hey everyone, I wanted to know what you thought about the canon hv40. I was thinking on getting it. I want to start making some kind of films, and documentaries maybe. I just joined the video production club at my school. I'm working on a budget here, about $800-$1000, or a little more. I don't want my video to be compressed like it is on my gz-hd6 and I would love a format that is much easier to edit (I have so many problems with jvc's files it's ridiculous and I'm tired of dealing with it, everytime I record a service for my church I lose precious material, at times 20 to 30 minutes of the work i've done, even after I have converted the files to work in premiere pro cs3). I'm not worried about the switch to tape from a hdd, I'd rather have a longer wait time with better quality. I guess I'm asking is this the camera to do film with or is there some other out there within my budget.

I thank you all in advance for your help!!!! Thanks!!!!!

The Canon HF series camcorders are in that budget. The quality is almost identical to the HV series cameras and transferring the videos to your computer is much faster. The HG camcorders are also in that budget and are basically the same as the HF's. As for editing, the files from both HF and HG cameras can be natively edited in Premiere, although you might need to create proxy files if your computer isn't top of the line.

both the hv40 and your jvc record in the mpeg2 format, so if you can't edit the jvc footage now, hdv won't be much easier, because the hdv bitrate is almost as high as the max bitrate on the jvc.

you need to fix your editing workflow first.

beyond that, the hv40 isn't as nice of a camera as the canon avchd camcorders... among other things, it uses an old video processor and the inferior hdv recording format.

hollip is correct about proxy editing, with gearshift($49) you can edit both hdv or avchd with dv proxy files, then do a final render with the original footage, as i understand it.

hey everyone, I wanted to know what you thought about the canon hv40. I was thinking on getting it. I want to start making some kind of films, and documentaries maybe. I just joined the video production club at my school. I'm working on a budget here, about $800-$1000, or a little more. I don't want my video to be compressed like it is on my gz-hd6 and I would love a format that is much easier to edit (I have so many problems with jvc's files it's ridiculous and I'm tired of dealing with it, everytime I record a service for my church I lose precious material, at times 20 to 30 minutes of the work i've done, even after I have converted the files to work in premiere pro cs3). I'm not worried about the switch to tape from a hdd, I'd rather have a longer wait time with better quality. I guess I'm asking is this the camera to do film with or is there some other out there within my budget.

I thank you all in advance for your help!!!! Thanks!!!!!

You will need a powerful pc to do any reasonable editing with avchd,i use both avchd sr-12 and have hdv cams,the hdv is easier to edit as far as i am concerned,

thanks for your help guys! I just wanted to say that I've always heard tape was much easier to edit and doesn't compress the video quality, is this not true or should i really be taking the look at the hf series as you say? I'm really looking to maybe start film and want to have the best least expensive camera that I can. Thanks again in advance!

Tape does compress... although not quite as much as avchd. Tape (HDV) works on the mpeg2 codec which is far easier to edit.

Avchd on the other hand is a more compact and efficient format so it can function better under heavier compression.... but it's really tough to edit.

Both formats/codecs present a high level of picture quality.

hdv has a similar bitrate to avchd, but since it has less compression, there will be less picture information in the bitstream.

since the hv40 hasn't been released yet, we don't know what kind of resolution it has, but the hf11/hg20/hg21 has been tested at higher resolution than the hv30.

however, if you want to acquire at 24p, be sure and evaluate avchd vs hdv, to see if one format is better than the other for that... cineform has some new software for avchd that is called neo scene, that they claim works perfectly for extracting 24p from avchd.

if you are serious about filmmaking with these little camcorders, you'll want to convert the camera original over to an uncompressed or lossless format anyway, which is a perfect application for cineform neo scene.

but don't forget, you need to fix your editing workflow FIRST... if you can't edit the jvc mpeg2, you won't be able to edit the hdv mpeg2, because they are the same thing.

FIRST... if you can't edit the jvc mpeg2, you won't be able to edit the hdv mpeg2, because they are the same thing.

No.
HDV captures as M2T, or MPG, or M2V (depending on what program you use to capture). But these formats are EASILY accepted into just about any editor.

The JVC on the other hand exports to your computer as either a MOD or a TOD (I can't remember which one). While it is true that it is mpeg within the container.... there aren't many editors that will readily accept MOD/TOD files. The only one that I know of actually is Avid Liquid... and even with that you have to change the extension to M2T and sort of sneak it in that way.

With most other editors though you have to use the supplied software to first peel off the container.

hdv has a similar bitrate to avchd, but since it has less compression, there will be less picture information in the bitstream.


Huh?
Sorry... I don't get this... you'll have to explain. Less compression means a bigger file... MORE information. Uncompressed avi has NO compression and the file sizes are HUGE.

Did you mean that avchd is more efficient and therefore can get away with more compression? Of this I will agree.

No.
The JVC on the other hand exports to your computer as either a MOD or a TOD (I can't remember which one). While it is true that it is mpeg within the container.... there aren't many editors that will readily accept MOD/TOD files. The only one that I know of actually is Avid Liquid... and even with that you have to change the extension to M2T and sort of sneak it in that way.

With most other editors though you have to use the supplied software to first peel off the container.

no.
the hassles with capturing hdv from tape are a bigger hassle than changing a file extension name.

all editors will accept mod files, with a simple and free software tweak on the wrapper, that does not re-encode the video:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/camcorders-video-editing/812999-converting-mod-files-something-you-can-edit-guide.html

the .mod format that jvc is using is better than hdv, for several reasons:

1) mod can do the full 1920x1080, while hdv is limited to the crippled 1440x1080 format.
2) mod hd format records at ~30Mbps, while hdv is limited to ~25Mbs.

Huh?
Sorry... I don't get this... you'll have to explain. Less compression means a bigger file... MORE information. Uncompressed avi has NO compression and the file sizes are HUGE.

Did you mean that avchd is more efficient and therefore can get away with more compression? Of this I will agree.


file size is irrelevant to this discussion.

no.
the hassles with capturing hdv from tape are a bigger hassle than changing a file extension name.

all editors will accept mod files, with a simple and free software tweak on the wrapper, that does not re-encode the video:


Oh yeah I see... all that shuffling and playing with mpg extensions and losing the audio and having to regain it.... that's much easier than plugging a firewire in and hitting the capture button :rolleyes:

Oh yeah I see... all that shuffling and playing with mpg extensions and losing the audio and having to regain it.... that's much easier than plugging a firewire in and hitting the capture button :rolleyes:

i've never had that problem.

but i have had to spend nearly $400 to get the minidv tape drive in my xl1s replaced, and i have two other videotape decks that are broken.

tape is dead.

i've never had that problem.

but i have had to spend nearly $400 to get the minidv tape drive in my xl1s replaced, and i have two other videotape decks that are broken.

tape is dead.

And I just spent $700 putting new tires on my car.... what's your point???

i've never had that problem.

but i have had to spend nearly $400 to get the minidv tape drive in my xl1s replaced, and i have two other videotape decks that are broken.

tape is dead.

Last I looked my two HDV cams were alive and well.;)

Sorry to hear of your problems with your cams.

And I just spent $700 putting new tires on my car.... what's your point???

looks like that reading comprehension problem is kicking in again :rolleyes:

ferlon wanted to trade hard drive recording for tape, and i proved that it's a bad idea.

good luck with your hdv tape drives, people ;)

good luck with your hdv tape drives, people ;)

I'm terribly sorry you're having so much trouble with yours. I've owned them for years... never had a problem. You know... all you need to do is ask for help and we'll show you how to do it with out breaking them.... it's real easy I assure you.... even YOU can handle it

Heck... the HV40 isn't an overall best point scorer on camcorder.com for nothing ya know! ;)

Thanks guys for your input! lol. I think I'm going with the hv30/40 probably the 30 because it's cheaper. I can't deal with the hdd's anymore and I don't want to have the same problem of super compression with memory cards, I'm afraid to try them right now. So I'm going tape. thanks big barney and blast for the input. No offence osv.

Thanks guys for your input! lol. I think I'm going with the hv30/40 probably the 30 because it's cheaper. I can't deal with the hdd's anymore and I don't want to have the same problem of super compression with memory cards, I'm afraid to try them right now. So I'm going tape. thanks big barney and blast for the input. No offence osv.


Enjoy what you get. Its HD and will make for an excellent memory maker.

Both sides have their points. Get what works for you, and get filming.;)

I'm terribly sorry you're having so much trouble with yours. I've owned them for years... never had a problem. You know... all you need to do is ask for help and we'll show you how to do it with out breaking them.... it's real easy I assure you.... even YOU can handle it

Heck... the HV40 isn't an overall best point scorer on camcorder.com for nothing ya know! ;)

the hv40 isn't even on the market yet, so it can't be the "overall best point scorer" :rolleyes:

and there isn't any such website as "camcorder.com" :rolleyes::rolleyes:

get back to us as soon as you understand modern technology, barney ;-)

Thanks guys for your input! lol. I think I'm going with the hv30/40 probably the 30 because it's cheaper. I can't deal with the hdd's anymore and I don't want to have the same problem of super compression with memory cards, I'm afraid to try them right now. So I'm going tape. thanks big barney and blast for the input. No offence osv.

no worries, i've done the best that i can to try and make you understand that both camcorders have the same "super compression"... if you are bound and determined to throw hundreds of dollars away for no good reason, all i can say is good luck.

the good thing about forums is that somebody else will stumble onto this thread, and benefit from it :)

the hv40 isn't even on the market yet, so it can't be the "overall best point scorer" barney ;-)

Sorry... typo HV30


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