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HV20 - online retailer check and lens advice

post #1 of 26
4/5/07 at 11:20am
Thread Starter 
I have seen the camera for a pretty good price at http://www . bestpricecameras . com.

Has anyone dealt with these guys ? they appear to be well rated. The price is good not crazy (the latter usually is a huge red flag for me). I just have never heard of them.

Also, I would like to get at least a wide angle lens (may be a telephoto too), does anyone have some basic clues on this ?
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post #2 of 26
4/5/07 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
ok,. done my own research and for the sake of others who might be interested.

Do not buy from these guys.

Also, I said above that the price was not so low (I remembered in the 800s, which I believe is a fair price) but I checked again and it is indeed in the 600s which is way low hence per se a red flag.
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post #3 of 26
4/5/07 at 11:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by windwaves View Post

ok,. done my own research and for the sake of others who might be interested.

Do not buy from these guys.

Also, I said above that the price was not so low (I remembered in the 800s, which I believe is a fair price) but I checked again and it is indeed in the 600s which is way low hence per se a red flag.

Try MediaSupplyStore.com, you will have to call them, but I just got my camera in yesterday for ~$938 shipped.
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post #4 of 26
4/5/07 at 11:50am
Thread Starter 
nice, thank you !
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post #5 of 26
4/5/07 at 1:35pm
So if you are in NY/NJ, you can try these guys.. Very nice price (I have not used their service personally and I have no clue how good the online service is)

http://www.pcrichard.com/catalog/product.jsp?quantity=1&itemUUID=c3717b2ac0a8777a0280e6b6b76bc3ca


Another B & M shop that is discounting it in the other side of the country..

http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail~dpno~7209620.asp
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post #6 of 26
4/5/07 at 6:57pm
I bought mine from Norman Camera mainly because there was no order processing delay and priority overnight was only $30. Ordered in the AM and got the next morning right on schedule. List price, though.

http://www.normancamera.com/
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post #7 of 26
4/5/07 at 7:11pm
I got mine from Amazon.com. (I know, I know. ) They have a good return policy, though, and they guarantee same-day shipping if you order before 5:30 CST.

Happy shopping!
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post #8 of 26
4/5/07 at 7:35pm
anyone heard of fotospirit . com ???
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post #9 of 26
4/5/07 at 9:14pm
I have the HV10 and use a Century Optics wide angle lens that works extremly well. Century Optics is professional gear and will not degrade the picture quality.
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post #10 of 26
4/5/07 at 10:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by callista123 View Post

So if you are in NY/NJ, you can try these guys.. Very nice price (I have not used their service personally and I have no clue how good the online service is)

I just went to my local PC Richard in NJ and got 2 for the price listed on the website. They are a east coast B&M store thats been around forever, and its not one of those typical Brooklyn shady shops.
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post #11 of 26
4/6/07 at 7:22am
Thread Starter 
thank you mdrums....little I know about this stuff, I do know CO, very serious stuff. Good to know they make stuff that will work with the HV10/20.

Edit: I realize that the lens size is different for the hv20 (43mm) vs the hv10 (37mm). Hmmm, I guess this restricts choices to Canon products, at least for now, unless one wants to use an adapter (?). Not sure here.

Tony, I will take a look at their price, I can easily get to a couple of their stores here in NYC or Long Island.
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post #12 of 26
4/8/07 at 6:06am
Just as an FYI circuit city has a one day online 10% off sale today and the HV20 is in stock. Not *that* great a deal once you add in sales tax that makes it about the same as many online retailers, but at least the deal should be pretty secure. Can't wait to get this thing!!
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post #13 of 26
4/8/07 at 6:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by windwaves View Post

thank you mdrums....little I know about this stuff, I do know CO, very serious stuff. Good to know they make stuff that will work with the HV10/20.

Edit: I realize that the lens size is different for the hv20 (43mm) vs the hv10 (37mm). Hmmm, I guess this restricts choices to Canon products, at least for now, unless one wants to use an adapter (?). Not sure here.

Tony, I will take a look at their price, I can easily get to a couple of their stores here in NYC or Long Island.


You can always use CO lens as long as they are larger than 46mm. Just get the smallest one nearest to 46mm, get nothing wider than 0.7x magnification, get metal ring adapter.
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post #14 of 26
4/9/07 at 7:18am
So I assume if the HV-20 has a 10x optical zoom, and you add a telephoto lense that is 4x, then you get the equivelent of 40x optical zoom?
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post #15 of 26
4/9/07 at 11:22am
your assumption is correct.
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post #16 of 26
4/12/07 at 12:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by callista123 View Post

So if you are in NY/NJ, you can try these guys.. Very nice price (I have not used their service personally and I have no clue how good the online service is)

http://www.pcrichard.com/catalog/pro...80e6b6b76bc3ca


Another B & M shop that is discounting it in the other side of the country..

http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/de...no~7209620.asp

I have purchased a ton of stuff from PC Richard. IMO, they are a very reputable, knowledgeable and competent. Their sales people are on commission so you sometimes get one who is a little aggressive, but I can deal with that. I prefer to go there than BB or CC. I picked up my HV20 last night at the one by me. They have a great price on sale, lower than virtually any legitimate online dealer. Good Luck. Joe
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post #17 of 26
4/12/07 at 1:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dancinbear View Post

I got mine from Amazon. (I know, I know. ) They have a good return policy, though, and they guarantee same-day shipping if you order before 5:30 CST.

Happy shopping!

Hi Dancinbear, I saw your comment about Amazon ("I know, I know"). Was just curious what you meant by that. I have a $500 gift certificate to Amazon that I can apply to purchasing this camera, but wondered if there's any reason to be concerned with using them.
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post #18 of 26
4/12/07 at 1:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggadonkey View Post

Hi Dancinbear, I saw your comment about Amazon ("I know, I know"). Was just curious what you meant by that. I have a $500 gift certificate to Amazon that I can apply to purchasing this camera, but wondered if there's any reason to be concerned with using them.

I would never hesitate to order anything from Amazon or the stores that use them for their transactions...
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post #19 of 26
4/13/07 at 7:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by David Susilo View Post

You can always use CO lens as long as they are larger than 46mm. Just get the smallest one nearest to 46mm, get nothing wider than 0.7x magnification, get metal ring adapter.

sorry, could you explain this a bit further, I am not sure I understand, particularly considering the 43mm of the HV20. Also, you are saying the wide angle lens should be no more than 0.7x ?

thx !
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post #20 of 26
4/13/07 at 8:08am
Logically you should be able to use any 43mm lens adapter. However, some 3rd party wide angle adapter creates a bit of vignetting, to get rid of it you'll need the back diameter to be a tad larger than the lens thread.

(sample of vignette: http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sel...-37LSA__13.jpg)

Also, most WA adapter are of the cheapo kind and to do WA properly without barrel distortion is expensive. If you don't want everything and everybody to look buldgy on your screen, the safe magnification ratio is about 0.7x. at (say) 0.6x, or worse, 0.45x, everything around the edges will be round.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_distortion
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post #21 of 26
4/13/07 at 10:48am
Thread Starter 
ok, thx man, appreciate your patience

So...btw, adapter vs lens, for a wide angle, is there a difference, or is it the same ?

I don't want to get cheapo WA and yes, I am aware (believe that!) of vignetting as I had that with a teleconverter (CO) for my VX2k; did not bother me much because of the limited use of that lens.

On the other hand, for my use, the WA is virtually always on (probably even when it should not) so I want to get a good one, no cheapo stuff. Any recommendation ?

So, when you said larger than 46, did you mean 43 ? (oops, I am slow!!! but that 46 really threw off all my ignorant logic !)

thx
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post #22 of 26
4/13/07 at 12:19pm
Got mine from Jody at Roberts Imaging in 1 day for $999. I get all my gear ($20k+) from him.
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post #23 of 26
4/13/07 at 12:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by windwaves View Post

ok, thx man, appreciate your patience

So...btw, adapter vs lens, for a wide angle, is there a difference, or is it the same ?

I don't want to get cheapo WA and yes, I am aware (believe that!) of vignetting as I had that with a teleconverter (CO) for my VX2k; did not bother me much because of the limited use of that lens.

On the other hand, for my use, the WA is virtually always on (probably even when it should not) so I want to get a good one, no cheapo stuff. Any recommendation ?

So, when you said larger than 46, did you mean 43 ? (oops, I am slow!!! but that 46 really threw off all my ignorant logic !)

thx

no problem at all

WA adapter is actually the same as "lens", in a way, they are both have lenses. However, a lens added in front of another lens is considered an "adapter", whereas if the lens itself is actually replacing the factory lens, then it's considered a "lens". Another thing is that an "adapter" does not have focusing mechanism, whereas a "lens" does.

Semantics, I know.

PS: when I talk about 46 vs 43, I'm talking about the thread diameter. So larger than 46 will be 47, 48 etc.
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post #24 of 26
4/13/07 at 1:33pm
Thread Starter 
got it, makes perfect sense actually. THx.

What I was trying to make sure I understand on the size is this. The thread on the HV20 is 43. So I would need to get a CO adapter that is larger than 46mm ? In your explanation you refer to "the back diameter to be a tad larger than the lens thread". I am assuming that you then meant 43 rather than 46 in the other post.

ww.
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post #25 of 26
4/13/07 at 1:57pm
okay, so the camera's thread is 43mm, unless you buy a higher quality WA (such as Canon's WD-H43 or higher end) it's safer for you to buy an adapter that is 46mm or higher (the diameter of the back). Obviously you can't install a 46mm adapter to a 43mm ring, so then you'll need to get a step up ring (an adapter for your lens adapter).

In terms of Century Optics, it's actually very high end. However, they don't have 43mm ring size. AFAIK they have the 37mm and 52mm, 58mm, 62mm, 72mm.

Now if you're buying 52mm sized lens, then you'll need a step-up ring from 43mm to 52mm before you can attach the CO WA adapter.

Hope it helps.
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post #26 of 26
4/13/07 at 9:02pm
Thread Starter 
yep, it helps - thx again DS

ww.
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