Everyone just seems to love Canon. There was quite a hubbub around when they announced their first consumer-end HDV camcorder. CNET takes on Canon’s latest digital camcorder in their Canon HV10 review. There were a couple things they found that surprised me and a couple that didn’t.
One, the Canon HV10’s battery became “hungry” after 30 minutes of use. CamcorderInfo’s review found the battery lasted just over an hour. Still not impressive, but far more than 30 minutes. Perhaps the battery indicator is just a little too sensitive.
Two, the low-light performance of the HV10 was very good, according to the reviewer. Again, contrary to CCInfo’s review, but, hey, a lot of that is subjective. Apparently the video was saturated, sharp and detailed while being a bit grainy as well.
On the unsurprising side of things was the HV10’s Instant AF, which lived up to its name. Instant AF is Canon’s new focusing technology that measures distance roughly first, then hones in for a finely adjusted focus.
The reviewer also found the ergonomics of the Canon HV10 a hassle to deal with. Everything is in the right place, but all the controls are too small or awkward to use comfortably.
Definitely take a look at this review if you are considering buying the Canon HV10 HDV digital camcorder.
I have to say the vertical layout is the deal breaker for me. I had a vertical Optua and I hated it, and sold it right away. It\’s REALLY not comftable to work like this. HC3\’s layout is excellent.
Besides, I am willing to bet the Sony\’s low light performace knocks the socks out of the Canon model, but I guess we\’ll have to wait and see.
Lance
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