Digital Video - January 2008 - (Page 16) REVIEW CANON DOUBLE DUTY CANON’S HV20 IS A LOW-COST HDV ALTERNATIVE AND STILLS UNIT. BY CHUCK GLOMAN T here has always been a divide between consumer equipment and professional gear, but Canon has produced a rather tempting prosumer camcorder that provides quality HD images at a surprisingly low price point. Weighing slightly more than a pound without battery, the HV20 is one small camcorder, though it includes a color viewfinder and a 2.7” widescreen flip-out LCD monitor. Its single CMOS sensor has more than 2 million active pixels (1920x1080) when shooting 1080i/60 HDV and more than 1.5 million active pixels when shooting DV. TAKING CONTROL Powering up the camera is slightly awkward — you use a thumb-activated wheel in the rear. Push down on the green button and slide the switch to the left to open the external lens shutter (instead of a dangling lens cap that is quickly lost), and you are in camera mode. If the same switch is slid to the right, the camera is in tape mode. The zoom switch is a tiny toggle directly in front of the photo button. (The HV20 doubles as a digital still camera). Sized for third graders or those with dainty fingers, linebackers will need someone else to zoom for them. If you plan on sharing the HV20 between several users, such as students, I believe this switch could become inoperative quickly. On the same side, the HV20 sports a microphone input 16 dv january 2008 (1/8” mini connector), a mini-plug AV output branching to the RCA video and audio cables (it’s also the headphone jack if switched accordingly in the menu), and the component out port. The back of the camera has a plastic-covered HDMI output and FireWire port. The AC jack is directly below this cover and will power the camera as well as charge the battery if the optional CB-2LW battery charger isn’t purchased. The included BP-2L13 Li-Ion battery lasts about an hour with the LCD open, which is pretty typical for a Canon battery of this size. I recommend the BP-2L14, a larger battery that sticks out farther but will give you more shooting time. The menu took me a little while to find because the “function” button must be pressed and then “menu” www.dv.com http://www.dv.com
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