Canon HV20 vs HV30 vs HV40 – What’s the Difference?

Canon has announced the release of the Vixia HV40 – the next iteration of the Canon HV20 HDV camcorder that we have so come to love here at thehv20experiments.com.

With the HV30, not much changed except for a new black paint job, the ability to shoot 30P and a slightly bigger LCD screen.

With the HV40 – same thing except that Canon has since done some optimization of it DIGIC II processor for HD, and more importantly, added the ability to shoot 24P (something we will also see the company adding to its new HD Video-shooting DSLRs like the 5D MK II in response to overwhelming user demand).

The main thing to consider is that with any of the tweaks and tips and tricks you have already learned by visiting this site, you can accomplish anything that can be accomplished with the HV40 with ease.

Click here to see a side-by-side comparison of the three models and their respective feature sets.

Interestingly, the Canon HV20 is the only one of the three that offers SD/MiniDV recording at all.  Why you would think this is a bonus is up for debate, but you never know – sometimes lower quality formats become desirable for retro effects or otherwise and presently the HV20 is the only one to offer this flexibility.

The HV40, being a new product will set you back a thousand bucks.  The HV30 is now going for around seven hundred give or take.  But not much has changed since the HV20 which was used to shoot parts of the sequel to Crank starring Jason Statham and in theaters nationwide, and can be found for as little as US$399.

Looking at the basic math, the Canon HV20 is still the way to go.

You may also consider looking at Canon’s other offerings, however, if you prefer to not use HDV tapes (which are basically good quality MiniDV tapes) and go solid state.  That is something I will cover in a future article.