[Macworld]

Post your comments for Review: Canon Vixia HV30 here

[Schneb]

Still waiting for true progressive scan. I'm getting real tired of those scan lines messing up my movies. I have yet to find a conversion process that looks even remotely good.

[TheBum]

I'm wondering how the new JVC camcorders will fare against the HV30. They have 1.8" hard drives, but unlike most tapeless camcorders, two of the models have an option to record in MPEG-2, which I believe is what the HDV format uses. JVC also has switched to CMOS sensors, which typically exhibit less noise than CCDs.

[Adwiz]

The review refers to the "Firewire" and HDMI ports having a protective cover, but the Canon web site suggests that it has a USB port, rather than Firewire. The camera ships with a USB cable, and the web site shows a USB logo, but says nothing about Firewire. Can you confirm if it really does have a Firewire port, as this is pretty important to Mac users. USB sucks big time, but Firewire is perfect for transferring video footage.

[eatapc]

I have an HV30 at work and an HV20 at home. They do have Firewire. No trouble loading tapes in either iMovie or Final Cut.
The confusion is that the Firewire port is labelled HDV/DV. It's right above the HDMI port under a flap at the back.

[habittel]

I have an HV30 also. I have no problems capturing SD in Final Cut Express 4, but HD drops frames on my Dual Quad Mac Pro. I still haven't figured out what's causing it. If anyone else has seen this issue, please let me know.

As far as JVC HDD camcorders compared to the HV30, I can almost assure you that the quality will be better with the HV30. I've used some JVC HDD cams and like all HDD cams, the AVCHD format still introduces a lot of artifacts. Until AVCHD quality improves, tapes are still the way to go in my opinion.

[meall]

HDV and DV camcorder all requires firewire to transfert video, so yes it has such connector.

[Macworldfan]

No more tapes and tape mechanisms for me. I'm crossing my fingers hoping the new JVC HD40 is going to shoot clean video. Either MPEG-2 or AVC. Either one will work with our favorite apps, right? (i.e. FCP, iMovie HD 6, and iMovie '08).

[eatapc]

I love having tapes for my archives and for re-capturing. I love using plain old, cheap miniDVs. File-based systems are the future but they come with many nightmares for normal users.

MPEG-2 is fine for the end product but cannot ever be suitable for editing, as it's not frame based. HDV and AVC aren't great either, but can be made to work.

[BrianChen]

@Adwiz

I captured the video from the HV30 using the Firewire port. From what I vaguely remember, Canon calls it something different -- IEEE 1394, I believe -- which is just a different way to describe Firewire.

[BrianChen]

@Macworldfan Beware JVC...

[Macworldfan]

Phew! Thanks for pointing me to your article Brian. In fact, I'm a Canon fan, but I didn't like the 16GB HD offered by the HF10. BTW, how was the video quality of the HF10? Did you see any noticeable artifacts at all?
Thanks again.

[horvatic]

HV30 tape based cam still works the best with iMovie 08, finalcut. The hard drive based cams don't import well and are hard to edit. Mainly because the manufacturers want you to use there PC based software, not your Mac or other 3rd party software for editing. For all the features, the HV30 is the best HD cam for the money by far. Canon got this one mostly right this time. They don't label it as having a firewire or IE1394 output but it is there and works great with iMovie 08. That's what I was really after when buying this cam. I needed it to work with the iLife 08 suite and it does. I would recommend this cam to everyone.

[Pinova]

I have the HV20 and notice that the HV30 looks like the same machine in black. What image quality or ergonomic differences are there between the two?