
| + Excellent resolution in brightness and color + Compact + Very good price / performance ratio
|
| Cons | - no manual shutter control - no microphone and headphone jacks
| - small wide angle - slight problems with reds - over-simplified operation
|
| Conclusion | On the one hand, buying the CX11 is the cheapest way to get Sonys 1/3" Exmor image quality (which together with Canon is the non-plus-ultra in the price range of 1000 Euros camcorders).Other great features are the manual control ring and the menu control via touch screen (especially practical on small cameras, but not to be found on competing models).On the other hand a viewfinder, microphone / headphone jacks and manual shutter control are badly missed.Likewise negative: the high costs for memory sticksUnfortunately, the great display of the SR-11/12 was not used, but on the other hand the camera is clearly more compact than its HDD-siblings | 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 ] | Sony HDR-CX11 | Canon HV20 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests | | www.videomaker.com
www.camcorderinfo.com
|
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