Let's face it. If money was of no concern you would simply go out and buy the best camera on the market. But if you're like me and auctioning off things you hope you no longer need to get enough money together to buy one then this article is for you. The camera I ended up saving for was the Canon HV20. By the time I had what I needed the HV30 was out. Better yet. The first thing you think when taking it out of the box is "this thing is really small". But if it's "a size matters" thing your in good company. This little camera has a cult like following. Web sites detailing all that be added, modded, plugged into, and hung off of, are all over the internet. But that all comes later.
Diagonal View of the HV30.
Ease of Use
The best part of HV30 is once you have it set the way you want it's as simple as point and shoot. The mini DV/HDV tapes load easily and quickly. The controls are all where you would expect them to be for zoom, record, and power. The zoom has three speed options to choose from ; the slowest being very smooth and the fastest being a little hard to keep smooth. If you don't want to just point and shoot there are plenty of settings to have fun with by moving through the menus ; fades, dissolves, white balance, scene modes, and shutter speeds from 1/6 to 1/2000 of a second.
The HV30 uses an HD CMOS recording system.
Depth of Options
There are some small things to notice on the HV30. There are inputs for just about everything. There's a 3.5mm input jack to add a microphone. I chose an Azden SGMX1 with a nice big fuzzy windscreen. I also use an Azden Cam3 3 channel mixer. One of the reasons for this is to avoid wear and tear on the input jack. The 3.5mm jack is just not as durable as an XLR and could break if the cable gets yanked. The other reason for the mixer is to add an additional boom microphone for over the top or ambient sounds. These can all be controlled with the on-screen audio controls.
Front Lens of the HV30.
Next there's a 3.5mm input for headphones to monitor your audio. If the standard 2.7 inch LCD display is too small there's a HDV/DV out jack and HDMI terminal to monitor on an external display. I like to use this with the Firewire input on my laptop and use Adobe's OnLocation to check the levels and balances.
The Viewscreen for the HV30.
Then there is one feature that isn't found on most cameras in this price range. That is the option to use manual focus. Incredible as it sounds that this isn't on some of the competitors' products, but it is not. This is a really great feature for being artistic and doing focus pulling. There are also DIY's and suppliers making follow focus add-ons. This camera features the ability to monitor all the things that are important on your shoot. The monitor can be switched to view audio levels, battery, tape, effects, resolution , focus and others. There is also an option for using a wind screen setting to cut down on audio noise. Another audio option is a microphone attenuator to get better audio levels in loud environments. It brings the audio into a better level to be useable. After you're done capturing your footage, importing it into your editing favorite editing program is as easy as connecting the HDV/DV out to the Firewire in on your computer.
The HV30 records on HDV tapes.
Performance
When turning on the camera you notice the incredible colors from the Digic DVII image processor on the 2.7 LCD display and think that this is probably good enough , but it's not. This will just make it as good as some of the other cameras out there. Where the Canon really shines is when placed in True 24p Cinematic mode. The 24p is the same frame rate as film and the Cinematic mode warms the colors to resemble the hues as you would see at the theatre. The 10x optical 200x digital zoom on the 43mm lens allows you to reach your subject wherever they may be.
Unlike many small cameras, this one has a mic jack and a headset jack, as well as a firewire jack.
Value
For the street price of a new or used HV30 you don't need to be afraid to bolt it on the side or front of your car to get some great car chase shots. The crispness of the picture and the warmness of the colors make it an excellent choice for a primary Indie camera or a great back-up. The fact that you are shooting on tape and not memory cards or hard drives gives a feeling of confidence knowing you will not run out of memory or space as long as you carry an extra tape or two.
Final Comments To sum up the Canon HV30 it scores at the top of my list for included features, quality of picture, ease of use getting through menus. On the negative side would be the size of the display. Another nice upgrade in the future would be the option to flip the display if using a DOF adapter.
Oh, one more thing. On the size matters thing. After you put the nice big fuzzy microphone on, add a big matte box to enhance and protect the sun from hitting the lens put it on a rail system and it no longer looks so small.
Ease
of Use
9.0
Depth
of Options
9.0
Performance
9.0
Value
vs. Cost
9.0
Overall Score
9.0
Darren R Wiczek is a writer, director, producer, camera-man, editor with over 27 years of experience. His company Dangerous Productions in Oakfield, Wisconsin is currently working on an action picture about car racing. Our motto is " if you give it to us we'll shoot it".
Let's face it. If money was of no concern you would simply go out and buy the best camera on the market. But if you're like me and auctioning off things you hope you no longer need to get enough money together to buy one then this article is for you. The camera I ended up saving for was the Canon HV20. By the time I had what I needed the HV30 was out. Better yet. The first thing you think when taking it out of the box is "this thing is really small". But if it's "a size matters" thing your in good company. This little camera has a cult like following. Web sites detailing all that be added, modded, plugged into, and hung off of, are all over the internet. But that all comes later. 
