HV20 vs HC7 in low light compared

[rsen]

I bought both the HV20 and the HC7 today. From what I have read here and on other forums I was expecting the HV20 to beat the HC7 in low light. To my surprise this was not the case. I compared both at 1080 60i and 1/30 of a second shutter speed (shutter priority in both) and found the noise levels to be very close to one another in a typical indoor low light situation. In fact, if anything the HV20 was a little noisier, but looked a little sharper. My wife (a non-techie) agreed with my findings. The footage was viewed on a new 37 inch LCD TV via HDMI.

I then compared the HV20 in 24p mode (1/24 sec shutter speed) versus the same HV20 in 60i at 1/30 of a second and did notice slightly lower noise in the 24p mode, but just slightly.

I haven't decided yet which one I am going to keep.

[rsen]

I did more testing of the 2 camcorders today, in more controlled lighting. In average indoor lighting, the "speckle" noise of the 2 cameras is similar, but the colour noise is more pronounced with the HC7.

In really low lighting (which I had not tested before), there is no comparison-the HV20 does indeed beat the HC7 handily. The colour noise is so overwhelming with the HC7 in really low light to make it unusable. The HV20 still has a usable picture in this light.

Some other observations about the HV20 in low light: As I mentioned before, the 24p mode does reduce the noise somewhat. Using Cinema mode in conjunction with 24p in regular light, makes the picture look smoother and less contrasty. However, using Cinema mode in low light darkens the picture substantially. I would definitely use it in good to medium light, but not in low light.

I am leaning towards keeping the HV20.

[immersive]

but how are the focusing speed compared and also the colours? is it true the sony one is more punchy in colours?

[rsen]

The focusing speed of the HV20 is definitely faster than the HC7 in all lighting conditions. And in low light the HV20 will focus more readily than the HC7. In other words, sometimes the HC7 will not be able to focus on something in low light, whereas the HV20 will lock onto focus.

I found the colours to be punchier with the HV20. As the light level decreases the difference between the two camcorders is even more pronounced, with the HV20 retaining good colours much better than the HC7.

I hate the control dial on the HC7, and like the joystick and function button of the HV20 much better to make manual adjustments.

The build quality of the HC7 is much better than the HV20.

The tape transport functions are much more responsive with the HC7. There is quite a bit of lag switching from Play to Reverse, etc with the HV20.

I have not tested still performance yet.

[rsen]

I have to decided to keep the HV20. The Sony is going back tomorrow. The more I use the HV20 the more I can see that the image quality in low light definitely is better with the Canon. However, I still wish I could get a camcorder with the low light performance of the Canon XH A1 in a package the size of the HV20. Maybe, in 2 to 3 years the "HV40" will have such performance!

[immersive]

thanks for the update, you mean the canon hv20 is not as good as the xh-A1 in low light? because i thought i remember seeing some rather grainy footage from the A1....

[rsen]

Camcorderinfo.com stated in their review of the HV20 that the A1 has much better low light performance than the HV20. Check the following link and scroll down to the end of the low light section:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...erformance.htm

[toni1]

Thanks rsen for real life comaparrative review of two camcorders
did you post somwhere comparrative footages taken in same low light conditions?

[rsen]

toni1, I did post a short clip of the HV20 vs HC7 in low light in the HV20 section of "videos". However, since then I have done more testing that shows a bigger difference in low light capability between the 2 camcorders. I will try to upload them when I get a chance.

[toni1]

Thank rsen