HV20 or HG10?

[dust'n the callipygous]

I need a new camcorder since my old one broke. It's between the two of these. I mostly shoot video shorts and stunts (I move the camera a lot, so I want something small and easy to run with). I'm also looking into doing some friends weddings. I was thinking that the tapeless design of the HG10 might be helpful for the weddings, but would also leave me without a convenient way to archive footage. It also looks as if the HG10 is much more ergonomic.

The only video tests I've seen between the two use HDMI capture and completely bypass the compression, but since I won't be doing that, I'm just curious about the in-camera performance.

I'll also be getting a wide angle lens, rode video mic, and a steadycam merlin (at some point). This will be my b-roll camera when I get the money for an XH-A1.

I know people love the HV20, and they're both on sale for under $800 on buy.com. Which video camera would you recommend?

[vsansal]

I think HV20 is much better than HG10. I trust the comparison results of camcorderinfo.com. Also if you want to use it as a B camcorder to an A1 in the future than I would definitely suggest HV20 so that you can also use it as a deck and matching the videos with same format (HDV) will be much more easy for you.

[Barry_Green]

I don't think either of these is going to be right for what you want to do. They both have massive rolling-shutter issues, and if you do stunts and move the camera a lot, I think you'll find that you'd be much better off with a CCD system instead of CMOS.

[dust'n the callipygous]

I was thinking that might be a problem, but I haven't had a chance to actually test them and see it for myself. Should I just hold out until I can afford the A1?

[SuperAte]

Rolling shutter is mostly seen when the camera is vibrated; I've been shooting with an HV20 for months now and haven't seen anything that bothers me, other than in situations no camera would do well in (shocks, jerky movement).
You should try one out if you can and judge for yourself, or check out the HV20 footage (at hv20.com for example).
Personally, I have been nothing but happy with it.

[ifownlee41nite@mac.com]

I've used the HG10 for 3rd and 4th stationary shots from the rear of the club while using my CCD cams for steady camming and close ups of a concert, and the footage looks great. But when it comes to me logging and transferring the footage I'm having major issues with the AVCHD being recognized by FCP 6. I have yet to even be able to view my footage on my Intel MacBook Pro. Once I get the footage off of the cameras I will be returning them to the store for a full refund. HV20 sounds great but I don't want to go back to capturing from tape again.