Canon VIXIA HV40

• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 5 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 10 stars

  Best Compact Minidv Camcorder in this price range

  by 95carreacab on November 28, 2009

  Pros: I specificly needed a portable minidv camcorder for my snowboarding videos but i still needed great video quality.I googled the hv40 and found this site hv40.net and readsome reviews and i found it for $200 less than msrp great camera & great price

  Cons: its minidv (if thats con)

  Summary: Being most cameras these days record to a hard drive or flash memory,i needed a minidv format hd camera.I was in mammoth ca snowboarding and i hit a ...

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  Summary: Being most cameras these days record to a hard drive or flash memory,i needed a minidv format hd camera.I was in mammoth ca snowboarding and i hit a mogel and when i got back to my room i found all my video from the past 3 days somehow got deleted due to the fact when your boarding down a black diamond its very bumpy and the vibration caused my hard drive to fail.So i came across this site hv40.net and ordered the camera overnite for like 200 less than msrp and the nexd day i had my camera in time for my afternoon run.I love the minidv format much better than a hard drive being if something goes wrong with the tape i can pop in a new one.With my harddrive canon wanted $600 to fix my old hard drive and the 6 hrs of video was not something that they were able to restore from the hard drive.So now im a firm believer in the tapes and this camera works great, my video quality is the same as in a shaun white video.Highly Recommended!!!
  
  Updated on Dec 4, 2009

  Here is the link to the site I found on Google. <a href="http://hv40.net" target="_blank"> Canon HV40 </a>

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  4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  This inexpensive HD camcorder is a dream come true.

  by wanketeli on January 11, 2010

  Pros: The newest and most admirable feature of the VIXIA HV40 is its ability to record 24 frames per second natively. The camera also has a nice body design, and the fact that it's coated with a sleek black finish only adds to its professionalism.

  Cons: My only gripes about this HDV camera are its size and lack of manual controls. Some people like a compact camera, and I do too, but I wish this one was just a bit larger, just to get that prosumer look. This would also make room for more controls.

  Summary: My experience with this camera (so far) has been very nice. I did my research prior to making any purchases, and it seemed that this HV40 was the most economical ...

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  Summary: My experience with this camera (so far) has been very nice. I did my research prior to making any purchases, and it seemed that this HV40 was the most economical and visually satisfying camera. At only $699, the owner of this camera will get picture quality that has the same sharpness and quality as a $3,000 - $5,000 professional cam. There are obviously drawbacks though; The aesthetic pleasure of a big camera is not here, the manual controls are sparse, and there is no xlr microphone input. Needless to say, with a little extra cash, all of these minor issues can be resolved. All-in-all, someone could pay a lot less for this camera and still end up getting fantastic image resolution. If you are a student film-maker (like myself) than trust me, you will not regret this purchase... Unless they release the HV50 anytime soon.

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  DV Tape Codec STILL better than compressed HD or Flash

  by littlesteviedirkx on January 17, 2010

  Pros: Reasonably priced for DV tape based Hi-Def. The other format (Hard Drive & Flash ) camcorders still haven't worked out the bugs in the compression which creates annoying artifacts when panning. DV tape codec is LESS compression, better picture.

  Cons: In Low Light situations, the auto gains up Too Much, resulting in very grainy picture. The covers protecting the various in/out plugs are flilmsy. The built in mic is terrible for live music, probably OK for kids, dogs etc.

  Summary: I prefer 'removable media', ie tape. Using a Hard Drive camcorder is putting all you eggs in one basket - if it crashes, you're screwed. Tape has a proven ...

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  Summary: I prefer 'removable media', ie tape. Using a Hard Drive camcorder is putting all you eggs in one basket - if it crashes, you're screwed. Tape has a proven life span of at least 20 years (if taken care of properly) and can be burned to DVD or Computer for added backup. There are numerous examples of the compression artifacts of HD camcorders using AVCHD on youtube. Compare those clips with DV tape HD.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  Good quality video, nice stills, Good for the price.

  by mefilm on September 1, 2011

  Pros: Mini DV tapes are cheap and reliable, produces good quality HD recordings, on board mic is not bad, menu setting are ok and work well, Good still pictures, small and easy to carry around but still gives very good results. Will record from external devices

  Cons: Mini DV tape takes as long to put onto a computer before editing as it does to record (flash memory like SD cards import to a PC much more quickly). Build quality is not the best but it is a low price for the video quality. Slightly more bulky than a flas

  Summary: If you don't need the speed of flash memory when transferring your footage to a PC and can put up with the slightly shoddy build quality, but still want ...

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  Summary: If you don't need the speed of flash memory when transferring your footage to a PC and can put up with the slightly shoddy build quality, but still want a cheap camcorder that records quality HD video, then just go out and buy this camcorder. I own this camcorder and think it is very good for the price, it records very good quality High Definition footage and is cheap for the quality pictures it can produce. The build quality could and should be better from canon, but it still records like a semi pro camcorder costing three times more and will probably never let you down. Good for the money.

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• 7 stars

  AWESOME CAMERA but......

  by cgfilms on February 2, 2011

  Pros: good video qaulity, small, portable, low price.

  Cons: low light situations, the glossy finish, manual focus wheel

  Summary: This is a great camcorder for what i use it for. (youtube videos, weddings, plays, school) but...... i hate the dumb focus knob!!!! why couldent they put a real focus ...

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  Summary: This is a great camcorder for what i use it for. (youtube videos, weddings, plays, school) but...... i hate the dumb focus knob!!!! why couldent they put a real focus RING on there!!!! Anyways the video qaulity is good, exept in low light. I like the black color, but i HATE the glosy finish it gets to dusty and smugey, and its very easy to get scraches on it. I would recomend getting a lens hood for reduced lens flares and for added coolness! but its all around a good camcorder! http://www.youtube.com/MARINEfreak06

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