Canon HF20 / HF200 Official Owner's Thread - Page 17

I'm finding a setting in the HF200 camera that doesn't appear to be in the manual...

In Menu, Movie menu 1 mode is Frame Rate (60i, PF30, PF24) which I understand, and also
x.v.Color Which I can't find in the manual...

Has anyone else found references to x.v.Color in the manual? What page?

I have a quad core and it works fine for editing HD content with X2. Rendering takes a while, but it only renders content that needs to be changed. Interestingly I used Ulead from 8 to today. When I have looked the various packages, they all appear to leap frog each other so at any given time one will be in the lead, but it rarely stays there. 98% of what I need though is covered well by all the software options so I prefer to stick to the same package and avoid the learning curves. As mentioned earlier, most if not all of them have free demos, I'd try them all out and pick your own favorite.

No, the same BDMV folder is used for all of the videos you save. I don't know if that method will work, but it should. You also need to make sure you're burning in the proper UDF file-system modes, etc.


I've seen this issue before. Different internal USB hubs need to install the driver separately for most USB devices. You'll find if you move your USB mouse to the other ports the same thing will happen. It's possible the front USB driver installation didn't complete for some reason. You could plug it in there, go into the Device Manager and try right-clicking and Uninstalling, then re-inserting to let it automatically re-install the driver.


x.v.Color is described on the bottom of page 136 in the manual, it uses an extended gamut for deeper color. It is only useful is you plan on showing on a TV with that capability, otherwise the colors won't look correct. Thus, I don't use it. Even if I did have a TV with it (I might, not sure), it would look poor on other TVs. Frame Rate is also in the manual on that same page.

olo567: Thanks for that info. I agree..

Missed it.... Didn't find it in the table of contents...

I finally found the settings for my HF20 that I am very satisfied for indoor video. Here is my settings:

P mode
Auto Slow Shutter - Turn Off (this very important to turn this off so that the shutter will not go below 60)
Exposure - Manually set to -2
WB - Custom WB to get accurate colors
Image effect - Custom: Color Depth +1, Sharpness +1, Contrast 0, Brightness +1

The only thing that I keep changing now is the WB depending on the background light. Just don't forget to set exposure to -2 every time you turn on the videocam since it will not save the settings when you turn it off. The rest I leave it. I always set the exposure to -2 even for bright scene. It gives me a very clean video. I think exposure mode in this videocam works like the ISO for still camera. In still cameras the lower the ISO you use the cleaner the image you get. I'm not an expert but Im really happy with the results I get ever since I got these settings. Good thing I didn't sell this videocam to get the more expensive Sony. The only things that Sony have the I wish my videocam have is the 5.1surround sound and their super Image Stabilzer.

Just ordered the HF200 off Amazon for $488. Looking forward to figuring this thing out when I get it!

It will just be used for home video of the kids and stuff. I plan on editing the video a bit and then simply placing it on a hard disk so my WD Live Media Player can access it. From what I've researched, this should work good. If anyone is already doing this, I'd love to hear from them how it's working.

I ordered an HF200 from Amazon too. I don't really plan on doing any editing, at least at this time. My PC isn't powerful enough (AMD 64 dual core 4200 2.2 gHz 1 GB RAM). I mainly want to shoot video, archive it on DVD or Blu-ray discs (maybe on my hard drive as well), and be able to watch it on my HDTV using my Panasonic BD-30. I may upgrade my PC later, but here are my questions:

1. Should I install the Pixela software to facilitate uploading video to my PC?
2. My PC has an SD card reader but not an SDHC one. Could I use a USB card reader instead, or should I simply upload via USB cable?
3. I see from this link posted earlier, http://www.avchduser.com/articles/avchd_to_bluray.jsp, that I can use my Nero 8 to burn AVCHD to DVDs that my BD-30 can play. However, I have read elsewhere that there are space and maybe quality limitations with this. Would it be better to get a blu-ray burner and burn the AVCHD to blu-ray discs?
4. If I burn to either format, would I be able to upload the files from those discs if I upgrade my PC later to do some editing?

Thanks

1. I haven't but it may make it easier to keep track of the files since it automatically names them.
2. Might as well just connect the camera by USB.
3. The quality will be unchanged if you use that method (and get it to work), and the usable space will be the size of the DVD+/-R that you use (4.2+ GB for a DVD5 or 8+ GB for a DVD9). For this method you should probably not use Pixela as I understand it. Bluray burners are expensive, if you don't need the 25GB per disc space and cost per disc, then don't go there yet.
4. The method above leaves the videos themselves untouched, so you would be able to download from the disc with 100% fidelity. If you use other software, it might unnecessarily re-encode the AVC files before burning.

I had thought all of this stuff over as well. With the current prices of bluray disks and a bluray burner, I decided to go the hard disk/media player route. Who knows, bluray disks may be obsolete soon anyway. Streaming media may be the way to go. But if the bluray route becomes cheaper in the near future, I can always buy that route at that time.

Thanks for your responses. I thought I read that when you burn AVCHD format to a DVD, you can only burn about 20 minutes of video. Forgive my ignorance about all this, but the 16GB sdhc card I bought says "240 minutes" on the label. Does that mean it will hold that much video only at the lowest resolution? If I want to record at 17 mp(?), will it hold less than that? I'm trying to figure out why a 16GB card would hold 240 minutes, but a 4 GB disc would hold only 20 minutes.

Also, blu-ray discs and burners don't seem that expensive to me. They're not cheap, to be sure, but I'd rather not be limited to 20 minutes discs if I can help it.

I don't trust hard drives; I've lost stuff in the past. I've never lost anything I backed up to a disc.

Hi - Why not spend your money on a DSLR that does video & photo? We shoot weddings with a 5D Mach II and the new 7D they are great. Check out some of our work. www.tigerlilyphotography.com
Let me know if you have any questions.

It depends on what your bitrate is. Same goes for the SDHC card. The 240 minutes is for a bitrate of about 8.5 MB/s, low quality for HD. There is a chart somewhere in the camcorder's manual that will tell you how much you can store on a 16GB card at each quality setting.

It's hard to find 25GB Bluray discs for less than $2 each. A DVD5 runs on average $0.35 and a DVD9 about $0.80. So it's definitely getting better and they're just about worth it if you're always recording close to full capacity and you don't run into any coasters.


WAY different price range. I'm sure you do great work, but this comes off as spam, please don't post that here.

Don't mean to be spammy. Understand though. I really should have posted the YouTube link that has 24p video. Look up the same name.

As far as price. You get what you pay for.

Take care!

So the bitrate works the same for the card and the disc? In other words, according to the chart here:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...delFeaturesAct

If I recorded video at FXP and burned it at the same bitrate to a 4 GB disc (DVD5?), it would hold about 30 minutes, and an 8 GB disc (DVD9?) would hold about an hour?

I am looking at the Canon HG 20, HF20 and 200, what would you recomend.

Also how hard is it to take the video you recorded and put it on a DVD for storage with or with out editing. I don't no much about this stuff so im am lost. If you were to record footage and put it on a dvd would it have to be recorded in 60i or could it be greater. Also i will be using this camera in some low light conditions how much noise does it make because sound is an issue.

Also my dvd burner on my computer is a DVD R/RW will this work and if so what type of DVDs will i need right now my tv isn't HD so it doesn't matter but here in the future ill have one what is need for that.

thanks your respone would be very helpful

Has anybody had luck with non-Canon hdmi cables?

how do these campare to Sonys new handycam HDR cx150 thanks

I use one from monoprice.com just fine.

Ill second that as well

Wait a couple of months and get a HF M30 or HF M31 when they come out.
You can do HD to SD down conversion on the camera and not have to use a computer to do the conversion. Burning a standard DVD will then be a lot easier.

I got a Mini HDMI to HDMI cable off Ebay, and have no problems with it.

Looking at specs of the HF M30, I don't see any difference in the specs.. Between HF200 and HFM30
all you get for the extra $$ is internal Memory....

Did anyone find any newer specs or information ???

I dont realy dont want to spend more than $500, Im only using it to video tape hunts and my motocross races. I am just stuck between the HF200 and the SONY HDR cx150. I want one that is very user friendly which i no the canon is im just worried that i won't beable to put my video on dvds

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...&modelid=19831
.....has information, did you see this page ?

One advantage of the internal memory on the HF M3X series is the new feature of
HD to SD downconversion on the camcorder itself.
This is described under "easy web sharing" under the
features tab of the web page.

There are some other minor improvements too,
like "touch and track" to improve focus and exposure ?

From the Amazon website...
HD-to-SD Downconversion allows you to convert recorded high definition video to standard definition files while safely preserving the original HD video. These standard definition files make it even more convenient to edit, share video online, or create a DVD. The downconverted video can be transferred to your computer via traditional methods – i.e. USB connection, card slot – or wirelessly to sharing sites with an Eye-Fi SD memory card.

What' the big deal about the on camcorder HD to SD downconversion ?
....Even with a powerful computer it can take many hours to do the downconversion needed before you burn a standard DVD.

Also for making high definition AVCHD discs...
DVD Burner Compatible
You can also easily burn DVDs of the video shot with your VIXIA HF M30 as it is compatible with Canon's DW-100 DVD Burner. A one-cable connection is all it takes to send the files across and with the click of a few buttons, your videos will be burned to an AVCHD disc for play in a compatible DVD player.
AVCHD discs containing scenes recorded in MXP mode cannot be created with the optional DW-100 DVD Burner.

AVCHD discs are maxed out with FXP 17Mbps whilst MXP is 24Mbps.
Unless you have a huge screen with a lot of action on your video you probably won't notice any difference between FXP and MXP.

NEED SOME HELP!
i have had my canon hf20 for about 2 months now its its a great camera but i cant get the vidoe quality to what i want it to look like. when i post it on youtube the video jumps and is not snooth how can i fix that? i have it set to the sports mode wich helped but still is not what im looking for.
the setings i have now
1-25mbps
2-60i
3- sports mode
i shoot a lot of fast stuff so i want it to look good and its hard to get it to now so can sombody help?
heres my youtube with some videos i shot with it
www.youtube.com/user/kono993

Yes, it's completely equivalent, those capacities are correct (approximately).


I can't access youtube right now (at work), but I believe they convert all videos to 24 fps, so you may want to try recording in 24p mode. Sports mode might actually appear jumpier apparently, I don't use it. Try shutter priority and test different speeds on there. 1/24 (or 1/30 in 30p or 60i) is a good start, and go higher (well, higher denominator) if it seems too blurry. If you go too much higher, then it will seem too jumpy, which is what sports mode was doing in the first place.

Just my opinion but I don't think it's a magic setting as much as your technique, I personally found your footage very hard to watch because your are moving the camcorder too fast and to me it looks jerky.

I would suggest slowing down a little and try to smooth your movements, or maybe try one of those stabilizing devices such as the HAGUE etc.

This is just my opinion others may like it but it made me feel dizzy.

I haven't purchase the hf200 yet, i was wondering how hard is it to put the the recorded video on a DVD, What DVD is required and what dvd burner is required i believe i have a DVD R/wr. Is this even possible because it records in HD thanks

Hi

- What is the 2010 Canon lineup replacement for the HF200?

- And should I look into other 2010 canon camcorders than the HF200 replacement. The more expensive ones for new 2010 functionality. Or less expensive ones, if you get the same value in the new lower 2010 model as you did in HF200?

Thanks

Jens
Denmark