I got my HG10 3 days ago and i 've been satisfied with its image quality.But a problem keeps bugging me.

When shooting, a clicking hard drive noise comes out every 1~2 seconds and it is recorded into the video. It is not that loud but when i playback a video shot in quiet condition, the intermittent sounds are absolutely audible. So now i feel i'm holding a hybrid camcorder with outstanding image and terribly inferior audio.

Does anyone out there notice the same issue?What should i do?

Hi
I don't have a HG10 and I don't know whether this is normal or not but if I were you then I would go into a shop and compare this clicking noise with another HG10.
If that other HG10 is quiet then you can assume that yours is defective.
Otherwise this is how it is designed.

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Sektionschef

Panasonic SDR-S100
Sandisk Ultra II 2GB SD Card
Raynox QC-505 0.5 WA
IBS 5X Tele
Velbon Ultra Maxi F Tripod
Magix Video deluxe 2008plus

Thanks sektionschef. In fact i've called Canon to describe the problem and what they said was working noise is inevitable in any sort of HDD and a individual defect couldn't be concluded before they hear the actual noise level. yes i can mail it to canon and let them check it, but then i 'll never get it back before the spring festival. That's the very occasion i would like to record with my new camcorder. so maybe i'll just take your advice

Of course if any other users here notice the sound too, i won't have to bother and i'll just accept it.

This is the Russian article about the HG10: http://www.videozona.ru/video_tests/hg10/

Scroll down to noise graphs, see the Sony Sony HDR-SR7E noise pattern:



then the HG10 noise pattern:



They say that HG10 makes "clanking" noise more frequently than the Sony, like every 2-3 seconds, but the noise level of these spikes is lower: 40-41 dB compared to Sony's -35-36 dB.

You can translate the page with Google or Babelfish.

---
Michael, Canon Elura User Pages

Wow Jockey, this is helpful. The hg10 graph seems to fit with my situation in frequency but the noise level.. i don't know how -40 db sounds.

When the HDD reads/writes, the Canon's noise level is lower than the Sony's. When the HDD is idle, Sony is quieter, but at this noise level both Sony and Canon are almost unaudible.

Bottom line: this seems to be normal. All HDDs make this sound, but some are more noisier than other. The Sony's read/writes are more audible. If you want complete silence you have to go with memory cards. Then you will hear autofocus and zoom noise :-)

I think that most people are not aware about this noise when deciding for a HDD camcorder. Beside the noise I have seen reports from other users that HDD camcorders seem to be VERY sensitive for vibrations.
People report that they notice dropped frames even when they try to hold the camcorder steady.
Strange for me that these issues aren't mentioned in the reviews here...

__________________
Regards
Sektionschef

Panasonic SDR-S100
Sandisk Ultra II 2GB SD Card
Raynox QC-505 0.5 WA
IBS 5X Tele
Velbon Ultra Maxi F Tripod
Magix Video deluxe 2008plus

I'm experiencing the same hard drive noise issue with my new replacement HG10. It's definitely not normal as my previous HG10 did not have this issue. I originally bought the HG10 back in early December. I was very happy with it and recorded hours of video. I did not experience any noise from the hard drive in any of the videos I shot, even filming in quiet environments. About a week ago the HDMI output on the HG10 suddenly stopped working. No signal coming from it at all. So I took it to Best Buy where I bought it. They confirmed the HDMI output was dead, so they exchanged the camcorder for a new HG10. I took the replacement HG10 out for the first time this weekend filming outdoors on a hike in the mountains nearby. I didn't notice any noise from the hard drive while filming, but when I returned home and played it back through my tv and PC, I could definitely hear a clicking type noise in the audio every couple seconds. The audio portion of my footage from this weekend was unusable with that annoying noise, so I ended up having to scrap the audio and replace it with music. After holding the camcorder up to my ear while recording, I could then hear the noise was coming from the hard drive. Since I didn't have a noisy hard drive with the previous HG10, I'm taking this one back for another exchange. I hope I don't have any problems with this next one!

As for the dropped frames, unfortunately that happens too. When i move the camera quickly or enter a low light area, the video loses smoothness and looks like some scattered slow motion. at first i thought is was because of the bad reaction of the onboard screen.But when i playbacked the videos on television, it was still there!

I don't know if this is due to the storage part or the CMOS sensor of the camera. But i have to say i'm a little disappointed with HDD employment on camcorders, it's still far from perfect. Indeed hard drive provides unparalleled storage, but the drawbacks still suck. New buyers have to be aware of this before making decisions.

This has nothing to do with HDD. Hint: select shutter priority mode, lock shutter speed, turn "Auto slow shutter" off.

Thanks, it works

Ok it seems common, how much can i ask of a consumer product?
now i'm thinking of getting a Rode Videomic... at least it will eliminate the focus and zoom noise

Reading this certainly helped me. I was going to get an HG10 after returning an HV20 because I hated the tape noise of that one, and also because I'm trying to start working freelance videotaping events, and the 63 minute limit was going to be a problem. School plays can't stop for 15 seconds while you eject the tape and insert the next one, for example.

So the HG10 seemed like a good choice, but if it produces this clicking noise (which I assume is mostly the hard drive being fragmented), and especially dropping frames, then it becomes a problem. I don't want to have to buy a $150 stereo microphone because the one that comes with the camera picks up motor or HDD noise. So I guess I'll wait for this new generation of AVCHD SDHC camcorders.

I would just not worry about it. All of these small consumer camcorders have some type of motor or focus noise. And it will be insignificant compared to any decent audio level of something you are recording.

I've got an HG10 and a Sony CX7, which is solid state and can hold about an hour of best quality video on a 8gb card. The CX7 has no hard drive or motor noise, but in very quite situations you can still have some autofocus noise.

I have now the HV20 and the tape noise is pretty bad. So I also was looking at the HG10 or wait for the HF100. Looking at some sample HG10 video's at vimeo I don't hear any clicking sounds. I.e. listen to the partial eclipse video: http://www.vimeo.com/682185

Sounds pretty clean to me. I do hear some background sounds (unless that's the HDD?). Is that unit working better?