Hello,

I have a canon XH-A1 but I'd like something lighter to travel, and I'm wondering if I should go with a HV30, which is HDV and could also be used as a deck for my A1, or should I go with one of those AVCHD such as VIXIA HF10 etc...
How does the AVCHD out of those prosumer canon compare to the HDV out of the HV30 ?
Thanks
Philippe

I used to have an HV20 so still have some HDV tapes and video on hand to run comparisons.

I currently use a pair of HF100's and find the full 1920x1080 AVCHD to show a tad finer detail than the HV20 video. The difference is slight but there. So you would tend to like it, I think.

However your workflow is currently based on HDV and unless you are looking to a future move to tapeless workflow you might be better served with the HV30 which you could use for "B" roll or as a backup to your larger cam.

And AVCHD is quite a bit more demanding of computer resources when editing than HDV. You would pretty much need a fast quad core processor and a strong graphics card if you went with one of the HF series.

I too have both an HV20 and now an HF100, and Bruce's comments are completely "spot on". I will add that if I could only keep one camcorder, it would unquestionably be the HF100.

Be prepared for a substantial increase in your computer resources, again as Bruce says. I had to go from a single 3.0 Pentium 4 running adequate HDV workflow to a fast quadcore to get really smooth performance with AVCHD.

Larry

Add me to the list- I had an XH-A1 and now the HF100 and the Vixia is unbelievably good- super clean video but AVCHD editing is a pain with transcoding almost a must.....my vote goes to the Vixia.
When native AVCHD editing is possible on Mac's- I'll be thrilled!

I'm already transcoding my HDV footage into the Cineform NEO CODEC, so I guess I could do the same with AVCHD, and edit the Cineform footage, correct?

My understanding is that with FCP you have to covert the AVCHD files to Pro res or Apple Intermediate Codec, both of which take up lots of space, though Pro res is more, like about one minute per gig, versus 5 minutes per gig for HDV. So you're really never playing the AVCHD with a Mac, just copying files from the camera, then converting.

I've been toying with the idea of an HF10 or HF100 too. My natural instinct is to get the HV30 because I also have an XH A1. But I don't really need it as a deck right now; I just want a small camera for those guerrilla video type situations. The HV30 is fine for that, but the HV10/100 is more compact and feels a little more solid. When I finally saw the HV30 in person, I was a little underwhelmed...feels pretty plastic and cheap, although people say it's durable enough.

I guess my issue is, am I willing to accept the hassle of shooting tapeless and the AVCHD hassle in exchange for a little bit more compact camera? I could live with tapeless for the little camera because it wouldn't be use that much for real production, just for grab shots that might get used within a production sometimes, and for personal things. It's difficult to give up the convenience and ease of tape just for a smaller camera.

I just got my HF10, wow is it awesome! LIke a feather, fits fine into a jacket pocket or a cargo pants pocket. I took a bunch of footage the 1st day in different modes and played it back on a 32inch 1080p LCD, it was gorgeous. 16gb internal and i got 2 16gb class 6 cards to go with it.

So far I give it a huge thumbs up.