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Model
|
| Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Canon 
| Panasonic
|
| Name | HV30 | HDC-SD20 |
| European name ? | HV30 | HDC-SD20EG |
| US name ? | VIXIA HV30 | HDC-SD20K |
| lowest US price | | 420 $ |
| On the market since | April 2008 | February 2009 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Canon | link to Panasonic |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
 | Satisfactory
 |
| test picture 1200 Lux | | |
| Test image 12 lux auto-mode | | |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| 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 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/25p
|
| 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
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/24p
|
| Max Bitrate ? | 25 Mbit/s | 17 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | DV
MPEG2
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Canon
| Leica
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 10 x | 16 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 43,6 mm | 42 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 43 mm | 43 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 | 1/6 inch |
| image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ? | 2070000 Pixel | 1170000 Pixel |
| Image Sensor Type ? | CMOS
| CMOS
|
| Controls |
| White Balance ? | auto
presets
| auto
manual
|
| Focus ? | auto
manual
| auto
manual
|
| Minimum shutter time ? | 1/2.000 | 1/8.000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/2 | 1/25 |
| Apperture control ? | auto
manual
AE-Shift
| auto
manual
|
| Infrared recording ? | | No
|
| Expanded Focus ? | | Yes
|
| Peaking ? | | No
|
| Signal Processing |
| Zebra ? | | No
|
| Histogram ? | | No
|
| adjustable sharpness ? | | Yes
|
| Adjustable color ? | | Yes
|
| Cinegamma ? | | Yes
|
| Black Strech ? | | No
|
| Knee ? | | No
|
| Colorbars ? | | No
|
| Misc. |
| Shot Transition ? | | No
|
| Custom Presets ? | | No
|
| Set Time Code ? | | No
|
Configuration
|
| Connections |
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite | | Out
|
YC ?
synonymous: S-Video | | No
|
YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal | Out
| Out
|
| 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 ? | | No
|
| HD-SDI ? | No
| No
|
| Misc. |
| Weight (without battery) | 535 g | 270 g |
| Weight (with battery) | | 327 g |
| Battery type | Canon BP-2L13
| Panasonic VW-VBG070
|
| Battery capacity | | 725 mAh |
| Charger ? | | |
| Remote control | | Yes
|
| Size |
| Height | 82 mm | 64 mm |
| Width | 88 mm | 67 mm |
| Depth | 138 mm | 127 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 9 | 5 |
| 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 | 2,7 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Display pixels ? | 211000 Pixel | 230400 Pixel |
| Touch Screen ? | No
| Yes
|
| External controls |
| Manual Zoom ? | | Rocker
|
| Manual Focus ? | | Menu
|
| Manual Aperture ? | | Menu
|
| Focus switcher ? | | No
|
| ND Filter ? | | No
|
| Exp Lock ? | | No
|
| Gain ? | | No
|
| White balance ? | | No
|
| Push AF ? | | No
|
| Audio Levels ? | | No
|
Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons | | No
|
Audio
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| Audio Formats ? | MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1
| AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.
|
| Microphone ? | | Stereo internal
|
| Audio Control ? | manual
| auto
manual
|
| Audio levels ? | | Screen
|
Still
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| Recording Medium ? | MiniSD
| SDHC card
|
| Medium included ? | | No
|
| Effective pixels ? | | 2100000 Pixel |
| Resolutions ? | 1920x1080
1440x1080
848x480
640x480
2048 x 1536 | 1920 x 1080 - max
|
| Standard ? | | JPEG Exif 2.2
|
| Flash ? | Yes
| Yes
|
Misc.
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| Specials | | |
Product Shots
|
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| 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 | Sufficient |
| Resolution ? | Very good | Sufficient |
| Color performance ? | Very good | Good |
| subj.Picture impression ? | Very good | Satisfactory |
| Optical Zoom ? | Sufficient | Satisfactory |
| Wide Angle ? | Poor | Sufficient |
| Configuration / image ? | Satisfactory | Satisfactory |
| Configuration / sound ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Handling ? | Sufficient | Satisfactory |
| Portability ? | Very good | Excellent |
| Photo function ? | Satisfactory | Sufficient |
| Optics ? | Good | Good |
| Dynamics ? | Good | Good |
| Conclusion slashCAM |
| slashCAM rating ? | Good
| Satisfactory
|
Total score ?
(maximal 570) | 340 | 293 |
| Pros | + excellent resolution in brightness and color
| + manual controls for shutter and aperture
+ factory setting adjustable
|
| Cons | - small wide angle
- dull audio section
| - somewhat blurred compared with other HD video
|
| Conclusion | Thanks to the excellent resolution of its CMOS the Canon HV30 makes almost full use of the HDV-system in brightness as well as colorNoticeable is the high resolution in diagonals.In lowlight situations the performance is only average.The lens shows little abberations, but offers only a small wide angle. | This cam shines with unusual (in this price category) manual controls and smart automatic modes and a touchscreen.But the small 1 chip sensor limits the picture quality too much. |
More information
|
| Reviews and Forums |
| [ top ] | Canon HV30 | Panasonic HDC-SD20 |
| slashCAM Review | | |
| external reviews/tests |  www.camcorderinfo.com
| |
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