The HV20 is packed with manual controls you'll be dying to get your fingers on.

Canon’s HV20 is the best consumer HD camcorder we’ve tested yet. There’s so much to like about this camera, starting with its colorful 1080i image, which is made up of a whopping 1,920 by 1,080 pixels. Other HD camcorders may technically offer the same high number of pixels, but we prefer the HV20’s sharp picture quality.

The HV20 has a lightning-quick autofocus system that lets the camera refocus almost instantly as you pan from one subject to another. The fantastic optical image stabilization takes the natural shake out of handheld shots, especially when you’re using the 10x optical zoom. Almost every camcorder offers image stabilization, but the Canon has the steadiest of any we’ve tried.

The HV20 packs plenty of other handy features, too. It has connections for a microphone and headphones so you can plug in a better mic and monitor the recorded audio. You can use the accessory shoe to mount an onboard mic or camera light. The HV20 has many manual controls and a few special shooting modes that give your footage a more cinematic, filmlike look (including the ability to capture 24 progressive frames per second).

Our only beef with the HV20 is that it records its footage to old-fashioned, 60-minute MiniDV tapes, which are a pain to rewind and fast-forward when you’re looking for a shot. We would have preferred capturing to a hard drive, memory card, or even just DVD media.

The bottom line. Ready to take the dive into HD video? You won’t go wrong with the HV20.

COMPANY: Canon
CONTACT: www.canon.com
PRICE: $1,099

REQUIREMENTS: FireWire 400, MiniDV tapes
Amazing image. Works with external mics. Smallish form-factor. Footage works with all video editors. Great value for price.
Tape will soon be obsolete.