Sony, eat your heart out. You aren't the only kid on the block anymore with a
camcorder targeting normal consumers. Canon just released the
deets on their first compact high-def camcorder, the iVIS HV10, and it looks like it could be a nice camera. The biggest difference between this new Canon and Sony's whole line-up of HD camcorders happens to be with the resolution of the sensor. You see, the Sony captures in high-def, but it is, well, HD-Lite at a 1440x1080 resolution. This new Canon however packs a HD CMOS with a resolution of 1920x1080 and it's paired with Canon's DIGIC DV II processor, which happens to be the same one powering this guys big brothers,
the XH G1 & XH A1. Throw in the 10x optical zoom and an optical image stabilizer, and Canon has a winner on their hands. The iVIS HV10 should be out in Japan sometime in September for 150,000 Yen ($1,300). We haven't seen anything about a US release but we are willing to bet the farm we will see this camcorder over here.
posted Aug 2nd 2006 9:03AM
Does the higher resolution really matter? The image is squeezed down to 4:3 (1440x1080) for storage on DV tape anyway. Am I wrong?
Its using DV tape but the HDV codec.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDV
[Excerpt]
Although HDV and DV share the same tape format and the same recorded datarate, they use completely different video-compression technology. The DV codec is strictly an intraframe (spatial) compression. Each DV video frame is recorded as an independent picture, with a fixed bit allocation and uniform placement on the videotape. The HDV codec is based on MPEG-2 video compression, which employs both intraframe and interframe (temporal) techniques. Interframe compressors store only a fraction of the frames in a video as independent pictures -- called key frames -- and encode the remaining frames as changes relative to them. Consequently, HDV frames vary in size depending on their prior and future neighbors. In HDV 1080i, one in every 12 (PAL) or 15 (NTSC) frames is a key frame.
[/Excerpt]
@ #1
yes, you're wrong
@$300US dollars cheaper than the Sony HC3 and much better optics I think I'll opt for one of these!
Cliche Police warning: Please do not beat the farm.
Shotened J->E translation page above.
It's always tricky to automatically translate but this page is relatively readable.
Impressive job, Canon ... bring it stateside with a street price of under $1,000 ... and I'm buying one!
#3 - you're wrong
HDV max is 1440-1080i, does not allow for 1920 x 1080 unlike AVCHD - Canon is being sneaky here.
Also about low light - Canon states 5 lux (JPN) but thats at a slower shutter speed, whereas at normal shutter speed, it is the same as Sony - very sneaky.
Matchbook style is poor for handling. With all those gross pixels, it must mean small pixel size which is not good for low light, and sensor is very slightly larger, we're talking about mm here.
Be careful about canons marketing
A sub-$1000 HD Camcorder will hit just the right price point to get a lot more people onboard. I feel that every time I record my daughter in regular old SD I am going to regret it in the future, but I can't afford a $1400 Sony right now... Bring it on Canon!
Lol, I love that there are people ready to claim victory for either camera already. No brand loyalty here eh...
I my self am Canon fan. But my complaint with these cameras is TAPE. TAPE is for suckers. With a digital format like HDV or AVCHD, recording to tape is absolutely antiquated.
Hopefully, Canon has a HDD version of these cameras on it's way.
Also, for those who claim "Canon Optics". Well, if you do any photography you know the only Canon optics worth a damn are their "L" lenses. Their consumer lenses are junk. And Sony has actually had better success with the optics on their fixed lens cameras than Canon. The way I see it, the Canon's real advantage is that larger, higher resolution sensor.
Oh yeah, the Canon also has no HDMI output. And no ring control for manual focus and the likes. It also has no MIC input.
Here check out the camparissons...
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-Breaks-into-the-Consumer-HDV-Market-with-the-HV10.htm
John are those things really Needed for a NON PRO HD video Camera? I thinks Not! GO CANON~!
Re: recording to tape is absolutely antiquated.
Couldn't disagree more. The idea of tapes going by the wayside is scary. What're you going to do when your HDD camera's harddrive dies? Lose *all* your footage and spend a couple hundred fixing the thing. Also, HDD camera's often have their own propietary format of HDV streams that need to be re-encoded to work with NLEs.