Canon HG20 or HV30?

[zachmanZM]

So I'm torn between these two cameras
HV30
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/539289-REG/Canon_2680B001_VIXIA_HV30_HDV_High.html
HG20
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/576009-REG/Canon_3085B001_VIXIA_HG20_AVCHD_Hard.html

The HG20 records on harddrive, But the hv30 records on tapes, I'm not sure which one to buy, I've looked at some test footage on vimeo But I can't decide, And If you need more info I'm using this mostly for semi dark conditions in my movies, And I also want to know about how much glare their is and how easy they are to upload to the computer, Any help wouldbe appreciated, Thanks!

[WesScog]

I'll run them down for you...

HG20:
http://www.vimeo.com/2604257
http://www.vimeo.com/2162150
http://www.vimeo.com/2506630
http://www.vimeo.com/2107025
http://www.vimeo.com/1958837
http://www.vimeo.com/1976487
http://www.vimeo.com/1938339
http://www.vimeo.com/2108282
http://www.vimeo.com/2381845

PROS:
-Cheaper
-Higher Resolution sensor
-True 1920x1080 resolution
-Codec allows for higher luminance sampling
-Faster to get the files off of the computer
-Hours of shooting time
-No need to spend extra money on tapes

CONS:
-Since it's harddrive, you can't take the tapes out of the camera and start capturing them while you keep shooting (if you have a HDV capture deck that is, if you don't then ignore this)
-Some complaints of increased noise and digital artifacting because of the higher compression of the AVCHD codec
-Rendering is more computationally intensive since it has higher compression
-Smaller Sensor

HV30:
http://www.vimeo.com/1154024 (35mm Adapter)
http://www.vimeo.com/895240
http://www.vimeo.com/930740
http://www.vimeo.com/1454421
http://www.vimeo.com/1464926
http://www.vimeo.com/1434906 (Color Correction)
http://www.vimeo.com/1421891

PROS:
-You can take the tapes out and be capturing the footage while still shooting
-Less computationally intensive because of less compression
-Potentially less digital artifacts because of lower compression
-Larger sensor

CONS:
-More expensive
-HDV isn't true 1920x1080 (It is 1440x1080 with rectangle pixels instead of square, so it is stretched out to fill the 1920x1080 frame.)
-1:1 capture/shooting times, which can slow you down worse than with the HG20 if you don't have a capture deck.

On paper, the HG20 is a better camera, since it has the potential of higher resolution (since AVCHD supports true 1920x1080 with actual square pixels), and better detail because of the higher luma sampling.

Not to mention that they run at almost the same bitrate, yet AVCHD has a more efficient compression algorithm, so it has more data in it's images.

[zachmanZM]

Oh my wescog, You are the master of cameras, That was really good information, I think I'm going to go with the HG20, Just because it seems better by the quality and by the price range, Thank you wescog!

[dfoster26]

I know this is a really stupid question but oh well,could you get a 35mm adapter for the hg-20?

[WesScog]

Yes. Just make sure to get a 37mm filter attachment for the adapter, that's the HG20's threading size.

[NMP50]

I have this computer http://www.superwarehouse.com/Sony_VAIO_NS110E_S_Notebook/VGN-NS110E_S/p/1546887 Would it be able to edit AVCHD at a decent frame rate?

[WesScog]

It'll probably stutter a little on that rig.

I've got a more powerful computer than that, and even it can edit it a bit slow sometimes.

[DarkForestFilms]

so you can put a wide angle lense on the HG-20
sweet, ill get that instead of the HV30 or HV20

one bad thing is no viewfinder :(

[WesScog]

Well you can get wide angle lens attachments to any of them.