Canon VIXIA HV30 High Definition DV Camcorder

I had many camcorders. For this price I expected alot more. After reading reviews I sold my JVC HD HDD camcorder because the HDD HD folks don't have their act together yet. However, the color of the 3 CCD is much better than this. I have had 3 3ccd camcorders and all have better color saturation and resolution than this despite this having 1/2 inch cmos. As you know CCD has always had better color but due to cost, they invented CMOS which took them many years to perfect until they put it in camcorders. The techincal reviews such as camcorderreviews are in controlled lab conditions and not real life so I was fooled by the technical unreal results.

In low light my 3 CCD JVC did much better on color and in very low light, the night mode brightened everything up like daylight although the image was jerky due to slow frame rate but it is better than not getting anything at all. There is no night mode on this camcorder. I videotape mainly people so I am looking for realistic skin tones and the 3 CCD beats this for sure in normal light and dim light not using night mode. All my 3CCD camcorders especially my Panasonic reproduced skin tones more realistic than this camcorder. The colors were uneven and tended toward red shift. There is no mistake why all the professional camcorders only use 3 CCD imagers. My sisters Sony HD camcorder has better color saturation than this in normal light. In dim light the image appears slightly brighter maybe, but the color is still better on my other 3 CCD camcorders.

For the price they should have made the LCD higher resolution. I couldn't believe how grainy the picture is on the included cheap low resolution LCD. Panasonic or JVC and I believe Sony and others all have higher resolution. You cannot realistically see how the image is until you play it on your HD tv or computer.

I never bought a camcorder that didn't include a shoulder strap. I don't know what they were thinking but they include the metal loops for it but the manual says you can buy your own shoulder strap.

The worst mistake the Canon folks made is to not include video editing and capture software!!! Again, I don't know what they were thinking. I never bought any DV camcorder in my life, and I bought many, that didn't include at least a trial version of video capture and editing software. So it is impossible to load your movie on the computer and make DVDs unless you buy the software. I had to buy the software which cost $100. The still image download software on the CD doesn't work and doesn't even recognize the camcorder! I believe they made it for the canon digital still camera. It is throw away software so don't even bother installing it. With the Cyberlink software I am able to capture the video using 1394 but never could get the USB capture to work. Most computers don't have 1394. My panasonic and JVC had no problem capturing on USB or 1394. Of course you can't use regular DV video software to capture so you have to buy your own as your older software does not support the HDV format.

The manual funtions are average and should have included a focus ring instead of a side finger wheel. The remote control is poor also and lacks sensitivity. I have to point it right at the receiver in order for the camera to pick it up. Much poorer than any IR I used before. The OIS is average and there is some decrease in resolution. The Panasonic has much better OIS and does not degrade the image as much. Despite what the reviewers say, you can't get something for nothing and there will always be some loss of contrast whenever you use any kind of image stabilization. The reviewers say there is no image loss but they can't seem to prove it.

I am going back to 3 CCD cameras when the HD HDD folks get their act together. But it seems companies going away from 3 CCD for consumers because it is too expensive to make. Even the smaller 3 CCD sensors seem to have better color saturation than the VX 30 in normal light. The images I am comparing are compared on my computer and HD tv. The included LCD does not show you how the real image will look due to the poor resolution, pixel count.

One last thing, again I don't know what Canon was thinking when they made their camera to support mini SD cards! Try finding mini SD cards even online. I haven't found any yet! I had to buy a micro SD and use a mini SD adaptor. Mini SD cards simply don't exist anywhere. The standard has been and still is SD and now HDSD. So buy enough micro SD and adaptors before you go on a trip because you won't be able to buy mini SD anywhere.

The price of this camera has dropped so maybe is worth the $400 it now sells for. But my review is based on cost vs performance and for this high cost, it isn't worth it. It may be worth $400 if they include video capature software.