By Andrew Liszewski
It’s been a long time coming but I’m happy to see true 1080p video recording technology finally trickling down to the consumer level. The Canon HV10 is based on HDV technology which allows a full 1920×1080 signal (yay!) to be captured to a standard DV tape which are almost as common today as VHS tapes were a few years ago.
Canon claims the HV10 is the world’s smallest HDV camera and looking at the shot there it does appear to slightly edge out Sony’s smallest offerings in the HDV market. The HV10 also allows you to record video in the standard 480 NTSC mode plus everything else you’d expect from a modern camcorder like fast auto-focus, image stabilization and still shot capabilities.
The HV10 is currently available on Amazon.com for what I consider to be a pretty reasonable $1,019.49.
[ Canon HV10 HD Camcorder ] VIA [ Uncrate ]
“…plus everything else you?d expect from a modern camcorder…”
Almost. I have one of these camcorders and, inexplicably, there not only is no mount for an external Mic or light, there’s *no* way to plug in an external microphone.
So you’re shooting HD video alongside AM radio audio. 🙁
FYI, this is 1080i, not 1080p
They totally should have made it so you could plug in a mike. I have one too and have noticed it gets hotter then a nucleur submarine after it’s been on for a half hour. It’s almost too hot to hold. Total battery hog, but you can get expanded batteries and that helps. The quality is great, but a little unwieldy, you need high def editing software to get the film off the camera. Canon is offering a rebate, but they make you wait two months before they’ll send it to you. You are better off just buying software at the same time and saving yourself the trouble. Overall it’s a nice camera, but there isnt’ a good way to get the high def footage to the TV yet, maybe when high def burners become more popular.