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What is the best high definition camcorder to buy?

I looked up a couple cameras and read that a Canon HV20 mini DV/HDV high definition camcorder was good. I want a small camera like that, but is there one that will have a better picture, better audio, better anything???

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1. The BEST one is the Scarlet from Red (ultra high definition). In the consumer space, the Canon HV20 has been replaced by the HV30 - which is not replaced by the HV40. All are good consumer camcorders that record DV, DV widescreen or HDV to miniDV tape. Your computer will need a firewire port for importing DV or HDV format video. The Sony HDR-HC9 is its immediate "competitor". As miniDV tape based camcorders recording to DV/HDV, they are the "best available video quality" when compared to camcorders in the same price space using hard disc drive (HDD) or flash memory camcorders. DVD based consumer camcorders barely make useful doorstops and are not even considered for discussion. Consumer HDD and flash memory camcorders save very highly compressed video into MPEG2 (standard definition) or AVCHD (high definition) formats. Video compression = discarded video data = reduced video quality. There is no camcorder with a "great" built-in mic for audio. The Canon HV series and the Sony HDR-HC9 are the least expensive camcorders (regardless of media storage type) with a mic jack (1/8") AND manual audio control. BUT, they are consumer grade and have smallish lenses and imaging chips. They won't do too well in very low light - for that, you need to get to the next step (prosumer or low-end pro) with larger lenses and imaging chips (like the Sony HDR-FX1000 - but it is a big camcorder because of the lenses and all the manual controls are easy to get to on the outside of the camcorder). For tapeless, HDD camcorders typically fall off my recommendation list because of the known vibration and high altitude problems they have which prevent them from recording. That leaves flash memory and miniDV tape... That said, for small tape based camcorders, the Canon HV series and the Sony HDR-HC9 are your best bet.
2. The best is one that can play to your HDTV. So the camera needs to have either HDMI (prefered) or 3 component output. Firewire or USB only transfers data to a computer which is not a very satisfactory display device. I have been pretty happy with my HD JVC Everio, awesome on the big screen.
3. Be careful about asking about the "best high definition camcorder" without qualification, or some joker's likely to point you at a CineAlta or The Red One or something (though technically, these are video cameras, not camcorders). But back to your question. I would claim the Canon HV20 was certainly among the best consumer-priced (under $1000) HD camcorders, at least until recently. From Canon themselves, they've replaced it with the Vixia HV30, which is a minor improvement. The HV30 uses the same sensor as the HV20 (and the HV10... I have one of those), but adds a 30P mode on top of the previous 60i and 24P modes, and perhaps some other refinements. You certainly can't go wrong with the HV20 or HV30. As far as quality goes, that's a valid question, but ultimately, it's not going to be a huge difference. Can you get better audio than an HV30? Sure.. .use any old DV camcorder... DV records audio uncompressed (16-bits, 48kHz), while HDV used MPEG Layer 2 audio compression.. but at a fairly high bitrate. Your best bet on improving audio will be to get an external microphone.. the ones built-in range from poor to bad to downright evil (on some camcorders you can actually pick up motor noise with your built-in mic, though I don't believe that's true of the HV20 or HV30). For video quality... maybe, but it depends a bit. Until recently, HDV was without question the best quality HD recording medium available to consumers. And there are good reasons to reject other media anyway: Hard drive cameras can be fragile and power hungry, DVD based camcorders only record 20 minutes per DVD in the best quality mode, and even at that, their best quality mode is lower than on other formats. And flash memory was too small and too pricey. Well, today, I claim you can actually get better video on the very latest AVCHD flash-based camcorders, at least some of the time. AVC was chosen over MPEG-2 for these camcorders (HDV uses MPEG-2 compression) because, ideally, it can give you the same quality as MPEG-2 at 1/2 to 1/3 the bitrate. In practice, though, while this is certainly true of commercial, non-realtime encoders used to make Blu-Ray discs, it has not been true of the on-chip encoders used in consumer camcorders. But time has passed... the AVCHD algorithms have improved, and some newer models allow higher bitrates. Canon is supporting 24Mb/s in their new models, and full 1920x1080 recording. HDV is 25Mb/s MPEG-2 at 1440x1080, while most sensors in both camera types are 1920x1080... so there's more resolution and no loss from resampling in the flash-based models. As well, flash memory cards are in price free-fall.. I saw a 16GB SDHC card on sale the other day for $19... I pay about $8 for an 83min pro-class HDV tape... also a 16GB item. So flash, being reusable, is actually going to cheaper these days than tape in the short term. I would only look at the latest flash-based camcorders as alternatives to tape. Read the reviews, check things like low-light performances, look for 24P support if you're into film-look (or film school), 30P is also a nice option if you do on-line video. I would consider the Canon Vixia HF11 or the new HF S10 or the Panasonic HDC-TM300. It's up to your.. tape IS still quite fine; both of my HD camcorders are HDV. However, if I added another today, it would probably be a flash-based model.