Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

I researched camcorders for several months, with one of the key aspects being low light performance. I read several reviews over the internet that gave this camera high ratings in all phases, including low light. It has not disappointed. I have used it so far mainly to shoot the Christmas lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City and absolutely love the quality of video. Anyone who rates this camera poor in low light does not know how to manually alter the camera mode/settings to achieve better low light performance. Picture quality is fantastic, ease of use is very good, amount of manual controls very good. Some things are a bit cumbersome, such as the manual focus being controlled only by a joystick on the flip out LCD, but hey, for what I paid for it I can live with some of its quirky attributes. A wonderful camcorder!

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

A good product, but small details that I forgot for the buy are dificult to asimilate:
You can't use like a webcam, it's a big pity today
The .mts video format it's dificult to try in other pc to download in web,etc.. or to transform in other format.
The pixela software is a trial version to make videos, a mistake and particulary mine didn't work,don't like at all this version.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

Good camcorder for a decent price. Easy to use, low battery life!

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

I'm not a professional; just use this to capture my memorable outings & my 2yr old daughter. I have been using the HG20 for more than a month, almost everyday.

Easy to use.
Crisp Clear videos.
Not so great battery life (As other reviewers commonly mention).
Night / low light videos are not as great as the bright light ones; but it is not bad.

Still a lot more options to explore.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

This camera is maybe the best deal ever. Stunning image quality, silent, huge storage and fantastic colors. If it had a 5 mp still camera it would be unbeatable.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

I used this the second day I had it to record our senior play. I was the lighting tech in the back of an 800 seat auditorium.
The camcorder performed flawlessly, even when zooming in on the performers from that distance. Faces were very sharp, and the sound recorded very well.
I was able to plug the HG20 into my DVD/VCR recorder to make great copies of the performance. I am very pleased with my purchase.
The Imagemaker 3 software is clumsy to use, and woefully under-featured. I used AVS4YOU video software instead to edit and clip the recordings.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

Amazing video quality. Have been filming in XP+ and that is too good. Sound is great. Looks great on HDTV. Low light performance is great. Best value for the price that is [$].On the downside, the battery life is low. Must have spare battery. Also, the video editing software provided is no match to the camcorder features.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

Picture quality not as expected from other reviews

The software that comes with it is useless, the worst I have ever seen.

Camera's value is brought down by this software.
Canon should drop them like a hot potato.

Overall not a bad camera but you can find better picture quality in HD than this one for the same kind of money.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

I bought this unit to utilize as a wide camera angle when i tape weddings. I have to say that though It is difficult for me to match the picture and colors to my Panasonic HMC150, it still gave me a great picture.

When I switched it to Cinema mode, I found there to be much less noise (and, of course, what appears to be much less gain).

I did allow my sister to use it to tape her Daughter's outside graduation and the results were very stunning.

Though I didn't utilize the software with that came with the camera, I don't suppose that it is anything outstanding. I do all of my editing in Imovie 09 on an Intel Macbook pro or Adobe Premiere CS4 (upgraded to 4.1) on a Core I7 with 6 GB of DDR3.

When I am inside, I switch to "Cinema Mode" and set the white balance manually and always seem to produce a clean image.

For the price, this unit has served it's purpose. I have since upgraded my second camera to a Panasonic HMC40 so that I can better match my HMC150 footage.

Still, I am happy to keep it as a carry around camcorder because the image quality is so great for the price.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

This Camera is amazing the picture is phenominal. Built in Hard Drive a plus. No More Tapes! Yay! Plus the low light performance is awesome. Exceptional job from Canon. Great Value. You need a fast computer to edit. "Quad Core if Possible"

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

The Canon HG20 has served me well in the short time I have owned it. It takes good quality video, it is simple to use, while still offering a surprising depth of features for a consumer model.

Like all consumer camcorders, the audio leaves something to be desired. Thankfully, it can mount a shotgun mike on it's (proprietary) hot shoe. If you don't like the Canon DM-100, it also accepts 3.5mm mic input, and wireless mikes are cheap enough now that there should be no difficulty in bypassing the compressed and somewhat noisy audio from the internal mic.

The Optical Image Stabilization is good, though some reviews hiding in the depths of the internet made exaggerated claims about it's effectiveness. It will not make your walking footage look like a stedicam shot by any measure, nor will the OIS substitute for a tripod.

Battery Life is dismal, plan on buying an extended battery or a couple of spares. Also, the camera doubles as the battery charger, and will not charge after-market batteries. Plan on shelling out the premium price for official Canon batteries.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

If you are lookng for an HD camcorder, this is the one you need. Stop looking else where and wasting your time with reviews. The Canon HG20 is top of most lists.

The 3 negatives of the camera are that you have to use the lcd view finder, no other built in finder. Secondly, the supplied battery with the camera doesn't last very long, buy the BP-819 BATTERY PACK (1780mAH) which lasts 4 hours or so and thirdly, the software isn't great.

Otherwise, this is the camcorder, stop looking any further......

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

I've had this camera for a couple of weeks now, and I have to say that I really like it. I can't say that I've explored all of it's features yet, but so far it's almost perfect for my purposes.

I've been learning the subtleties of video blogging for a little while now, and I wanted a camera that was as easy to use as the FlipVideo, but one that took higher quality video and was a bit more versatile.

First of all, the menus are really easy to understand and operate. I've only owned a FlipVideo camera and a Canon Elura (another great camera). The navigation button is sturdy and responsive. The menus are simple and easy to navigate. When you change the video size, the camera let's you know different details about the particular format you're choosing. Sort of like having a user's manual built into the menu. Really helps make informed choices, but helps you as you're operating the camera.

The quality of the HD is quite good. I play these movies on my 23" monitors, and they look great. But this is my first time using an HD camera, and my first time using a camera with a hard drive. First of all, neither of these pose any problem, but it did take me a few minutes to figure out how to get the videos from the camera to my computer. I don't use the camera to edit (though some of the in-camera filters are really cool). Instead, I take everything from the camera to my hard drive, and then use commercial video editing software to polish the work. I wasn't familiar with the native file format (m2ts), which sort of scared me at first. I thought I would have to use the included software to translate (and degrade) the files into .wmv or .mp4. Not easy with the software. But then I realized that this each of the different kinds of video editing software I use imports the .m2ts files directly. No need to translate first. What a great feature! Now I can record onto the hard drive, plug the camera into my computer, transfer the files, import them into my editing software, all within a matter of minutes. It's so much faster and easier than my process with the Elura 100.

One of the reasons I loved the Elura so much was that it had both a built-in light and microphone port. That was a tough combo to find in an affordable camera. With this HG20, I simply paid a little extra and picked up the integrated (well designed!) VFL-2 VIDEO FLASH LIGHT. And this camera already has a good quality microphone port, too. So now I still have all the functionality of a camera that I love, with the speed, quality, and convenience of an High-Def, hard drive camera.

I am soooo glad I pick up this camera. Though it was definitely at the top of my price range, it's so much better than I had even hoped for. I would recommend this camera to anyone. I hope you pick one up and enjoy it as much as I have. Happy shooting!

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

Use the camcorder to tape the grandchildren and to tape family events.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

Works great out of the box. This is my replacement to an older Sony SD camcorder. Difference is like day and night for a much better value. Easy to navigate thru the controls. Great Video in low light conditions. Very light and compact.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

This is great for catching my kids sports and family videos around the house.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

Canon makes terrific products and this Vixia HG20 is no exception! It is easy to use and the visual output quality is much better than expected both for still shots and video. I plan to use this camcorder for both business and personal use and this is an outstanding choice for both! My only criticism is the lackluster software packaged with the HG20. Limited ability to edit and excessive time to render an output file. I would pay a bit more for the camcorder to get a more substantial software editing and rendering package. I'd give it five stars with improved software. Purchasing this camcorder is an excellent choice.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

Great quality video. Easy to use. Very compact and light. The only draw back I have is that the hot shoe accessories I have from my old Canon don't work with the new mini hot shoe and I can not find an adapter.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

This is incredible TV-like quality. The only thing is you need a FAST FAST FAST computer to play and edit the files ( at least 4gb ram and dual core processor). I have a 6gb ram that barely plays them.

Comments about Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive High Definition Camcorder:

I had the opportunity to film for the first time this week. It was a water sport event, with lots of motion, lots of cheering and noise, and a partly cloudy day. The results were so much better than expected. The camera microphones did a great job of capturing the sound, and the image quality was superb. The 30 minutes of recording yielded 384MB of video, which is a massive amount of data to manipulate. I am using the video editor and converter from AVS4YOU [@], and it made the editing easy and inexpensive.