My own Review/Footage of HV-10 In 720P

[Michael Ferreira]

I am a long time reader and love this site. So i decided to start providing information as well.

I purchased the HV-10 at circuit city the other day and fell in love with the camera, I am the type of guy that has to keep his camera by his side at all times. i have replaced my HDR-HC1 with the HV-10 for my everyday use.

I wanted to put up this thread to provide unboxing shots and some everyday footage in auto mode for the users on here who still have questions about this camera as an everyday auto run and gun style camera.

Here is the link for the 720P.MOV version (298MB) make sure you download and not stream or you will have a hard time enjoying it.

http://thewiredworm.com/mf726/vidcli...0review720.mov

And here is the web version of this video from my website.

http://mf726.com/vidclips/hv10review.html

Enjoy and feel free to ask any questions about the camera you might have.

~Mike

[Ken Ross]

Mike, the HV10 is indeed an utterly amazing camera. I'm in the Orlando area on vacation now and I shot the "Macys Parade" at Universal yesterday. I was only able to review the footage on the LCD screen, but it looks simply superb in its rich color and overall exposure!

I just recently bought the Sony FX7 for work, and it just amazes me how close this tiny HV10 is to the FX7 in quality. The Sony is just a bit more 'open' with a bit better colors, but the HV10 has less video noise than any HDV camera I've seen. When the HV10 footage comes on it's just stellar in its incredibly low noise floor (with good lighting).

To think this is Canon's first attempt at a small HDV cam....amazing!

[Michael Ferreira]

Ken, I hope your having a good vacation, I live 3 hours south of the Orlando area, i hope you get some good footage id like to see a recap video sometime.

I was just up there and shot some home movies at Disney but i only had my HC1 with me at the time i would have loved the freedom of the HV-10.

I have a recap video of that trip here http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=82429

Again enjoy your trip maybe next time you are around we can have a DV Users Group meet up in Orlando.

~Mike

[Ken Ross]

Sounds like a great idea Mike and thanks for the good wishes. Mike, am I to assume the intro to your footage was shot by the HC1? Your footage looked very nice and even the low light wasn't bad at all. To be honest, I find this unit gets an unfair rap in low light. I've found my footage in my house at night (typical incandescant lighting) looks great. Of course if you shoot by one candle you won't get good results, but then we should be using a light in situations like that anyway. The other often forgotten feature on the HV10 is the tiny onboard video light. Although very limited in reach, the light is terrific for a situation just like the one you shot in the restaurant.

[Michael Ferreira]

Yes it was. I wanted to keep the file in HDV format so i used the HC1 and not the FX7 due to the fact that i wanted to just point and shoot. But i did use studio lights with umbrellas and light boxes and thats why it looked as good as it did.

I also used my wireless Sennheiser EW 100 G2 mic system, I don't like being in front of the camera and i don't think anyone wants me there anyway lol but if i am going to do it i want my audio to come out right so at least they can hear what I am saying.

Later on I will be capturing the same shots with both the HC1 and the HV-10 for another reader here on DVInfo ill put a link on this thread also.

I have a little tip for anyone with the HV-10 in low light. like Ken says the forgotten feature is the onboard video light. turn it on and white balance to the video light and boom no more blue at all with your Onboard light.

and ken i did shot a candle flame in the dark ill post that up you will be amazed what the hv-10 can do it indeed gets a very bad rep with low light.

~Mike

[Ken Ross]

Interesting stuff Mike. I didn't realize you had the FX7. Do you find as do I that the FX7 is a bit more open and sharp, but yet the noise floor of the HV10 is lower? What's weird is that I don't see any noise in most FX7 scenes, but yet when you do an A/B with the FX7/HV10, the footage of the HV10 somehow looks cleaner. Again, there's nothing but clean footage from the FX7, but somehow the HV10 just somehow looks cleaner. I would still pick the FX7 as better in HDV, but they are amazingly close and would never think of taking the FX7 on 'vacation'. :)

[Michael Ferreira]

ken here is the low light
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=82477

~mike

[Brad Vaughan]

Excellent stuff Michael!

Are you using your Mac Laptop to edit and render your videos?

I just bought my HV10 and I'm now trying to figure out the best methods of rendering/compressing the footage. Your shots are very crisp...nice work!

[Michael Ferreira]

Brad,

Some video I am using the macbook for i wanted the pro but i travel alot so i needed a little bit smaller size plus i like the white shinny look it looks nice on my desk.

Feel free to ask qustions it's the reason i am posting.

~Mike

[Brad Vaughan]

Thanks Mike for the willingness to help.

I'm having trouble finding a good compression method. As we all know the raw HDV files are enormous and I'm trying to compress them and still achieve a nice image quality...the HDV Holy Grail...I know.

Anyway can you offer some advice on getting some nice compressed footage? I'm new to this HDV world and could use all the helpful advice I can get.

My setup:
P4 3.4 @ 3.7
7800GS Video Card
2 Gig Mushkin PC 3200
XP Home SP2
Vegas 7 for editing.

Your video review is just gorgeous. How did you render/edit/compress it? Did you have the camera set to auto when filming the dogs and the outside water fountain & flower scenes? The images are so clear!

Hopefully oneday, I can get some nice quality footage put together like your review.

amazing stuff Mike...simply amazing.