Farewell to the HV series

[Colin McDonald]

Been expecting this for some time, but now it seems it's official. Interestingly, some older tape based stalwarts are still being listed as available on the UK Canon site:

[Mark Goodsell]

It's still listed on the USA site, but all good things come to an end. I've got one sitting right in front of me. In the hands of a capable user it can produce phenomenal quality video. But side by side, there's no denying that the G10 / XA10 produces superior image quality, has better low light capabilities, more flexible features and a MUCH better quality LCD.

I'm dreaming here, but I'd really love to see Canon make an HV50 as a last harrah for the platform and incorporate the G10 sensor and processor technology and add a slightly higher quality LCD (not larger, just better quality) for about $895. I think they would find a market for such a cam for a few more years. Since the tooling and production cost have to be paid for a few times over, the sales would be all profit. Heck, they STILL make the GL2 for crist sakes and it isn't even HD! And believe it or not, I even know of one place that still uses them from time to time. Mostly because it is a simple cam, easy to edit the footage. Tape is still a good medium and certainly not dead in the professional arena.

[Don Palomaki]

A primary value of the HV40 is as a low cost playback platform for archive MiniDV and HDV tape, and that may be enough to keep it in the line for a while longer, not unlike the GL2.

But I doubt Canon woud invest in reengineering to a XA10/G10 internals-based HV50 with improved features that is still tape (and thus HDV). Most (not all) folks who want that sort of upscale would probably look at the XA, XF of if they want to roll tape the XH series. While one could nicely do full AVCHD data rates on tape (17 or 24 Mbps) that becomes yet another format and not sure anyone wants to buy into it at this point. (Think Sony's ill-fated Digital-8 for an assessment of its likely popularity.)

As an editor, once you taste tapeless you kind of hate to go back to tape, especially if your projects do not call for maintaining an archive of past work raw footage going back more than a few months.

[Mark Goodsell]

Well, what I was getting at was more of an "evolutionary" update of the existing internals, slightly better chip and faster, or better internals and some software tweaks, rather than a major redo, which we know certainly wouldn't happen. Oh, and a higher resolution LCD which are definitely out there and the price has come down on them thanks to smart phones. If priced at around $799 - $899 it would offer great video quality nearly rivaling the G10, but tape based, far less than the $1,500 G10. I think it would still attract a buying audience. While I agree that it is a lot easier to edit with solid state, I wonder how many bread and butter family users and corporate archivers, family vacationers buying the HV cams do a great deal of NLE editing? My guess, is not too many other than special occasions. I can count the number of general camcorder users that do periodic editing on about 3 fingers, and none of them what I would call 'serious' editing. I think many prospective buyers of a 4th gen HV cam would likely have had previous tape-based cams and don't mind keeping the wedding and graduation footage on tape.

But I agree with you that such updates are probably just a pipe dream..

[Allan Black]

Here in Sydney, seems the best HV40 buy is here, with an extra big battery included. Their Canon WD-H43 wide angle convertor is a good price too.

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod2587.htm

I've never been associated with them in any way, I did drive out to Canterbury once, no parking anywhere.

Cheers.

[Mark Goodsell]

You might want to check the 'consumer' line of cameras. B&H doesn't list the HV40 in the 'Pro' section, but does list it in their 'consumer' section.

[Maurice Covington]

The HV series were and are really good cameras capable of doing some pretty cool things but, given the technology trend, it only seems inevitable that the series would say goodbye. Now this does concern me considering that I use the XHA1s and the XHA1. my hope is that considering the popularity of these cameras and the high level of usage that they will stay around for a long time to come.

[Allan Black]

Yep I hope they have a long Canon support life too .. a very long life.

Cheers.

[Don Palomaki]

At least in the USA, assured factory support typically runs for 7 years past the end of production.

[Mark Goodsell]

Checked again: HV40 still on Canon's lineup. Frankly, for $600 from B&H you get a pretty good machine for your money. In the right hands it produces excellent video. Not as good as the XA10, but still pretty good. Plus, you don't need a high-powered PC to edit HDV.