Canon Vixia HG20 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Sep 24, 2008 3:45 PM
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (6.75)
For the simplest experience with the Canon HG20, just push the button marked "Easy" in the LCD cavity. Any guesses on what it does? That's right! It makes it easy. In fact, Easy mode is so simple it's virtually idiot-proof. You're locked out of all menus and manual controls, only allowed to point, zoom, and record. For those that want a little more control outside of Easy mode, the interface has a bit of a learning curve.
The automatic responses themselves are good. The auto exposure adjustments took about 2-3 seconds. The auto focus system is fairly advanced, offering two separate methods. The first, called Instant AF, uses an external sensor for the gross focusing, and only using the default focusing system for the fine focusing. It doesn't increase accuracy, but it does speed up focus times. The thing to know about Instant AF (for better or for worse) is that it has a "snapping" effect as it refocuses from one focal plane to the next. If you don't like the look, you can turn the Instant AF off. This reverts the focusing tasks back to the primary system, giving slower but smoother transitions.
Scene modes include Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, and Fireworks.
Overall Manual Control (6.5)
The Canon HG20 features a new look to the menu, but it has little impact on operations. It does look pretty slick, though. Canon packs in the manual controls. You'll find exposure, focus, white balance, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, zoom sensitivity controls, and mic level control, as well as several one-touch correction tools (described in the previous section). Overall, it's a powerful package and about as comprehensive a set of controls as you can find.
However, it's not perfect. The joystick is the only method of control, and while it's well placed and decently sized, the dial on the Sony HDR-SR12 and the lens ring on the Panasonic HDC-HS100 offer smoother control.
Canon does offer one big advantage in manual control over the competition: the Image Effects menu. While the actual degree of control is limited, Canon is the only manufacturer to offer such easy adjustments over saturation, sharpness, and contrast. Pundits argue that anyone can do this in the editing phase, but the fact is that the vast majority of home video never sees the editing phase. Better to have it in-camera.
Zoom (6.0)
The Canon HG20's zoom control is located on top, near the back of the camcorder. It's a simple, familiar rocking toggle switch common on most camcorders. The most important thing to note is that the zoom motor is loud – inordinately loud for a modern camcorder, which doesn't help with the reputation Canon is earning for cheap-feeling construction.
When zooming, a small scale appears in the upper left corner of the screen to give you a sense of where you are in the zoom range. Unfortunately, the actual zoom value is not expressed in numbers, which could help if you're trying to replicate settings for a certain type of shot.
Zoom Power Ratio (12.0)
The Canon HG20 has a 12x optical zoom, average for the price range. The digital zoom can be extended to go out to either 40x or all the way to 200x. Our recommendation is to leave it off completely.
Focus (5.0)
The manual focus controls are easy to access. Push in on the joystick to bring up the Joystick Menu, a sort of mini-menu that appears in the lower corner of the LCD screen. Then push down on the joystick to toggle through each setting (Exposure, Focus, and Mic Levels). When you find the setting you want, push up on the joystick to activate it. Then it's simply a matter of pushing left and right on the joystick to adjust the focus.
The Focus tool in action
When focusing, you need to rely on the LCD screen, which is never the most accurate method. LCD screens are typically low-resolution. The 211,000-pixel LCD on the Canon HG20 is no exception. In order to combat this, Canon includes a tool called Focus Assist that automatically performs a 2x zoom to help you get a better look at your subject. This zoom is not recorded to the final footage – it's entirely in-camera. And if you don't like the effect, you can turn it off in the menu.
The Focus Assist Canon uses on the HG20 is good, but JVC is still the king in this area. Its camcorders create a false, brightly colored grain on whatever part of the shot is in focus. You don't have to rely on the sharpness of the LCD. Just look for the bright green, red, or blue fuzz.
Exposure & Aperture (7.6)
The Canon HG20 offers both a simple exposure tool and an Aperture Priority mode. The exposure tool is activated very much like the focus control, described above. Select "Exposure" from the Joystick menu, then toggle the joystick left and right to shift exposure. A scale appears on the top of the screen, ranging from -11 to +11. The value of each increment is never really explained, but the effect is clear and easy to understand. Higher numbers make the image brighter, and smaller numbers make it darker.
The Exposure tool in action
The more advanced control is the Aperture Priority. In this mode, you select the aperture value, and the camcorder counters by automatically selecting the shutter speed. This is a useful tool if you're trying to control your depth of field. You cannot, however, set the aperture and shutter independently – one advantage Panasonic continues to hold over the competition.
The HG20 has a snazzy new look to selecting the aperture setting. When activated, the value appears in the upper-left corner. As you toggle between settings, a little scale appears above the value, almost like a black and white tape measurer. Settings include: f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.4, f/2.8, f/3.4, f/4.0, f/4.8, f/5.6, f/6.7, and f/8.0.
Shutter Speed (6.95)
The shutter speed of the Canon HG20 can be adjusted when the camcorder is in Shutter Priority mode. It works just like Aperture Priority, but in reverse. In this mode, you can set the shutter speed, and the camcorder automatically counters with a matching aperture. When the camcorder is in 1080/60i and 1080/30, the shutter settings include: 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000.
When the camcorder is in 1080/24P, the shutter settings include: 1/6, 1/12, 1/24, 1/48, 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000.
The Canon HG20 has the same great new interface that we saw in the Aperture Priority mode, a scrolling scale above the shutter speed value. It not only looks cool, but also gives you an "at-a-glance" sense of where in the range you are.
White Balance (7.5)
Canon throws in more white balance presets than any other manufacturer: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Fluorescent H. By comparison, Sony only gives you an auto, indoor, and outdoor mode. The options from Canon offer a lot of settings for various lighting situations if you don't have the option to make a manual adjustment. Of course, you can make a manual white balance adjustment if you want. Just select the "Set" option and push in on the joystick until the icon stops blinking.
The White Balance options
Gain (0.0)
There is no manual gain control on any Canon consumer camcorder. Only Panasonic offers this option. JVC also offers some small fidgeting room here by allowing you to turn the auto gain on and off.
Other Manual Controls (2.0)
Cine Mode - The Cine Mode adjusts the way that the camcorder processes color and exposure. It's meant to emulate what you'd find on a professional camcorder. In this mode, there is more depth to the midtones. As a result, however, the blacks (shadows) and the whites (highlights) get crushed. The general opinion is that if you're shooting with a pro camcorder, you already know how to light a scene properly. That's typically not the case with home movies, hence the danger of leaving the HG20 in Cine mode all the time. You probably need all the help you can get with your poorly lit home interiors.
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| The Happy Couple under normal indoor lighting conditions at 1080/60i with the standard gamma |
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| ... and then with the Cine gamma curve engaged. |
Markers - The Canon HG20 has four options for drawing lines on the LCD to help you set up your shot. A single horizontal line or a nine-sector grid are available in either white or grey. These lines do not appear in your final footage.
Image Effects - The Image Effects are a series of options on the Canon HG20 to control certain aspects of the image. While rudimentary, they were unique to Canon (Panasonic has begun including something similar) and extremely useful if you don't know how to produce the same effects in the editing stage.
There are four simple one-touch preset options: Vivid (boosts saturation), Neutral (decreases saturation), Low-Sharpening (lowers sharpening), and Soft Skin (better skin tones).
The fifth option is the best, giving you the ability to create a Custom setting. The Custom setting is composed of four parameters: Color Depth, Brightness, Contrast, and Sharpness—each can be set to -1, 0, or +1.
The reason we like these features so much is that if you think the camcorder over saturates the colors (which Canon certainly does), there's a very simple way to correct it.
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