From afar, the right side of the HV20 has a familiar horizontal design akin to the Sony HC7, albeit with a fresh coat of silver paint. These camcorders have similar tape hatch designs. Only on the HV20, you'll find the microphone jack, AV/headphone jack, and component terminal hiding behind a rubberized port cover toward the lens end of the camcorder. Although we've blasted Canon in the past for equipping their camcorders with flimsy plastic port covers, the HV20 proudly sports a burly, flexible enclosure. Mounting both the mic and headphone jacks in one location is easy on the memory. But because Canon condensed the headphone and AV jacks into one, make sure you manually select the correct mode, or you'll be treated to a raucous surprise outlined in the Audio section.

mdaren11112

Redwood City, CA

We purchased this camera before our trip overseas. I didn't have time to read anything about it, we just put it together and tried it out. It was so easy to use! You can record in Standard Def or High Def. It's nice and compact. I highly recommend the camera case. We were in monsoon season and had the camera with us during a massive downpour. We opened the case up and there was no water whatsoever. The microphone does fine. We are thrilled with the HV20!

amospa

Mansfield, PA

I purchased this camera in 2005 and Still using it. This camcorder records in Mini DV. So it's not compressed. You can rip the Video in Full HD from the Camcorder by using the Firware Port. The Camera features Cine Mode 24 which enables the Cinema Style Recording in 24P. The Navigation is very user friendly. Light Weight. It also takes Photos in 3MP Resolution. I loved the Internal Mic. Though the it doesn't filters the noise, It's very clear enough. The Colors settings enables to capture the video in lovely colors. The Optical Zoom is perfect till 10X. Do not use digital zoom, it reduces the picture quality. The Recording Mode button is nicely placed. So that we can handle with single hand. the Light weight fact also enables Single Hand Recording. Instant Auto Focus helps greatly when the subject is moving. f/1.8 to f/3 zoom lens helps to capture Low light scenes with less noise. Basically I am loving this camera. There are few latest models are out for this camera. This is one perfect for HD Home videos and Editing.  

RRaja

Simi Valley, CA

I've had this camera for a few weeks now and I'm really enjoying it. The video I've taken with it seems to rival the quality from PBS HD, but of course I'm not a professional videographer. It sure has GREAT video quality! And I may not be no tech geek or anything but this camcorder is such an ease to use!The size is surprisingly small. Not all huge and bulky. I don't think they will be able to make this thing any smaller in future versions. I think it would hurt the design rather than make it better. I almost forgot about the audio problems! Within the first hour of getting the camera I noticed that I could hear the tape mechanism while taping. It was very loud and very noticeable. I was getting ready to take the camera back because of it. Fortunately it seems it was just that the camera needed to be "broken in". Once I watched some video, fast forwarded and rewound the tape a few times the sound went completely away. Now I can't be happier.

jen-jen

Speonk, NY

This was my first entry into the camcorder world.  After doing a lot of research to find the camcorder with the best image (hi-def) that I could afford I was please with all of the features based on my research.  Use of the camcorder was easy.  The focus was fast and accurate and the zoom was easy to use.  The problem was the audio.  The built in mic recorded the whine of the tape motor.  When the tape was played back it seemed like it was amplifying this sound.  I couldn't play the tape without it annoying me. In all fairness, if you record in areas where there is a significant amount of noise you will probably not hear the motor whine.  I tend to record in areas where there is little noise so the motor is easily heard, such as recording wildlife or young children (when they are not going wild).  

gds0813

Batavia, OH