Strengths: Nice gloss black body paint, compact, small form factor, and brilliant HD pictures.

Weaknesses: None

Summary: This is the highly rated HD Minidv camcorder on the market right now. It uses regular minidv tape to store your video. Actually, this is a plus because filming using minidv tape will give you better HD picture than the newer format of using solid state memory card. The reason for this is the compression rate of the media. This camcorder performs brilliantly under low light conditions. As long the is a little bit of light in the room, it will produce viewable pictures. This is a good buy for minidv format HD camcorder, get it while you still can!

Strengths: HD, Solid body thou built with plastic, HDMI port and intuitive buttons

Weaknesses: A little bulky, Tape-based, no SSD

Summary: I know buying the HV30 at 649.00 shouldn't be any complaint at all. The high quality of image and video shooting tells it all. I still have my Canon ZR60 tape-based camcorder going pretty strong. Kind of Leering toward an SSD camcorder, but decided to jump on this one after reading some reviews on tape storage, it's not bad using tape at all.

Strengths: Great picture, very good sound, easy to use

Weaknesses: Tapes

Summary: I thought about going with one of Canon's new SD card HD camcorders - but decided to stick with tapes. Tapes are cheap to buy and keep as a master copy. So I lose a little ease in downloading videos - but can always keep a master.This camera takes amazing quality HD video. Looks great on my 1080p Sony 52" LCD.They've fixed a few of the minor annoyances with last year's HV20 - so if you're good with recording on tapes - this is the best HD camcorder out there.

Strengths: Nice size and handling,battery life, Features, Picture Quality, Versatile camcorder even for semi-pro use

Weaknesses: Sound quality could have been improved. No SDHC

Summary: One of the best HD camcorder on the market. It is a replacement for winner last year HV20, I guess canon will lead this market with HV30 this year also. Consider AVCHD camcorders before buying this as they are new technology but comparable to this quality. No tapes and shhould last long as there are no moving parts. If MiniDV is the camcorder you are looking for, look no further this is nice one.

Strengths: compact size, awesome video

Weaknesses: none

Summary: I'm new to the camcording business and bought one in anticipation of the arrival of my first child. So far I've been playing with it recording various family functions and watching my wife as she goes through her pregnancy. The hv30 is easy to use. Low lighting is a little grainy, but when there's adequate light, picture quality is great. It's nice to have all the different recording modes, though, honestly, as long as it's easy, point and shoot, I'd be happy, which this does well.

Strengths: Digital Still and Value

Weaknesses: Tape recording

Summary: This is the third camcorder I ever had in three years. I have been a Sony Fan in terms of Camcorder (two out of three). But this time I decided to give a try on Canon after comparing Sony and Canon. In my view, Canon probably makes the best digital camera in the world. Actually, the digital stills taken on my HV30 turned out to be better than the shots taken by Pentax Optio 750z (a dedicated 7M DC). I was really impressed by its capability on digital stills. I knew that tape recording is not for future when I bought this. However, given that the value of tape is still much lower than others, I'd like to stick with it for a few more years. I bought 10 pack 63 min MiniDV tapes for $30, which is a lot time for my use, so that I would not need to work on computer after every shot. The LCD screen is excellent. The zoom control is good. And there are still many fuctions to explore after one month of use. I highly recommend it to you if you can tolerate the tape recording like me.

Strengths: Great video.

Weaknesses: Minor design flaws.

Summary: The cassette compartment cover, when in the closed position, feels a little loose. Before I made my decision to purchase the HV30, I went to several local electronics stores to check out the HV30 on display. The cassette compartment cover felt the same on all the camcorders I checked. Therefore, it must be a design issue. However, the cover serves its purpose and does not affect the camcorder?s performance.The FOCUS dial for manual focusing is too small and does not feel to have the right resistance. I would rather have a focus ring around the lens just like an SLR camera lens.The Zoom lever is a bit sensitive and somewhat hard to control when the zoom speed is set to [VAR VARIABLE]. Fortunately, there is a means of changing the zoom speed to one of three fixed speeds?SPEED 1, 2, or 3.The optical viewfinder is not adjustable and therefore cannot be angled or extended. This could be a problem when using the BP-2L24H high capacity battery. This battery is physically bigger and protrudes more towards the back of the camcorder, which could render the optical viewfinder useless. Of course, you can always use the LCD screen.The optical viewfinder dioptric adjustment lever is too small and situated in an odd place. Normally, you would need to look into the viewfinder when making this adjustment, but since the dioptric adjustment lever is right next to your eye, I find making this adjustment a little cumbersome.CANON attached the cover for the advanced accessory shoe to the camcorder?s body in an attempt to keep it from being accidentally misplaced. However, only a small flimsy piece of plastic is what CANON used to secure the cover to the body?not a very sturdy design.Navigating through the different menus is easy. I did not have any problems finding or setting the different functions to configure the camcorder to my personal preference. The LCD screen is sharp and just the right size however; there are only two brightness settings for the LCD??normal? or ?bright? and they are both fixed settings. I prefer a variable adjustment from low, to normal, to bright, and anywhere in-between.The camcorder casing might not withstand too much abuse. It feels like it is made of cheap, thin plastic.However, having mentioned the negatives, the bottom line is still performance and this camcorder takes great video. That is what counts.

Strengths: Excellent video quality! Records well even in low light.

Weaknesses: Uses MiniDV which is more difficult to navigate between scenes than using AVCHD which records to DVD, Hard drive, or flash memory card.

Summary: The Canon HV20 was "Camcorder of the Year" for 2007, so did not hesitate on purchasing this HV30. The video quality when recording in HD is excellent! I played back recordings on my 50 inch Panasonic plasma in 1080p and it is amazing! When comparing this HV30 to last year's HV20, this adds a 30p recording mode (in addition to 24p and 60i) and a LCD that is more visible in sunlight. Outdoor image quality is excellent--probably best in class.

Strengths: Excellent video quality, 30p recording mode, decent in low light

Weaknesses: Poor sound mic, zoom toggle difficult to control, zoom toggle noisy, record to mini DV tapes

Summary: The Canon HV20 was "Camcorder of the Year" for 2007, so I had high expectations for the HV30. The HV30 is a minor upgrade from the HV20--it adds a 30p recording mode (in addition to 24p and 60i) and a LCD that is more visible in sunlight. Outdoor image quality is excellent--probably best in class. When shown on my 50 inch plasma (720p) the picture is amazing. Indoor image quality is OK with the picture just a tad grainy. The plastic camcorder itself feels a little cheap construction-wise, but that's to be expected in a consumer camcorder packed with technology for under $1K. Ergonomically, the camcorder isn't the most comfortable sitting in my hand, but I am getting used to it. The zoom toggle that is controlled with the user's thumb is a bit hard to control. Initially my zooming in and out had a stuttered effect. It takes some time to get used to. Also, manipulation of the zoom toggle all the way in or out produces a click that is sometimes picked up by the camcorder's microphone. Finally, the camcorder records to mini DV tapes, which is a dying technology. Solid state is the future. Nevertheless, I chose this camcorder over ones that write to flash memory since the software to manipulate and edit AVHCD video clips is still not the greatest. I didn't want to have to go out and buy a quad core computer just to be able to edit my video. The main reason to buy this camcorder is the video image quality. Those who don't need the 30p recording mode could opt for the HV20 which will probably be increasingly discounted now that the HV30 is available.

Strengths: HDV

Weaknesses: Plastic body, look little cheap

Summary: I have had the CAM for 10 days now, setting it up was fairly easy. I don't have a HDTV so wanted to see the HD resolution on my 22 inch LCD digital monitor. Connected the cam to the computer using IEEE 1394 cable and the cam was recognized but when I switched it off and on it won't get recognized, tried two other computers and saw the same issue. I was using ULEAD 9/windows movie maker to test it. Emailed canon support and they said, reset cam and if still doesn't work send it back for repair. Called canon support and the tech told me to change the setting to DV locked (have to disconnect 1394 cable for this setting to be active) after that it was working fine, of course I didn't buy this for DV, what's the use if HDV doesn't work. He said that movie maker in business VISTA which I was using supports HDV Finally tried Sony Vega with explicit HDV support and the cam worked fine in HDV mode also. However the video didn't look that good on compter was infact worse than DV, saw that the default setting for Sony SW was 720p, changed that to 1440x1080 but still it is not that good, will experiment some more. I also saw that the picture freezes for 1 sec or so intermittently, not sure if it is at places where recording was stopped and started or it is due to poor quality tape (was reusing an old tape, till the new ones get delivered.) This is my first canon Cam had used Sony until now (last 4) ergonomics wise it is not as good as sony also the plastic doesn't feel that sturdy, I am giving it the benefit of doubt still, as others have rave reviews for it.

Strengths: Some solid improvements over the HV20 like 30p and better zoom control.

Weaknesses: Still records to tape, though HDV still has a better transfer rate=video quality than AVCHD.

Summary: This camcorder is amazing. I didn't think Canon could improve upon the HV20 (2007 Camcorder of the Year), but they've done it again and the HV30 has my vote for 2008. Solid improvements over the HV20 like 30p! HDV still has a better transfer rate=video quality than AVCHD. Under the right lighting conditions the images this camcorder captures rivals those of professional camcorders 4+ times the price and weight! Amazing blacks and incredible contrast though the AUTO setting tends to overexpose, but I've seen this issue with every Canon I've used all the way back to the L1. The LCD has been upgraded to limit the solarization issue on the HV20. You can't go wrong with either camcorder.