HV20 for Production use?

K

Katana2040

Active member
Greetings all! Here is my question for you all: How would you rate the Canon HV20 as the main camera for short/feature film work. Low-budget indie-style of course. I am not so much obsessed with which camera I use, but the final result I can achieve. From what I have seen? This camera is brilliant. Especially with the addition of the lens adapters that are available, plus the usual good lighting/color correction. Any thoughts?
 
With the addition of a 35mm adapter this camera seems like a nice solution for the budget filmmaker. I have no actual experience with it but its main faults for me are lack of manual controls, which the 35mm adapter will give you for focus and iris. But then your looking at getting an HD monitor, rails, etc and your costs are getting high. I'd be temtped to at least look at using a used dvx instead without 35mm adapter. And if you havent edited HDV I would check to see that your system is capable of handling it. My experience (sony HDV handycam) has been that I cant stand HDV (editing in premiere) and must convert to something like cineform (already had it for the HVX) makes it quite useable. Just another step in the process though and something to think about. That and dont forget that people will judge you by what your camera looks like whether or not the footage is stunning.
 
I've been using the HV20 for a couple months now. I've did a 48 Hour movie with it, have another short I need to edit, and am doing a paid promo video with it.

I do not have a 35mm adapter and have no plans to get one. Focus has not yet been an issue, though I'm sure I'll be able to come up with a situation where the lack of decent focus will cause me some consternation.

This camera is perfect for narrative movies, as long as you know what you are doing. I'd be comfortable doing a feature with it as well. Though I'd have to get a couple more hard drives...
 
Good looking out guys! I don't have this camera myself, but I did come across a REALLY sweet deal on a DVX100, and I like the fact that it can be upgraded with the "Andromeda" if I really needed to go HD. I actually really appreciate both cameras for what they can do. I recently saw someone on this site post a "Battlestar Gallactica" short that was shot on the HV20, and it is just stunning. I also saw the trailer for "The Men Who Fell" which was shot on the DVX100, along with "Similo"...simply amazing stuff.
 
Well, I recently made some test footage and I plan to do all of my school projects and possibly a Hallows Fest entry with it until my RED is ready in November. The test footage looked fantastic and, unlike my GL1 with a 20X zoom, the HV20 had no trouble zooming in and recording a beautiful blue moon in the sky. On the GL1 the moon came out as a tiny white dot with no definition and, more than that, I couldn't get focus on it either. Besides that, the color was great, the resolution was amazing, and, using Barry's manual controls method, exposure was no problem at all. Would I use it for a commercial production? Sure, why not? 35mm adapter or not, you just can't go wrong with it. Plus, having Final Cut Studio 2 and Compressor 3 really made conforming to 23.98 easy and it saved on hard drive space compared to the straight 1080i60 footage.
 
Thanks again guys! As we speak, I am OFFICIALLY sold on the HV20. I love the 'DVX' for what it is, and what it does, but I have seen some VERY impressive footage created with the HV20. I love the flexibility that it offers as far as resolution and color depth.
 
When you do get it.....you'll be shocked at how much it looks like a toy compared to the DVX...but......man....does it put out some sharp and beautiful pictures.
 
I hear you! I have a file of downloaded footage from other people and my goodness...some of this stuff is just breathtaking. I am not so concerned with how the camera itself looks because most of the stuff I do are my own creative endeavors, ie: feature/short film work etc. I really do like this thing. Now, can someone tell me or show me what the footage looks like when it is ran right from the HDMI into an "Intensity" set up? THIS I would like to see!
 
This thing shoots in SD as well, yes? Does it shoot 24p in SD?

I'm putting together a low budget doc, and have been thinking about picking this thing up while waiting for the prices of panny stuff to drop here in Canada (DVX 100b is like $3400 plus tax...so almost $3900. HVX is around $5500, plus tax.)

I don't know if I want to shoot in HD, since my G4 won't be able to handle it, and if I get a G5 through the same hook up I used for my G4, it still might not have enough power and storage for good HD editing.

I was going to use my Sony PD 100a and shoot at 30fps in progressive scan, but I have seen some great footage off the HV20, so I want to check it out a bit further.
 
DeSica said:
I'm putting together a low budget doc, ....

I was going to use my Sony PD 100a and shoot at 30fps in progressive scan, but I have seen some great footage off the HV20, so I want to check it out a bit further.
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It is likely that the great footage you have seen has been from controlled shooting.
Documentary shooting is often where you will most appreciate lots of manual controls (not found on the HV20)
If you are working on a documentary, and shooting in standard def, I think you will get better images with more manual control. Just my opinion...
 
according to the brochure, 24p/(or 25P for PAL) is HD only - which seems odd, as I'd have thought SD would be easier for the camera to process than HD, presuming that 24p/25p requires extra work by the camera
 
In most cases, the comment about manual control would be absolutely true (and the PD 100a does have manual control over a bunch of elements). What I neglected to mention is that I am shooting a sit down, interview type doc.

I am looking at lighting options, as well as sound (with the PD 100a, I can always run a lav to the camera XLR input if I need to, or mount my Rode NTG-2 as backup and run a lav into a zoom h4).

Numerous tests show that the Sony does okay in room type lighting, but I would be keen to see how the HV20 does. As far as sound, I would need a recorder of some sort, but I would probably pick up a Rode Video mic for backup sound anyway.
 
clang said:
according to the brochure, 24p/(or 25P for PAL) is HD only - which seems odd, as I'd have thought SD would be easier for the camera to process than HD, presuming that 24p/25p requires extra work by the camera
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Hmmm...I thought as much. So how much power/storage would one be looking at to edit something like 230 minutes of HD footage from one of these little wonders down to something like 85 minutes or so?
 
Just from my own recent experience...

I have been shooting our doc using primarily the dvx100, and recently have been using the HV20 for situations where I need a smaller camera that doesn't draw too much attention to it.

Of course, the audio is just ok, especially when I only use on camera, although I could put my G2 on it if I needed to.

Last week I took some footage into a post production facility to do some transfer tests in FCP6 - they hadn't had experience with the HV20 24p footage yet, so they wanted to determine the best workflow. After running the footage through Compressor to do the inverse telecine, they were shocked at the quality. "Amazing" and "Incredible" were used several times...so from my perspective the HV20 is well worth the money as a second camera. I'm not sure how well my dvx footage is going to hold up against it!

FYI -- there are people getting HV20's now for around 800 bucks...check Fatwallet.com for the current deals. The best deal out there now is getting a 10% off coupon from AAA and buying online at Circuit City.
 
I recorded the recent eclipse with the HV20...simply stunning. Plus it has a 200x digital zoom which is very clean...exceptional for viewing small craters (and surveillance work too, i'd bet!)
 
Oynk said:
If you are working on a documentary, and shooting in standard def, I think you will get better images with more manual control. Just my opinion...
Click to expand...

Amen to that. An HV20 for docu work is just madness. Plus rolling shutter will kill you on fast moves, action shots, or pans/dollies. You can do anything run and gun with a DVX, and the HV20 is simply awful in low light.

Remember I own both. But I would never dream of using an HV20 for docu work. Plus every time you turn it on you have to go through the "cell phone trick" crap, and with a wide-angle adapter that is almost impossible. So you can't react quickly to events. With DVX, turn it on and it will do anything you want in 2 seconds.
 
DeSica said:
What I neglected to mention is that I am shooting a sit down, interview type doc. .
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For such controlled circumstances the HV20 is the best choice. Plenty of time to adjust exposure properly and get audio just right before shooting.
 
DeSica said:
Hmmm...I thought as much. So how much power/storage would one be looking at to edit something like 230 minutes of HD footage from one of these little wonders down to something like 85 minutes or so?
Click to expand...

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica][FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]NATIVE HDV files are about 13GB/hour. However if your edit system captures using an "intermediary codec" (eg. Cineform, etc), you could be looking at up to 40GB per hour. Depends on your NLE.

Figure 50 to 150GB for your requirements, considering original footage and final footage space requirements.
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