HV20 vs SONY V1U

[Mark Dog]

Which camera is better as far is image quality are they close in image quality ???? which is a bettter buy ??? can you make out just fine with the HV20 instead getting a SONY V1U , and they both have cmos , sound in all you experts and people who have both or either one these camera thanxxx

peace n luv

Mark Dog

[ffaf07]

Canon CMOS = 1/2.7"
V1U CMOS = 1/4"

HV20 wins in low light. However, the Sony has 3 Chips, which gives more accurate color. But most people color correct eventually. In terms of shutter speed, apeture, white balance...there's a sticky here that shows you how to get a little creative and control everything on your HV20, just like a manual camera.

The HV20 has really really impressive video quality, for something that looks like a toy cam.

[Mark Dog]

any other opions ?????????? chime in everyone

[Barry_Green]

Look, you're comparing a $4,200 product against a $1100 product. There's no question that the V1U is going to be superior in just about every possible way.

[marketmd]

HV20 is conquering the world! Soon we will be seeing HV20 vs. Red One threads.

/s

[vsansal]

Barry is right. You should compare it to A1 not HV20.

[Mark Dog]

i lmow hv20 is consumer and v1 is prosumer but i mean image quality does the hv20 image comparable to satand up to the v1u image ?

[vsansal]

Thats the problem. It depends on what you are looking for. For example lowlight or manual settings. HV20 is the best consumer camcorder in the market IMO but still you shouldn't compare it to prosumer models.

[Sean Michael]

I know they fall in different categories, but I was taking a hard look at the V1U before buying the HV20. Then I forgot about the V1U.:grin:

Under ideal lighting circumstances, I'd wager that most eyes can't detect much difference in image quality (I've even heard people say the HV20 outperforms the V1U).

But with the HV20, you will miss the manual controls of a prosumer cam.

[Mark Dog]

i think the hv20 has more pixels then the V1u it has like 2,000,000 effective and the v1u has 1.1 million from what i belive

[Barry_Green]

That's an irrelevant statistic though. # of pixels cannot be directly compared, because they use entirely different systems. You can't judge how sharp an image a particular system is going to deliver based on the # of pixels one of them has!

The HV20 is a single sensor, the V1U is a three-sensor design. The V1U uses three chips with a million pixels each on them (a million red, a million blue, a million green). The HV20 uses a single sensor with 3 million pixels on it, which means it has 750k red, 750k blue, and 1.5m green. The V1U uses a pixel-shift type of system to double the number of sampling sites; the HV20 uses a Beyer de-mosaic system to turn its mosaic pattern of pixels into actual color samples.

I don't know the exact dimensions of each sensor's pixels, but it's possible that they have pixels that are about the same size. Should mean comparable sensitivity and comparable dynamic range, seeing as they're both CMOS products.

[vsansal]

Another important issue is consumer and prosumer camcorders are constructed by different departments for different purposes. This means everything from construction to performance, including signal-to-noise ratio and colorimetry are different and even if they have exactly the same specs the implementation and integration will be different. You may say that HV20 can match V1U in some aspects but still one is a consumer and the other is a prosumer camcorder. Thats why comparing it to A1 is a better way to go. You should compare HV20 to HC7 where I think HV20 is the clear winner.