Am I right in thinking this? It doesn't look like the H20's batteries and the WA and tele lenses are compatible. I would love 30p but not if I have to rebuy all new gear. My biggest worry is that I frequently go on long excursions where I have no way to recharge batteries so I'd need ten or fifteen batteries at least.

From what I understand, the HV30 is exactly the same as the HV20 aside from the body color, the 30p, and the new LCD.

Yup, in the CES display case it was basically a black HV20. Strange enough, it made me feel self conscious because the color change alone made it 1,000,000 times cooler than my HV20... =(

Wasn't there some kind of change RE: battery department? It either takes a diff batter or was just modified to hold another larger battery. Something like this anyways.

I remember this too,
I noted it because it might take the larger batteries from my XL-H1...
but was it the 30 or another camera...?
looks just the same as the 20

It doesn't look like the H20's batteries and the WA and tele lenses are compatible.But they are perfectly compatible, since the HV20 and HV30 bodies are exactly identical. There's been no change whatsoever to the battery well or the filter thread diameter.

Wasn't there some kind of change RE: battery department?No. There has been no change in the battery well. What changed was when charging the BP-2L24H high capacity battery in the HV20, the camera couldn't give it a full charge in one cycle. The HV30 can. That's the only difference.


I noted it because it might take the larger batteries from my XL-H1Oh no -- no way can you fit an XL series battery on an HV20 or HV30.

Thread title has been changed for accuracy:

Was: "HV30 accesories mostly incompatible with the HV20?"

Now: "HV30 accessories mostly compatible with the HV20?"

Thanks everyone. HV30 it will be.

Thanks Chris !

At CES the rep said the only change to the body was the color. Oh, and the hot shoe cover is now captive. Those things disappear at retail within minutes. (At a local Best Buy I saw an HV20 with the shoe cover. I considered taking it, just so this HV20 would be consistent with the floor models at the other stores...)

The rep also said that this is a great time to buy a new HV20, if you don't need 30p, as they will be discontinued and the price will likely drop when the HV30 hits the streets.

I've been considering a HV20 to use with my XH A1 but it has no LANC control. Is there a camcorder similiar to the HV20 with LANC anyone has used?

Thanks Chris. I new there was *something* with the battery department. :)

I'm curious to see a PAL HV30 spec sheet. Even though we don't have a 30p equivalent would it be possible to store it using a form of pull-down and give it to us anyway? That'd be cool. :P

Hi Kevin

The closest cam (to the HV20) I can think of right now, that has a LANC control port, is the Sony HC7. I haven't used the lanc port on this cam yet so I can't tell you how effective it is.

Hope this helps

HC7 and the soon to be released HC9 have 2.5mm LANC ports, and the other Sony AVCHD cams have access to a LANC connection via the A/V jack. I'm finalizing an adapter for that A/V connection at the moment, got it working fine here, every LANC controller I have tested so far functions perfectly on my CX7 through that A/V jack.

the color change alone made it 1,000,000 times cooler than my HV20... =(

I much prefer the light color. Don't you know that the good guys always wear white, and the bad guys..... <grin>

But they are perfectly compatible, since the HV20 and HV30 bodies are exactly identical. There's been no change whatsoever to the battery well or the filter thread diameter.

No. There has been no change in the battery well. What changed was when charging the BP-2L24H high capacity battery in the HV20, the camera couldn't give it a full charge in one cycle. The HV30 can. That's the only difference.

Hi, I just found this thread in a BP-2L24H search. I'm thinking of buying a BP-2L24H for my HV20, but I'm not sure what this means about not being able to give the battery a full charge on one cycle? Does it mean that the HV20 is unable to charge the battery to its full capacity at all? In which case would I be better off buying a smaller battery it can charge to full capacity?

You'd be best off buying an external charger off ebay and not using the camera to charge the battery.

Cheers

Hi Ike,

Unfortunately that's not really an option as my camera is attached to a 35mm adapter with rods and is sitting on a long plate. Having to remove all that in order to unscrew the plate just to change to the battery all the time wouldn't be practical.

So in other words, I can't charge the battery to it's full capacity unless I use an external charger?

All this means is that in order fore the HV20 to give that batt. a full charge, you have to wait until the charging cycle ends, and then disconnect it and reconnect it, initiating another (shorter) cycle. When the second charge cycle is completed, the batt. then has a full charge.

Great, thanks Chris. I just wanted to make sure it could still be used to full capacity before buying one.

Hey Glenn,

I wasn't aware of your setup. That could pose a problem. To tell you truth I wasn't aware it couldn't charge the larger battery. That's odd. Has this been proven? I would have assumed the charging circuits in these cameras were smarter.

I guess the re-cycling should do the trick then.


Hi Ike,

Unfortunately that's not really an option as my camera is attached to a 35mm adapter with rods and is sitting on a long plate. Having to remove all that in order to unscrew the plate just to change to the battery all the time wouldn't be practical.

So in other words, I can't charge the battery to it's full capacity unless I use an external charger?

i wanted to know this too