VIXIA HV30 announced -- pics
 

Basically it's the black body version of the HV20 with the added capability of 30p (still has 24p as before), a better flip-out LCD display panel (the same as found on the HG10 and HR10), and support for the large BP-2L24H battery (cam no longer shuts off when charging this batt). The zoom control is slightly larger and improved. All other specs are identical to the HV20. Available late Februrary 2008 with an MSRP of $999.

Some HV30 pics... click to see 'em big...

wow thats much cooler looking. i think ill sit this model out though, but that is sweet. maybe this is a stupid question, but what does VIXIA stand for?

I'll wait to see who'll be the first to introduce 3x1920x1080 sensors and 1920 recording in the same camera to the consumer market...

For now, I'm happy with my HC7.

As an acronym? Nothing yet, unless you care to make something up!

It's just a badge, like Optura, Elura, etc. Why they chose to do it in all caps...?

Video
Is
Xcellent
Incredibly
Affordable


let it be written, let it be said. i know that was lame, haha.

The upgrades are nice, but Canon missed some opportunities with the HV30. I know it's a consumer camera, but for relatively little additional manufacturing cost, pulldown flags, greater manual control, and image flip could've been added. I'm not even suggesting that they might've considered a global-shutter CMOS imager (cheap, high-quality 1,920 x 1,280 global-shutter CMOS sensors probably don't exist yet). Still, the $999 MSRP is $100 lower than that of the HV20.

"Very Incremental Expansion of Internal Abilities"?

The HV30 really offers very little except 30p, and that's only of interest to those producing low-quality webcast material.

While the shiny black surface on the top may look nice I would bet it shows more dirt/grease than the silver HV20. I have some glossy black electronics devices and I'm always wiping them off where as the HV20 always looks clean.

30p, no pull down... mmmmmm

I think Canon was surprised by the reception afforded the HV20. What was supposed to be a consumer-only machine turned out to have significant appeal to prosumers and advanced amateurs. Canon will not want to undercut its market for the XH-A1 (and, indeed, I was saving up for one until I found out about the HV20). I'll bet that, as this line evolves, future "improvements" will center around things like 30p, which is of limited appeal to pros and advanced amateurs, but will not include things like better manual control, 3 sensors, better low-light capability, etc., as these will directly impact sales of Canon's prosumer line.

see, not only am i not surprised that there aren't more manual controls, i'm wondering if they take out some of the work arounds we've discovered on the HV20 to get more manual functions. it will be interesting to see. I know they said its the same inside, but imagine if they took out the half press photo button thing?

In the German press release they also say that it RECORDS in 1920...

I would hope more that Canon would recognize the success of this camcorder and work on a model that lives in between the HV20 and the XH-A1. It could basically be the HV20 sensor with all the manual controls that we want and a better lens at a higher price point.

Looks like HDV so it'll record 1440, not a bad thing.

EDIT More...

"Canon designed and manufactured HD CMOS Image Sensor for Full HD (1920 x 1080) image capture"

They said this about the HV20 which is true but the recorded image to tape is still going to be 1440.

It's also $100 lower than the new VIXIA HF10 dual flash memory camcorder, which seems to be positioned a little higher in some specs, such as 3.3 megapixel CMOS sensor vs. 2.96 megapixels on the HV30.

Any thoughts on the pros and cons of HF10 vs. HV30, and which has the brighter future? Is tape-based recording going to be obsoleted within a few years?