Well, recital season is just about here. I shoot multi-camera recitals. I've been using Gl1 & 2s, VX1000 & 2000's, XL1's, & I'm considering shooting HDV this year, if only for the widescreen aspect. I have some questions regarding the HV20:

1. How much manual control would I have have with this camera? Basically, what I want to do is set/lock my shutter at 1/30, manually white balance, manually focus, and, most importantly, be able to ride the iris throughout the entire performance, as some of you surely know, the lighting conditions change drastically from number to number, and often within the same number. Can this be accomplished with this camera, on the fly, so to speak? Audio would be handled through my beachtek, via a feed from the board & a mic for nat sound/applause, etc...

2. Can I shoot in HDV and downconvert to SD while I digitize the footage? If yes, what are the downconvert options(widescreen, letterbox, 4:3 via chopping off the ends of pic)? How does the downconverted footage look, compared to say a gl2 or vx200? Can it shoot widescreen SD? 4:3 SD?

Has anyone used their HV20 for this type of shooting? Am I being unrealistic hoping to be able to use it for this? Some of these recitals have professional lighting in professional theaters, some have just basic white lights in High School Auditoriums, & some are somewhere in between. Basically, I want to be able to ride the iris & zoom throughout the show.
Any opinions?

Thank you in advance,
Marc

***OK, I just saw the link to the manual, so that'll answer most of the questions. However, I'd still like to hear some opinions, experiences, etc.. on whether this camera can work for me. Thanks!***

here's some stuff i shot at a comedy club a couple of weeks ago. i've found setting the exposure to be easier than i thought it would be, especially since people were saying how much more difficult/laborious it would be since it is menu driven, but really it's maybe one or 2 button pushes away from locking/unlocking and then tweaking. i've also had to get used to the lcd, as it doesn't reproduce whites/blacks/shadows as accurately as the cam is recording them, at first i was always stopping down the light because it was reading bright to me on the lcd, but when hooked up to a tv or captured it was handling the bright spots much better than i anticipated. the latitude is much better than a older dv cam imo


http://file.meyersproduction.com/hv20/hv20%20comedy-H.264%20Full%20HD%206k.mov

I think it is doable, and not much different from adjusting the exposure wheel on the VX2100. In TV mode: You can absolutely lock in 1/30 shutter. And you can adjust iris by the exposure toggle. However, you do not know when you are actually adjusting iris, or gain. So you have to trust that Canon is giving you best in its automated adjustments.

Only other question I have is the lighting conditions. This camera tends to get real grainy in low light. It does help to shoot in 24p, for whatever reason, as it seems to have better low light capability in that mode.

at first i was always stopping down the light because it was reading bright to me on the lcd, but when hooked up to a tv or captured it was handling the bright spots much better than i anticipated.

Some cams have a brightness setting for the LCD. Does the HV20?

Good luck.

Dennis

Some cams have a brightness setting for the LCD. Does the HV20?

Good luck.

Dennis

Yes, in the menu.