Canon HV20

Good – I loved this camera so much I bought two. I made a couple of documentaries with these cameras and have done plenty of professional work. You can add an external mike easily enough, and various adapters and even a focus ring that will take away the problem of the fiddly little focus button. Although the MiniDV tapes provide a great resultant… Read more

footage, I had to carry a couple of dozen of them for the projects I worked on, so it took up space. Nothing a hard case couldn't fix. I've never bothered taking still photos with for the same reason I don't take video footage with my still camera. The image stabilizer is okay, but I would recommend using a hand held stabilizer. The on board mike worked well for me a lot of the time. I was impressed really, but I have used external mikes and DVR as a backup in certain situations. One must take care not to let your own voice boom over the people you're filming though due to the proximity of your mouth to the mike, but if you just turn your head when you speak you'll solve that easily enough. This camera does suffer from rolling shutter effect, but it's not a problem for most people. Great picture quality. On board light. Plenty available accessories. Good online forum available. Quick start up. Low light ability. Carrying spare MiniDV tapes around. Picks up mechanism sound. PAL version costly compared to NTSC version. On board light too yellow and narrow.

Excellent – I love the picture on this camera, it's the definitely the best ive seen on a camera anywhere near this price, and even beats out much more expensive competitors. A major downside for filmakers however is the difficult to use manual focus wheel and limited microphone options. The use of Mini-DV also creates unwanted noise, but is to be somewhat… Read more

expected. If this camera had a more effective manual focus, I would suggest it to anyone. Amazing Picture Quality for price. Easy to use. Better lowlight filming than some of the competitors. Fantastic 25p setting makes the average shoot look like a professional film. Takes great still images. Has HDMI output to view HD footage straight on your HDTV. Pretty useless manual focus. Microphone very poor for trying to catch clear speech.

No slow-mo option.

Good – This is a great video camcorder that captures colourful, sharp video in optional standard or high definition. There are advantages and disadvantages in using mini DV tapes to record, but its still digital so you don't lose any of the video quality. It has lots of functions, such as being able to take 3 MP photos whilst filming, so you don't have… Read more

to carry a separate camera. Would be a better camcorder if it had a HDD instead of mini DV. Takes clear, high definition video. Easy to use. Large LCD display. Good in low light conditions. Fast autofocus and image stability. Can take still photos whilst filming or capture stills from video. HDMI output. Uses mini DV tapes. Can hear tape mechanism in recording, but can use directional microphone (not included) if its a problem. Zoom toggle could be smoother. Can take better still photos using a standard digital camera.