Performance

The Canon HV10 comes equipped with a very large 1/2.7" CMOS chip, with approximately 2,960,000 pixels (this translates to 2,070,000 effective pixels in HDV and 16:9 DV modes, and 1,550,000 effective pixels in 4:3 DV. CMOS chips have become increasingly popular with manufacturers for a number of reasons. First of all, they are produced on machines that can make other types of products – that sort of multi-purposing is a big money saver. Secondly, CMOS chips perform a lot more of the image processing on-chip, which cuts down on power consumption. Thirdly, and most significantly for consumers, CMOS chips allow for more precision image processing, meaning that individual pixels can be targeted for correction rather than the image as a whole, which is how most CCDs work. The particular CMOS chip on the HV10 does not necessarily have this type or processing, but that’s definitely the direction in which imaging is headed.

In order to fully evaluate the Canon HV10’s performance, we looked at both HD and DV video. Although most users will likely shoot, or intend to shoot, in HD, the fact is that sometimes HDV is just too large. If you plan on editing and you don’t have adequate storage or processing power, you’re likely to move pretty quickly to standard definition until you can afford the upgrade.

High Definition

In HD mode, the Canon HV10 records in 1080/60i, that’s a resolution of 1920 x 1080 at 60 interlaced fields per second. At 3000 lux, the equivalent of a strong, indirect sunlight, the image had superior color balance. These are absolutely the type of colors you want to see in a consumer camcorder – perfectly balanced with just a hint of saturation. Consumers, that is to say non-professionals associate strong colors with a good picture, whether they are accurate or not. Manufacturers, in an effort to meet public demand, often oversaturate too much, like the JVC GZ-MG505 or the Sony DCR-DVD403. The Canon HV10 is just on the cusp, and in our opinion exactly where the color balance should be.

The Canon HV10’s image is remarkably noise free, the other outstanding element of the picture. When an image is going to be projected on a larger screen, noise becomes more apparent. In this light, there was almost none to speak of. The apparent sharpness was good – what you’d expect from HD and far better than most standard def video – but there was a slightly soft look to the image overall. Of course, it could have strayed too far in the other direction, with a boosted contrast that created halos, but it didn't. On the whole, it’s hard to complain about this image.

The main competitor to the HV10 is Sony’s HDR-HC3, Sony’s only HDV high def camcorder under $2000. We loved that performance, as well, and the differences between the two are slim. The HC3 also had an excellent color performance, though the HV10 had more even distribution of the spectrum. Holding them up side by side, the HDR-HC3 lacked a little in the reds. The blues are clearly more saturated in the HDR-HC3, but it works in the Sony picture overall.

The biggest distinction between the HDR-HC3 and Canon HV10’s images is contrast; the Sony is definitely more contrasty. It made for sharper line edges, as opposed to the aforementioned "soft look" of the HV10. Boosted contrast helped add the appearance of higher resolution, even though the effective pixel count is lower than the Canon. However, we noted that the contrasty look of the HDR-HC3 also produced some halos along high-contrast lines. There is also a fair amount more noise in the HDR-HC3. It’s not something that jumps out at you, but then again, when you hold them up side by side, the HV10’s noise suppression is superior.

The conclusion on this showcase showdown? Damn, if they aren’t close… very close, but the Canon HV10 wins with its superior color balance and right-on-the-mark contrast.

So what else can we compare this too? While the HD market is blowing up, the number of camcorders actually available to the public (and press) is limited. Last year’s HDR-HC1 had less noise than its replacement, the HC3, and about equal levels of noise to the HV10. It also had less contrast than the HDR-HC3, but still more contrast than the HV10. The Canon is clearly more saturated in its color, but the color balance is better overall. The HC1 produced great greens, but the blues were under-represented.

Finally, we’ll compare the HV10 to its big, big brother, the Canon XL H1. Is this a fair comparison? No, not really, but it gives you a good sense of consumer versus professional demands. The Canon XL H1 (review forthcoming) uses three CCDs rather than a single CMOS sensor. The color performance is actually very similar. The XL H1 managed a better color distinction between similar tones, but saturation levels were surprisingly close. Apparent resolution was about the same, which is not surprising. The XL H1’s real strengths are in its versatility and manual controls, which are a world away from the tiny HV10.

Standard Definition

For a standard definition image, the Canon HV10 is outstanding. The color balance that we lauded had no trouble traversing the HD/SD divide. The only that you lose is resolution, which is far less than HD. Even so, compared to most SD camcorders, the HV10 had no trouble picking up fine detail. The noise levels were also minimal, just as in the HD image.

{column='Video Performance' models='Canon HV10,Sony HDR-HC3,Sony HDR-HC1'}

Video Resolution* (43.6)*

We tested the video of the Canon HV10 for its resolution by shooting a standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and running stills from that video through Imatest imaging software. First, we looked at the HDV footage. At best, the Canon HV10 produces 631.4 lines of horizontal resolution and 691.1 lines of vertical resolution, yielding an approximate resolution of 436360.54.

In standard definition, 16:9, the camcorder produced a more modest 546.1 lines of horizontal resolution and 368.8 lines of vertical resolution, yielding an approximate resolution of 201401.68.

These are really fantastic resolution scores, and far exceed that of the Sony HDR-HC3.

{column='Video Resolution' models='Canon HV10,Sony HDR-HC3,Sony HDR-HC1'}

**Low Light Performance ***(3.75)*

Ouch. We thought Canon fixed this problem - but the old beast that haunted Canon camcorder reviews on this site for years is back, with a vengeance, ready to mess with their new rockstar model. The large 1/2.7" CMOS sensor on the HV10 should provide a large surface area on which to capture light, and the surface area of the pixel-sized sensors on chip is really what low light performance is all about. Or so you'd think. In order to determine performance, we looked at the image in 60 lux and 15 lux light levels.

At 60 lux, the Canon HV10 failed to impress. Somehow, the sensor was not able parlay size into an effective defense again the dreaded forces of dim lighting. The image was very dark, and lost a good deal of color information. It was disappointing – some camcorders with equally large sensors don’t look this dark until 15-20 lux. Noise also picked up a good deal, and it created a fuzzy wash over the whole image. Thankfully, the fact that it’s got the resolution of high definition prevented the noise from obscuring most of the fine detail. The standard definition 6- lux did not fare as well. It had all the same problems, but lost a lot of detail.

The Sony HDR-HC3 was vastly superior in low light. At 60 lux, the HDR-HC3 looked a little nuclear, due to oversaturated colors. But the image was brighter overall, as well, retaining more information and staving off a lot of the noise. Sony is on their third generation of CMOS camcorders. Low light noise is always going to be the biggest hurdle for any CMOS camcorder (well and any camcorder period) in low light. Sony's first entries were somewhat weak, but they've tweaked and improved and now the HC3 does a decent job. However, you can tell that the Canon engineers have a bit less experience with CMOS for video.

The HDR-HC1 told the same story, though we had a harder time getting a proper white balance, which is always more tricky in low light. There was less noise in the HC1 than the HC3, and far less noise than the HV10. It’s very clear that Sony spent more time in their development combating noise than did Canon, which is a true shame considering how great the HV10 looked in bright light.

The Canon XL H1, the powerhouse professional-grade HD camcorder, also produced a much better image at 60 lux than the HV10. MUCH, MUCH BETTER. Noise levels were far lower.

So what could be done by a potential HV10 user to make a better image? Thankfully, the HV10, like upper-tier Optura line of camcorders, comes with shutter and aperture priority modes. In shutter priority, dropping the speed down to 1/30th of a second made a huge impact, with less-than-ideal blurring of moving subjects, but something you might be able to accept. With the 1/30th image, the colors improved dramatically, and the noise was turned down a notch.

At 15 lux, the Canon HV10 went further downhill, but at less precipitous a pace than most camcorders experience between 60 lux and 15 lux. Perhaps because the image was so bad at 60 lux, it didn’t have too far to fall. Color strength and definition decreased, especially in the reds. Noise increased at an even faster rate, and really took a dent out of overall image quality. This is not the sort of performance you should accept from a) a camcorder with an imager this large, and b) any camcorder that costs over $1000 of your hard-earned dollars. The standard definition image was the same, but with even less fine detail.

15 lux is a great leveler among performance of all camcorders, however. The HDR-HC3 stemmed a lot of the noise, but could not salvage color information any better than the HV10. The result was more fine detail in high contrast areas, but that was the only real advantage. The HDR-HC1 actually had worse color performance, with everything starting to flatten out towards a grey-brown. Noise was just as bad as the HV10.

Somehow, the Canon XL H1 produced an outstanding image at 15 lux. Maybe those large 3 CCDs had something to do with it. At any rate, this is an image you could be proud of, with brilliant colors and very low noise for the light level. Now you might say why are you crazy people putting the XL-H1 in this review. Well, first, it's again something good to benchmark against, but secondly, with the Canon XH A1 shipppng soon, you're going to be able to get that same performance for around $3,500 - still 3x the price of the HV10, but much more reasonable.

Because the light level is so low, we decided to consider both 1/30th and 1/15th of a second shutter speeds. With the latter, significant blurring would occur with any sort of motion – subject or camcorder – so a tripod or flat surface would be absolutely necessary. As you can see, the 1/30th image reduced the noise a great deal, but did not add much to color. The 1/15th setting did both, but the image would only be useful to shooting still images, snail races, and other sedate activities.

{column='Low Light Performance' models='Canon HV10,Sony HDR-HC3,Sony HDR-HC1'}

Wide Angle* (9.4)*

We measured the wide angle of the Canon HV10 in all the aspect ratios and shooting modes. In HDV, which is 16:9, the camcorder produced a wide angle of 47 degrees. This was repeated in the 16:9 standard definition. In 4:3 standard definition, the HV10 produced a wide angle 38 degrees.

Format

Compression* (7.0)*

The Canon HV10 uses HDV compression, the same as the Sony HC3, Sony FX1 and the Canon XL H1. HDV compresses a high definition signal onto a MiniDV tape and uses the same data-rate as a MiniDV camcorder. However, there are four times the resolution, so what gives? It’s the color depth, whereas MiniDV is a 4:2:2 color space HDV is a 4:2:0 color space. While most users won’t notice a difference, independent film makers might not like the reduced color space of HDV. All HD consumer camcorders come in at least two flavors, 720p and 1080i. 1080i seems to be the more favored version because it offers a sharper picture.

While the color space is weaker, at the end of the day, HDV is much preferred over DV because of those increased lines of resolution. The big question we can’t answer yet though is how HDV compares to AVCHD, the new HD format which uses H.264 compression for which there are two Sony camcorders hitting the market in the next few weeks. Based on specs it’s hard to tell, while there is more data in HDV, AVCHD uses what might be a more efficient compression standard. We’ll have to wait and see.

Media* (7.5)*

The Canon HV10 uses MiniDV tapes which are really the best media option out there right now for consumers. They are cheap, they are reliable, and easily archivable. You can find them at your 7/11 or your local Stop and Shop and probably in any city in the world. It’s really a great format and still isn’t surpassed by any other.

Editing* (8.0)
*The Canon HV10 records standard definition DV and high definition HDV, both formats that use MiniDV tapes. These tapes can be found far and wide throughout the land, from camera shops to gas stations. While HDV requires newer editing software and a bit more horsepower from your computer than standard definition, this is a gradually declining obstacle. By 2007, all the major editing platforms, both pro and consumer, should be HDV-compatible.

The HV10 ships with the Digital Solutions disc, V.23, which contains some basic editing software and the necessary drivers.

Tour

 

**The Front ***(8.25)*

At the top of the Canon HV10 is of course the camcorder's 6.1 to 61 mm 10x zoom lens, with an aperture of F1.8-3.0 . Canon has recently adopted the built in lens cap functionality into some of their camcorders and the HV10 is one of them. Turning on the camcorder into camera mode automatically opens the lens cap. The lens is threaded to take filters and other lens accessories at a 37mm diameter.

Right below the lens cap lies the camcorder’s small flash which is surrounded by black plastic. To its right is the fairly large light sensor which the camcorder is now using for its improved auto focus system. To the right of that is the vertical flash bulb, which is quite thin but raised from the rest of the front of the camcorder by about 3/8ths of an inch.

The front is styled in a variety of black and silver plastic and the only other feature on the front of the camcorder are three accessory jacks, the AV in/out jack. The component-out mini jack which hooks up to a breakout cable and the Firewire HDV / DV-out jack. The placement of these jacks on the front of the camcorder is fine, as realistically none of them are going to be used (very much) while you are shooting so it is unlikely that they will get in your way.

**The Right Side ***(5.0)*

The right side is pretty bare, which we do like, but to be honest, we’d rather have a few more features, like a mic jack on the right side, then not have them at all. The bottom half of the right side of the HV10 is bare except for the strap which wraps from about half way up the right side towards the back and connects down with the underside of the camcorder. Despite this, the camcorder has no problem sitting flat.

On the top half of the right side there are feature buttons, including Canon’s 45 degree angle titled zoom control, a photo shutter button, and a photo recording mode button that switches from tape to card. Behind those photo features is the cameras speaker for audio playback, and a direct print button. With the way that the strap is laid out, your hands generally fall on the control buttons but not so much that they get in the way.

**The Back ***(6.0)*

The back of the HV10 is packed without an inch of free space. At the top is the viewfinder which doesn’t extend outward or tilt up. Normally, we really think that non-tilting or non-extending viewfinders are a big problem, but they aren’t on the HV10. It’s practical because of the battery placement. Since it’s on the side and not the back, your nose doesn’t make intimate contact with the back of the battery. Additionally, speaking of your nose, because the camcorder is so slim, when you are shooting with the viewfinder your nose tends to fall on the right side of the camcorder and does not get unpleasantly squished by the back of the camcorder.

The viewfinder is surrounded by yet another shade of grey plastic – Canon has quite the palette on this one. It’s a textured plastic that feels a bit like sandpaper – we’re not huge fans. The viewfinder does not extend, and it’s a question as to why they even bothered to put it on, other than to satisfy curmudgeons like us who insist on them. Great, it’s there, but you’d never want to use it.

Right below the viewfinder is the camcorder’s main event mode dial button which rotates to switch between camera, play, and off modes and has a big record button in the center. To the right of it is a small green power on indicator button and to the right of that, extended off the camcorder’s body, a bit like a doublewide trailer, is the menu engage button and menu jog dial.

Around the rotating power dial is a shooting mode feature which will switch from P (Canon’s manual control mode) to Auto and then to scene mode. If you’re confused, it’s three concentric buttons dials – kind of like an onion. In the center is the record button, around that is the power dial, and around that is a shooting mode button.

Below the control onion is the function button which toggles on things like shutter speed and other functions depending on the shooting mode you’re in. Below the function button is the focus button for adjusting focus and below that is the exposure button for adjusting exposure by steps (aperture in most cases).

To the left of this column of buttons are two hard plastic jack covers which reveal the MiniSD card slot under one cover and the USB and DC In slot under another. To the left of those are the battery eject and focus buttons. In general we think the back is pretty well laid out, it has all the features and that is what we prefer.

**The Left Side ***(7.25)*

The left side of the HV10 also has the mix of grey and black styling with a nice HDV logo on the LCD screen. The LCD screen takes up the upper half of the camcorders’ left side while the battery slot takes up the bottom half. Canon has been putting more and more batteries into closed slots on their camcorders lately and it’s nice to see that on this model the battery is not in a closed slot, so extended extra large batteries will fit the camcorder.

Opening the LCD screen reveals a multitude of camcorder control buttons hidden away. At the top is the play pause button which also functions as a flash toggle. Below that is a second row, with a record pause button, a digital effects button, a rewind button and a fast forward button. The rewind and fast forward buttons also double as navigation buttons for the still pictures.

The third row of buttons includes a backlight button, display toggle button and a stop button which doubles as a camera shooting mode button.

The left side of the camcorder is laid out fine, however, we’re worried that the already poor handling of the HV10 could be exacerbated if you put an extra large battery on it, causing it to constantly "roll" to the left side.

The Top* (6.0)*

The top of the HV10 is bare – too bare. The only feature on the top back of the HV10 is the microphone, which is situated more towards the shooter than the lens. Now, some of our newer readers will probably be a bit alien to matchbox style camcorder design. The biggest problem (besides the horrible handling) of vertical / matchbox style camcorders is where in the world do you put the microphone. If you put the microphone in the front it’s going to be touched and handled, creating terrible audio. So, as an alternative manufacturers keep putting it on the top of the camcorder, where it’s a lot more likely to get the sounds of a Boeing 747 or the person shooting the video than the actual subject you’re recording. This whole situation becomes much worse when you realize that you have absolutely no choice but to use the HV10’s on camcorder microphone. You can’t even further the Canon P&L statement by using a Canon branded accessory (which of course Sony’s "intelligent" accessory shoe will gladly let you do) hooked up to an accessory shoe – because there is none.

Auto/Manual Controls

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (6.0)

The Canon HV10 is a camcorder aimed at consumers, a group very likely to leave the camcorder in auto mode a great majority of the time. That being the case, a camcorder is expected to have excellent automatic responses to constantly changing conditions: focus, exposure, and white balance.

So how did the Canon HV10 rate? It was mixed. The best auto response was probably the focus white balance. Under varying indoor and outdoor conditions, it didn’t have too much trouble figuring out how to adjust color. The only real problem area we saw was strong light from windows while indoors. It took a while for the HV10 to not make a blue mess of the image.

The auto exposure would have been great, were it not for the limited dynamic range. As long as the information is not too dark and not too light, it can make great work finding the proper exposure. But when it hits the cut off point, particularly for dark spots, you cannot get it to read the information. We saw this taking a big hit out of the Low Light Performance (later on in the review).

The auto focus is perhaps the most vital feature to any HD camcorder, because the additional detail makes focal errors that much more obvious. There are two methods of auto focus, which can be selected in the Camera Setup menu: AF and Instant AF. The AF mode is what you’re probably used to. When the focal plane shifts, the camcorder makes a gradual response to adjust focus. This takes a little longer than we like to see. And frequent instances, it had trouble finding if you were past 3x – 4x in the zoom, it could take several seconds to find the focus.

However, Canon has added a new Instant AF focus feature to the HV10 which we were very impressed by. Instant AF mode works by snapping into the next focal plane instead of making the gradual transition. It uses an additional sensor and contrast levels to work much better, when the camcorder has enough contrast. However, when there is not enough contrast, the problem is the same as normal focus. If it can’t read the focus properly, it just takes longer to snap.

If you’re in Auto mode (controlled via a tiny switch under the mode dial), your access to any manual controls are essentially nil. Even some of the administrative options (explained in next section) are removed. Think of it like swimming with a life preserver on: it’s for your safety, not your unbridled enjoyment.

If you switch the Auto toggle to "SCN" you’ll have access to the scene modes, a series of auto exposure presets that give you a modicum of control. Once in SCN mode, press the Function button and use the jog dial to scroll through your options. Scene modes include Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, and Fireworks.

Overall Manual Control (6.5)

Let’s take a tour of the menus first. The administrative menu is accessed by the tiny button above the jog dial, which resides along the right edge of the back. There are a number of features found here, mostly things that you would not need immediately at hand while shooting: digital zoom options, image stabilization on/off, date and time settings, etc.

*The first page of the administrative menu (left), the Camera Setup menu (right),

and the Record Setup menu (below).*

The menu that concerns us more in this section is the Function menu, which is where most of the manual controls live. In order to have full access, the mode toggle should be in P mode, not Auto or SCN. Pushing the FUNC button creates an L-shaped menu obscures only a portion of the screen. Again, the jog dial is used to navigate. Items here include whether you want the camcorder to be in P mode (normal), or Aperture or Shutter Priority. Next are the white balance options, a slew of them: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, and Set (to make a manual setting).

*The Function menu (left) and the Scene modes (right). *

Next are the Image effects, digital image quality controls that can be useful, but should be used in moderation. They include: Vivid (boosts color and contrast), Neutral (reduces color and contrast), Low Sharpening (reduces only contrast), and Soft Skin Detail (which looks for a certain range of colors commonly defined as "skin tones" and creates a softer look in those areas). All of these can either be turned on or off, so use them wisely. Their effects can be dramatic. There is a final option here of Custom setting, which lets you make a +1, 0, or -1 setting for Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, and Color Depth. Your aggregate setting is then the "Custom setting."

Next on the Function menu are the Digital Effects, which should probably be avoided entirely. They include such 1989 party hits such as sepia tones, as well as bad ideas for keying still images into your video. Finally, the last item in the Function menu allow you to select what size you want your stills to be if you snap them off while in video mode.

*Canon packs an awful lot of controls onto a relatively small area, which can make handling tricky. *

Actually making your way through these controls is less than ideal. The jog dial is meant to do most of the work, but I found it to be too small and inconveniently situated. Your thumb will have no problem reaching the control, but it will be constantly butting up against the bottom of the Menu button. Smaller hands found this to be less of a problem, though far from outstanding; I found it to be a major hindrance.

The placement of some other key buttons is just as bad. Presumably, the focus and Exposure Compensation buttons were made external because they want you to have access to them. But if your hand is in the hand strap, it’s a near impossible reach, and certainly requires a maneuver that will upset your shot.

*The LCD cavity has VCR controls that play double duty while shooting. *

Does it work for you? The only way to know for certain is to go to your locally owned camera shop and find out. This is not recommended for blind internet purchasing. Try before you buy. You may love it, you may hate it. We certainly applaud the amount of control that Canon has provided, trumping the HDR-HC3’s lack of aperture and shutter priority.

Zoom (6.5)

The zoom slider on the  Canon HV10 is disappointingly pedestrian, and offers less control and sensitivity than the zoom controls on many camcorders that cost hundreds of dollars less.  The first major flaw in the zoom control is that the spring provided so much resistance that making subtle speed adjustments was difficult.  This is a major drawback since an ability to finely control zoom speed can be critical to getting the shot you want.  It can be done with this camcorder, but the overly robust spring makes it more difficult than it should be.

The other problem with the zoom is the fact that I find that the HV 10’s hand strap positions your hand awkwardly – and makes operating the zoom slider even more difficult.  Tilted at a relatively extreme angle, we found that the hand strap served to hold the camcorder securely in our palms but did not put us in a comfortable shooting position.  In fact, with the strap adjusted to a normal degree of tightness, your fingers overshoot the zoom lever.  To operate the lever comfortably, we had to loosen the strap so much that the camcorder cantilevered about an inch away from our palms, which then made it harder to hold a steady shot.  At this price point, it’s disappointing to see a control as critical as the zoom implemented so clumsily.  It’s serviceable, but far from refined.

Zoom Power/Ratio (10.0)

The Canon HV10 features 10x optical, 40x and 200x digital zoom. That's the exact same zoom as the Sony HC3.  A 10x zoom is about what you should expect from a camcorder of this quality. It may seem small, but it's largely limited by the size of the imager and length of the lens barrel. Larger zooms are often found on lower-end camcorders with smaller chips.

*Focus (5.5)
*Manual focus interface on the HV10 is adjusted using the tiny jog dial on the right rear of the camcorder.  It’s far from an ideal controller for making fine manual focus adjustments, but short of a true focus ring, it works just as well as any focus control we’ve seen on a compact camcorder by virtue of the Focus Assist feature.  Focus Assist enhances your ability to focus accurately by increasing the size of the onscreen image and sharpening outlines through peaking.  It’s a great feature that helps tremendously with focal accuracy, and is common on prosumer camcorders.  It also elevates the HV 10’s manual focus from run-of-the-mill and marginally useful to arguably the best on a consumer HDV camcorder.  As mentioned above, the jog dial is small and difficult to use like most miniaturized compact camcorder controls, but Focus Assist gives it a significant boost in terms of usability.

*Exposure (Aperture) (6.5)
*This camcorder provides very good independent control over exposure – and shutter speed – with one major caveat:  like other consumer camcorders from Canon, there is not a way to de-link exposure or aperture from automatic gain controls.  However, independent exposure and aperture are easily accessible on this camcorder which is a significant advantage over Sonys.  Panasonic camcorders do offer independent gain control, but manual controls on the HV10 are easier to use.

In aperture priority mode, labelled Av in the P menu, you can control the aperture on a scale from F1.8 to F8.0 by pressing in on the jog dial to access aperture controls, and then jogging up and down to cycle through the options.  The camcorder automatically adjusts gain to achieve a properly exposed image.  In other words, while you can set the aperture on the HV 10, you can’t lock gain levels.  With the aperture set at F8.0, you can make exposure adjustments by pressing the EXP button at the base of the camcorder’s rear.  In a dark shooting environment, increasing exposure will result in a very grainy image, so use this setting with caution.

You can also adjust exposure by simply pressing the EXP button in any shooting mode.  This makes adjustments along a –11 to +11 scale as an aggregate of picture settings.  It’s an easy setting to access with the press of a single button but will adjust iris, gain, and shutter speed together.

*Shutter Speed (5.0)
*Shutter speed can be adjusted in the same way as aperture, and the HV10 offers options to drop the shutter speed below 60 which is a benefit that’s surprisingly rare on consumer camcorders.  To control shutter speed on the HV 10, the shutter speed priority mode is selected from the menu, marked as Tv.  In Tv mode, shutter speed options available include 8, 15, 30, 60, 100, 250, 500, 1000, and 2000.  The same warnings apply here as to aperture priority mode.  While Canon does provide precise control over the shutter speed, you cannot control gain and you’ll risk a very noisy image especially at high shutter speeds.  Pressing the EXP button in Tv mode allows adjustment control over exposure through an aggregate of gain and aperture adjustments.

*White Balance (7.5)
*The HV10 offers a nice complement of white balance settings, including Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, halogen, and manual.  Manual white balance on the camcorder is particularly easy to set.  From the menu, you cycle through white balance options using the jog dial and as soon as you select the manual white balance icon, the camcorder engages and sets.

*Gain (0.0)
*The HV10 does not provide any means of controlling gain independently of other picture adjustments.  In terms of manual controls, this is the camcorder’s biggest weakness since it can have such a deleterious effect on picture quality.  We hope Canon adds manual gain control in the camcorder’s next iteration.

*Other Manual Control (5.0)

Focus Assist* - Focus Assist is an option that enhances your ability to focus manually by both magnifying the image onscreen to reveal greater detail, and using peaking to exaggerate the edge contrast of the image.  Working in tandem, magnification and peaking give you the ability to assess focus more accurately than any other consumer camcorder.  If only the focus controller were better than the tiny jog dial…

Zebra Pattern - Zebra Pattering on this camcorder is confusingly labelled Assist Mode in the administrative menu.  The zebra settings available are off, 70, and 100. The Zebra Pattern imposes a diagonal white and black stripped line on any overexposed areas of your image.

Markers - The HV10 also provides the ability to superimpose either a horizontal center line, or a grid on the screen to assist with framing shots.  The horizontal line crosses the center of the screen while the grid option divides the screen into nine equal boxes.  Guidelines for either option can be displayed in white or grey.

 

Screen shots of the Level Marker controls (left) and Zebra / Peaking controls (right).

 

Still Features

Still Features* (7.5)*

The Canon HV10 has a number of still features to make it a competitor in the hybrid category. It captures stills to MiniSD card, though no card is included. Canon seems to be the only major manufacturer using this card format on a camera or a camcorder, which has few benefits over standard SD other than size. We’d rather that they used the new SDHC (or SD 2.0) cards, which have a much higher capacity and speed.

Stills are saved in the JPEG format at resolutions of 2048 x 1536, 1440 x 1080, 640 x 480, and one widescreen format, 1920 x 1080. Each of these can be saved in one of three qualities, Normal, Fine, and Superfine. Special still features include "drive modes," which include continuous shooting, high speed continuous shooting, and auto exposure bracketing. This last shooting mode takes three stills consecutively, one at normal exposure, one 1/2EV lower, and one 1/2EV step higher. There is an Auto Focus Assist Lamp that can be turned on and off. The Focus Priority mode can prevent the camcorder from capturing until focus is achieved.

Most of the manual and automatic controls that are found in video mode are also available here: auto-slow shutter, adjustable zoom speeds, Instant auto focus and normal auto focus, image stabilization, line markers and grids, and all the white balance, focus, exposure, Scene modes, and image effects. One additional manual control in still mode is the focus method, which can be set to Evaluative, Center Weight, and Spot focus. Finally, there are also Aperture and Shutter Priority modes. The shutter speed range drops down farther than video mode, but does not go as fast: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, and 1/500. The aperture range is the same as video mode.

There is a flash, located to the right of the lens. The flash cannot be adjusted for strength, but it can be forced on and off, and there is a red-eye reduction feature. This control is made via a button in the LCD cavity, as are the drive modes, auto focus assist lamp on/off, and digital effects on/off.

Still Resolution* (12.3)*

The Canon HV0’s stills were tested for their resolution by shooting a standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and running those stills through Imatest imaging software. At best, in the 2048 x 1536 resolution, the camcorder produced a resolution of 1238418.75.

This is an excellent resolution score, though as we describe below, good resolution does not a good still make.

{column='Still Resolution' models='Canon HV10,Sony HDR-HC3,Sony HDR-HC1'}

Still Performance* (4.75)*

The Canon HV10 takes stills up to 2048 x 1536, about 3.15MP, though the effective pixel count of the CMOS sensor is only 2.76MP. How do they make the larger image? It happens through a process Canon calls High-Performance Resizing, which is just a fancy way of saying that image is blown up to the look bigger. It is not capturing information beyond its effective pixel count.

Despite a manual white balancing, the color mix is all off. This is not surprising. As we are prone to comment, camcorders are not designed to take great looking still images, even if they take large stills. There are a few exceptions – recently the JVC GZ-MG505 and Panasonic SDR-S150 both took great looking stills with excellent color balance. They are the exception, however, and the Canon HV10 is taking the wider, more unfortunate path of the majority. The problem with the colors here is the lack of green - it’s all yellows and blues. We can’t complain about the apparent sharpness of the image; it managed to capture every little detail, and the noise was low.

The Sony HDR-HC3 produced flatter colors, but they did have more balance than the HV10. The stills did not look as good as the HDR-HC3’s video, but they trumped Canon.

The Sony HDR-HC1, the HC3’s predecessor, had the same color balance issues as the Canon HV10, again lacking decent greens.

Overall, the Canon HV10 is not a still camera substitute by any means, nor is it a contender in the hybrid camcorder / camera market.

{column='Still Performance' models='Canon HV10,Sony HDR-HC3,Sony HDR-HC1'}

 

Handling and Use

Ease of Use* (7.0)
*The HV10 is an easy camcorder to use but novice shooters may find its plethora of features and options confusing.  If you’re in this category, and consider yourself a point-and-shooter who seldom ventures beyond Auto mode, the HV10 will perform well.  If you do make use of the camcorder’s manual controls, they are comparable in terms of accessibility to Panasonic and JVC camcorders, and more convenient than on Sonys.

The factor that impinges most significantly on the HV10’s ease of use is the miniaturized size of the external controls.  The buttons on the back of the camcorder – Function, Focus, Exposure/End Search and Focus Assist are tiny.  I found that I frequently had to push a button two or three times to engage it because they are so small.  The all-important jog dial is also too small, and too close to the mode dial.  Yet these complaints are related to ergonomic issues.

Putting physical control aside, the manual control interface is quite efficient, and using controls is relatively easy and intuitive.  By that measure, the manual control feature set on the HV10 ranks with JVC camcorders for their ease of use, and is ahead of Panasonics which utilize a manual control interface that is not immediately intuitive (though Panasonics do generally boast a more complete manual control feature set that includes independent gain control.)  Unless you have small hands, you’ll likely find that the scaled-down nature of the HV10’s controls make it harder to use than it should be.

Handling* (4.0)*

Handling this camcorder certainly has its drawbacks, which is not a surprise given that this is the first ever HDV camcorder you can slip into your pocket (barring the Sanyo VPC-HD1, which we panned). Whatever you want to call this body type – upright, ultra-compact, pistol grip, etc. – you’ll never confuse it for a professional camcorder. Finding the proper grip takes time, and more so than any horizontal (traditional) body, hand size is a major factor. Some people with larger hands will simply not be able to reach the controls without some awkward two-hand wrangling. The second issue with ultra-compact camcorders is stability – a smaller mass and upright design means that the camcorder wobbles a lot more during handling. Forget trying to keep it perfectly even while making exposure adjustments or menu navigation – it just won’t happen. If you’re a point and shooter, maybe this isn’t such a big issue. But it’s something to keep in mind.

Some things are easier to reach than others. We found the zoom toggle to be less than ideal, but not impossible. The jog dial, located along the right side of the back, was too small, and the little ceiling of plastic above it made the perfect place to jam our thumb in frustration every time we needed to scroll up. And while we love to have manual controls made into external buttons, the Function, Focus, and Exposure buttons (top to bottom) get progressive harder to reach with your shooting hand – rather a detraction from the convenience factor.

Can you comfortably point and shoot? Yes, absolutely. Canon probably doesn’t intend for you to do much more. But with the significant number of manual controls, it’s a shame that you can’t manipulate them more easily. 

Portability* (6.0)*

The HV10 measures 56mm x 90mm x 29mm (2.1" x 3.5" x 1.1") and weighs in at 440g (15.5 oz.) making this the most compact 1080i HDV camcorder to date.  As for Canon’s claim that you can slip it into your pocket, suffice it to say that if you make a practice of wearing cargo pants that may be true. Even though this camcorder isn’t exactly diminutive, Canon has pulled off a significant achievement in miniaturizing the HV10 as much as they have. If your bottom line is capturing images that will look great on your HDTV with a camcorder that’s no bigger than your now obsolete SD point-and-shoot, this Canon may be just what the doctor ordered.

LCD/Viewfinder* (6.0)
*The Optura 600 sports a widescreen 2.7" LCD with a resolution of 210K pixels that displays a clear, sharp image.  The screen does have a tendency to solarize, a common problem with LCD screens that only Sony’s engineers have addressed with much success.

The HV10 also has a .27" EVF (electronic viewfinder) with a resolution of 123K pixels.  It’s not well-designed, but at least its an option.  Many compact camcorders that pack tons of features into a small body, such as the Panasonic SDR-S150 and JVC’s Everios have abandoned EVF’s altogether.  Like the EVF on the Optura 600, this one does not extend, and has no eye cup.  In order to see an image clearly using this EVF, you  have to jam your eyelid against its surface so it’s uncomfortable for more than brief usage.

Battery Life* (11.1)
*The Canon HV10 ships with the BP-310 battery pack. The slim profile of the battery, fitting into a narrow cavity below the LCD, makes it seem likely that an expanded battery pack is not in this camcorder’s future. That’s not to say that it won’t happen – this is not an enclosed battery. But a big, fat battery would really throw off the balance of this camcorder.

So, if you’re going to stick with the BP-310, you should know how long it will last. We went ahead and tested that for you. In continuous HDV shooting, with no manual controls or zoom engaged, the battery lasted 71 minutes and 23 seconds (1 hour, 11 minutes, and 23 seconds). This is hardly an impressive performance, and you may well want to invest in a second battery if you’ll be out all day with the HV10.

 

Audio/Playback/Connectivity

Audio* (3.75)*

Like the Sony HC3, the Canon HV10 lacks a microphone jack. As our regular readers surely know, lack of a mic jack really upsets us, especially on a camcorder priced above $1,200. It’s just if you’re investing this much in a high definition camcorder, you obviously care a lot about quality. While pretty pictures in 1080i resolution are all good, if you can’t hear anything very well, the videos are going to be pretty boring. We hit the Sony HC3 pretty hard for not having a mic jack and all our complaints are repeated here – it’s just a stupid engineering move both on Canon and Sony’s parts.

But it gets even better. The Sony HC3, while it didn’t have a mic jack, it has Sony’s proprietary "intelligent" accessory shoe. That’s their shrunk down hot shoe that can only take Sony brand accessories. Along with no mic jack, we put the "intelligent" accessory shoe up there with one of the top things we hate about today’s camcorders. We didn’t think it could be done, but Canon outdid them on the HV10 in category of stupid audio . It has no shoe! Nothing, so, you can’t even take a Canon branded accessory external microphone. This is probably the only time you’re ever going to hear this from this publication, but we actually prefer the "intelligent" accessory shoe over no shoe at all.

The only audio option which the Canon HV10 has is a wind cut feature. The other option we could find is an audio output channel selection, where you can pick which of the channels is output through the audio jacks. You can also adjust the mix between the left and right channels which is output. Finally, like most camcorders you can select whether you want to record your audio in 12 bit or 16 bit. But honestly, with a built in on camera stereo microphone, there isn’t going to be much difference between your left and right channels anyways.

The bottom line for the user picking between the HC3 and the HV10 on an audio front is that they are both total disasters. It’s too bad because Canon could have drawn a really good distinguishing characteristic between themselves and the competition here, but they chose not to. We wonder if the reason they did this was to encourage people to buy the Canon XH A1, which not only has mic jacks but has XLR jacks and many levels of control. It might have been an effort to push people upwards, but honestly, the A1 is $3,000 more and about 3.5x the price, so it seems unlikely that anyone in the market for the HV10 going to even remotely consider the A1. Instead, it seems Canon is just preventing people from shooting videos with good audio. 

VCR Mode* (7.0)
*The HV10 has a simple VCR mode with all the familiar controls located in the LCD cavity. Unlike many of the other external controls on this camcorder, the VCR buttons are big enough to operate easily (though even these aren’t exactly big.) In VCR mode, the End Search feature can be used to locate the end of the last recorded scene.  A few additional playback features are available using the wireless controller:  the x2 button plays footage back at twice normal speed, and you also have the option of marking a given point in the time code during either recording or playback mode by pressing the ZERO SET MEMORY button.

In still review mode, photos can be viewed singly by using the +/- buttons (fast forward and rewind in VCR mode) to move from image to image. Images can also be viewed in slide show mode.  High-res photos can take several seconds to load on the LCD, and a thumbnails page would speed up the whole process. Calling up the Function menu will also give you options for printing and transferring the photo currently on the LCD. The main menu gives you the ability to perform an operation to the entire series of photos.

Ports* (4.0)*

The ports and connectivity are pretty disappointing on the HV10. While the camcorder does have an analog AV/IN out jack as well as a Component out jack, it lacks the HDMI jack which the Sony HC3 has. As we mentioned above, it also lacks any real audio jacks such as a microphone jack or a headphone jack. The camcorder does have a DC in jack but doesn’t have a Control-L jack like the HC3 either.

Normally, ports is a pretty boring section, but in this case the lack of HDMI is a noticeable feature weakness. Because there is no HDMI jack or DVI jack the only want to get playback of HD video off the camcorder in any device other than a camcorder is as an analog signal. To our knowledge there are no non computer devices, other than the one or two HDV decks out there that support HDV over Firewire. This means if you want to hook the HV10 up to your HD TV, or say a Blu-ray burner you’re going to have to do it with an analog signal which will inevitably degrade the picture quality.

Other Features

 

Widescreen/16:9 Mode* (9.0)
*The native 16:9 CMOS sensor, the 2.7" widescreen TV, and of course, the widescreen-by-definition HDV format all make for a great widescreen feature set. You can also shoot standard definition DV in either 16:9 or 4:3, options selected in the first subset of the administrative menu.

Scan Rates/24p* (0.0)
*The Canon HV10 has no scan rates other than its 1080/60i.

Other Features* (7.5)

Image Effects* - Image Effects are presets that allow you to apply a look to video or still images, and mirror those available on the Optura 600. On the HV10, they include Vivid, Neutral, Low-Sharpening, Soft Skin, and Custom. The Custom setting allows you limited control over brightness, contrast, sharpness, and color depth with three options available for each criteria: –, 0, and +.

Digital Effect - The Canon HV10 includes a thankfully limited number of digital effects.  There are two faders – fade to/from black and center wipe, and three effects:  black and white, sepia and art.  The art effect applies a look to the image reminiscent of paint effects in Photoshop.  We find it gimmicky, but your 12-year-old may find it a fun way to amuse her friends.

Video Light - The HV10 includes a small front-mounted LED video light.  With a small light like this one you won’t be able to record anything more than a few feet from the lens, but it’s a nice addition that not all camcorders have.  It’s also arguably more useful than other night modes like Sony’s infrared NightShot feature, since a simple video light maintains some color in the recorded image.

Optical Image Stabilization - The OIS (optical image stabilization) system on this camcorder is impressive – in fact it may be the best we’ve seen on a camcorder this compact.  In full telephoto mode with OIS engaged, its possible to hold a shot quite steady.  OIS systems are superior to the EIS (electronic image stabilization) systems found on most consumer camcorders because EIS systems sacrifice some image quality while OIS systems do not.

Comparisons/Conclusion

 

The problem is, we don’t think we can recall a single head to head match up where it was closer. Both camcorders are very strong in some areas and both are very weak in others, and it’s generally the same areas. Let’s look at all the important areas of analysis. In normal video performance in full light, both are gorgeous full resolution HD images with great color. The Sony HDR-HC3 is slightly oversaturated and as a result we like the natural colors of the Canon HV10 a bit more. In low light, both are CMOS chips, and this being Canon’s first CMOS camcorder their lack of experience shows with the Sony performing much better in low light.

When it comes to manual control, the Canon is pretty healthy, letting you control the features you need to through a pretty good real button system, while the Sony lacks some important controls. The next important area we’d look to would be audio, and here both camcorders pretty much get an F. The Canon has no external audio options and the only thing Sony has is the "intelligent" accessory shoe which is proprietary and not that good. Neither camcorder has a microphone jack.

At this point in the comparison you’re probably think Canon is going to have the slight edge, but Sony has their trump card, the HDMI jack. While some people might discount this, it’s a big deal. The HDMI jack on the HC3 lets you hook the camcorder up to your television and other devices in full digital. It’s seems a bit silly that in this digital world Canon doesn’t give you all the jacks you need to use the camcorder in a full digital mode.

But then, when you start to handle the camcorders, you remember why matchbox style / vertical camcorders fell out of favor – they are awkward and a poor design choice. The Sony HC3 certainly wins here. On ease of use, both are pretty strong, though we do think Sony is a bit easier to use.

So which do you pick? Both camcorders are clearly targeted at point and shoot ease of use users. They just don’t include any of the needed prosumer features to be used for indie filmmaking or the diverse shooting conditions that advanced users face. If you just look at the HC3 and the HV10 in a context of point and shoot users, we’re going to have to pick the Sony by a slight edge. At the end of the day, Sony is easier to use, and is going to be better at shooting video in a variety (read: low light) of conditions. However, if you are a point and shoot user who wants portability the HV10 is a much better choice.

To be honest, both camcorders are horrible for anything advanced beyond point and shoot simplicity so neither one can be declared a clear winner. I’d qualify these as 'rich doctor camcorders.' No offense to all the doctors out there who know what aperture is and appreciate mic jacks – but these camcorders are for people who want to brag they are shooting in HD for their new HD plasma TV, and have gobs of money to buy a camcorder this expensive. It’s a bit ironic though, because HD is all about quality, and neither company gives you the features you need to really get a quality movie made.

Sony HDR-UX1

We can’t do much a video performance comparison against the UX1, except to say that the compression on the UX1 makes the video generally look not very good when compared to the HV10. We haven’t done tough tests on the UX1 low light and video performance yet but they are likely in line with the HC3. Where the UX1 fails compared to the HV10 though is the over-compression of the AVCHD codec. At the end of the day, the HV10 is MPEG-2 at 25 Megabits per second which means there is at least double the data in the image as there is on the HV10.

However, other than on performance (which of course is a huge area) the HDR-UX1 is very strong compared to the Canon. On the HDR-UX1, Sony has offered way better manual control through their great combo ring which lets you control focus, zoom, exposure and white balance shift. It’s a really nice ring and we love it. The HDR-UX1 also offers separate dedicated mic jacks and a headphone jack which our regular readers will know makes us swoon. On top of the that the camcorder has an HDMI jack and some major ease of use benefits over the HV10.

From a features perspective the UX1 clearly trumps the HV10 and it offers some of the same ease of use benefits. But, if you want the best in video you’re going to have to skip AVCHD this time around. Again, like the HC3 comparison it’s a very tough choice. If the UX1 had an HDV deck in it instead of the AVCHD to DVD deck in it; it would be a no brainer. This is a tough one, but we’re going to say if you’re a manual control semi prosumer user like us, go with the UX1, it’s a strong camcorder with some video performance weaknesses. If you’re a point and shoot beginner, and you’re 100% positive you don’t need those advanced features, you should look at the HV10 (or the Sony HC3), not because they are easier to use than the UX1, but because they do not sacrifice video quality like the UX1. That being said, we think most people should buy camcorders with manual control and mic jacks if only so you can have the option to upgrade in the future, so, generally, we’d pick the UX1 over the HV10.

Sony HDR-SR1
There’s not much to say here that wasn’t covered in the UX1 comparison. The SR1 is the same camcorder as the UX1 except it records to hard drive instead of DVD and offers a slightly higher data rate. At this point we can’t say whether that extra data is going to make a huge difference on performance. As for the hard drive, generally, we think that it’s a neat technology but at this point the capacity is too small to buy it over DVD. So, if you fell into the UX1 category instead of the HV10, stay with the UX1.

Sony HDR-HC1
This is the only comparison that is easy here. While the video performance in full light of the HV10 beats out the HC1 slightly, in all the other categories of control and external options we like the HC1. But the sad thing is you can’t really buy the HC1 anymore because it’s not available on the market. We recomend eBay.

Who It’s For
Point-and-Shooters *(4.0)*

The Canon HV10 is the point-and-shoot for the jet set crowd; it's a high definition gadget that takes great video and fits in your pocket. Easy on, easy off.

Budget Consumers* (2.0)
*Budget-minded shoppers will need to likely hold off until HD can at least crack the $1000 floor.

Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid* (3.0)*

The HV10 takes great looking stills, but that's probably not a good enough reason to buy this camcorder, and just as well; better hybrids can be found for less money.

Gadget Freaks* (8.0)
*HD is still on the gadget freak's want list, unless they splurged for the privilege of being an early adopter.

Manual Control Freaks* (6.0)
*The manual control set is essentially the same as any upper-end consumer Canon, with Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, and the added benefits of external buttons for focus and exposure compensation. It's not as good as Panasonic, but Panasonic doesn't have consumer HD yet.

*Pros/ Serious Hobbyists (5.0)
*Pros looking for a weekend camcorder that allows them to leave the bulky bag at home may be pleased with the Canon HV10. It's little, but it delivers HD-quality video. The handling pales in comparison to a pro camcorder, more so than most consumer camcorders, though.

**Conclusion
**Now for the section you all probably jumped ahead to: our verdict. To be honest, we had a hard time with the Canon HV10. Everyone wants high definition, but everyone wants it at the price and convenience of the camcorders they’re used to. Canon seems to have met so many of those needs with the HV10. It’s highly portable, easy to use, and under $1500.

But there were some serious issues that give us pause. The upright, pistol-grip body produces some very real handling issues. For anything but point-and-shoot operation, making adjustments can be a pain, and upset the picture stability. More seriously, the low light performance was terrible. You’ll be shooting in "low light" more often than you think, as camcorders require a lot more light than the human eye, which makes this category so critical. Bright light video looks great, but you have to consider the whole package. The weakness in audio is also a huge killer for us.

Compared to the Sony HDR-HC3, it’s a very tight race. We loved the Sony’s ease of use and handling, both of which trumped the Canon, but Canon’s manual control set is a crucial upgrade for many users. At the end of the day, if you're a point and shoot user, the HV10 is likely going to satisfy your needs better than any user group out there. If you want something that is a bit easier to use, go with the HC3, but, if you want something that is ultra-compact (which many people do) the Canon HV10 is a good choice.

 

 

Specs/Ratings

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