Canon HF100 -vs- HV20 (or hv30)

I was going to try and hold out till the spring for a new camcorder but unfortunately my Canon is doing some weird zooming thing. I have been doing a lot of reading around here and I think I want to stay with dv for now. The chip sizes and bit rate are what bother me the most about the two I am really not sure on how much of a difference it would make. If I am not right to be concened with the difference in numbers between the two please let me know please.

I am kind of looking to see if there is anyone that would want to or could sell me on the avchd HF100. I love the thought of solid state. Then there is my issue with the HV30, I guess I also need to be sold on paying about $300 to $400 more for the HV30 does not make sense to me. Besides a body color, lcd display, and zoom upgrade it seems to be the HV20 all over again.

The main reason for this post is I can get the HV20 for $609 shipped right now. I don't see it going below that for awhile after the hv30 is released or will it? Thanks again guys in advance.

go get the HV20, it will, hopefully, last you for years.

Stop fretting about it.

Go get it and start shooting. It's a great little camera.


CS

yeah I think you are right. It is especially hard I keep missing things that my kids keep doing.

How old are they Tom?

There's nothing worse than losing those golden moments, 'cos they never come again.

Ah, the stuff I wish I'd caught over the years!

Go do.

CS

How old are they Tom?
Ah, the stuff I wish I'd caught over the years!
CS

boy I have to agree with that - I've got plenty of stills stuff but it wasn't until I saw one of the few 'moving' moments that I realised I should have been capturing more of them

Canon HF100 -vs- HV20... The chip sizes and bit rate are what bother me the most about the two I am really not sure on how much of a difference it would make. If I am not right to be concerned with the difference in numbers between the two please let me know please.The differences in chip size and bit rate between the HF100 and HV20 (or HV30) are indeed *nothing* to be concerned about. You won't see a difference between the two. There's not enough of a difference in the size of the chips to make a noticeable difference in the image, and you can't compare the bit rates because they're two completely different formats (a lower bit rate isn't "worse" if it's coming from a more efficient codec than the higher bit rate).

That said, I agree with the advice to go with the HV20. Why? Because you can get it *now,* and now is always the best time to buy. If you're waiting, you're not creating... and your kids are growing up every day. You need to be shooting those moments right now, so don't hesitate -- and definitely cease and desist on the numbers crunching, as that's completely meaningless. Hope this helps,

How old are they Tom?

There's nothing worse than losing those golden moments, 'cos they never come again.

Ah, the stuff I wish I'd caught over the years!

Go do.

CS

Three and four months.

I really blew a lot with my first son, I did not tape as much as I wish I did. I went crazy and got a ton of footage the first year and then the camera started acting up, and I told myself ahh I can wait to get a new one.With the camera acting the way it was and my old pc not being capable of editing it was put to the side. I thought the stills would be good enough then I watched one of the videos I put together and now I know nothing can replace the movies. Thanks for your thoughts guys

For $609, GET THE HV20! Kids change so quickly, and the camera is so unobtrusive you'll be able to capture moments that owners of even GL-1s couldn't.

The camera is so affordable, you're less apt to be precious about it. Plus it takes great stills. It's not great for low-light, but it's serviceable.

Consider - if you can swing it- getting a HDD/DVD Recorder unit, like the Panasonic DIGA models. You can record your signal via firewire to the HDD without babysitting it, do whatever minor edits within the HDD interface, add chapter marks, then burn multiple DVDs.

Editing and transcoding HDV is time consuming using an NLE. If you have a stack of tapes that you can bump to HDD, roughly edit, burn to DVDs you can share and give to your family that doesn't suck up a lot of your time, well, you'll be prone to doing it.
Best- Anthony Torres