Canon Vixia HV40

Ease of Use (5.25)

Because of its bulky size and complex menus, the HV40 is not as easy to use as most camcorders on the market. Yes, there is something to be said about the simplicity of recording to tape, but most people these days are probably just as comfortable working with non-linear media like memory cards or internal hard drives. Also, let’s face it, the process of capturing footage from a tape to a computer is a lot more difficult than importing files from a memory card.

We give the HV40 kudos for having a dedicated Auto Mode and a thorough, well-written instruction manual—both of which are excellent for beginners. Unfortunately, the camcorder itself has no help function or information box inside the menu that tells you a fact or two about the setting you are about to adjust. Also, when using the HV40 in anything but Auto Mode, you’re likely to run into some trouble and confusion. The camcorder features an awkward, out-dated menu design, which, thankfully, Canon has improved upon with its other 2009 models. Even for people who are familiar with consumer camcorders, the HV40’s Joystick Menu is extremely confusing to both use and explain. The rest of the HV40’s menus aren’t quite as clunky as the Joystick guide, but none of them are easy to navigate or understand. Not to mention, the camcorder has far too many menus, which means many options are difficult to locate.

The Main Menu	The Joystick Menu is awfully confusing

Auto Mode (7.13)

The Canon HV40 doesn’t have face detection, smile shutter or any of the new auto features that are being pushed by manufacturers. This doesn’t make its auto controls any less effective, however. The camcorder has a dedicated Auto mode that can be turned on by flicking a switch on the right side. In Auto mode you don’t have access to the Function menu (except for picking a still image size), but you can enter the camcorder’s main menu (certain options are unavailable, however).

If you leave Auto mode and switch over to Program mode you can still leave the HV40 in automatic control—you just have the option of setting things manually. In Program mode you can use scene modes, pick a white balance preset, control exposure, etc. If you don’t make any changes, however, then the camcorder will function just like it does in Auto mode.

We found the HV40’s autofocus to be a bit slower than other Canon camcorders, and it felt like it took a moment too long to bring things to focus. The camcorder has an option for Instant AF or Normal AF, but the amount of time it takes the camcorder to focus doesn’t really change with either option. The difference is what the focus process looks like. With Instant AF, once the camcorder starts to focus it does so in a snap-like fashion (subjects focus almost immediately). Normal AF is a slower, smoother focus transition. In both modes, though, the camcorder takes a while before it figures out what part of the image should be in focus. It can just sit, pointing at a fuzzy image for a 1-2 seconds before anything happens.

The auto exposure on the HV40 worked better than focus. It provided smooth transitions as we moved the camcorder between different lighting situations. Sometimes it over-exposed and sometimes it under-exposed, but this is normal for a consumer camcorder. There is a backlight option on the HV40 that can be turned on and off in Program mode. Auto white balance was decent, but we recommend using the manual setting when at all possible. The HV40 also has a bunch of white balance presets that work well if you know what kind of light you are shooting under.

Lastly, the HV40 has an option called Cine Mode that Canon doesn’t explain clearly. All the manual says is that Cine Mode gives footage a more cinematic look and that it works best with the camcorder’s 24p setting. Playing around with the feature, we found that Cine Mode produced a less grainy and noisy image in low light (probably due to lower gain levels). So, Cine Mode ended up producing a cleaner, smoother image, but it also required more light than regular Program mode.

Low Light Modes – The HV40 doesn’t have a special low light mode like Sony’s infrared NightShot system, but it does have a Night scene mode and an auto slow shutter option. Auto slow shutter lets the camcorder use a 1/30 of a second shutter speed in low light situations (instead of having 1/60 be the minimum shutter speed). A 1/30 shutter speed will enhance low light performance, but it also creates motion trails and somewhat choppy video.

Additionally, the HV40 has a video light that is mounted to the right of the lens. The light actually does a good job illuminating your surroundings in complete darkness and it has a range of about 10 – 15 feet. It is much better than the light featured on the Canon HF20 and HF200, but it is a bit worse than the light on Canon’s HF S series (HF S100, HF S10, and HF S11). The HV40’s light gives your footage a slight blue tone due to the tint of the light, while the light on the HF S Canons doesn’t have that problem.

Scene Modes – The Canon HV40 has a few scene modes that can be set when the camcorder is not in its dedicated auto mode. The scene modes include: Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, and Fireworks. The Night scene mode lowers the camcorder’s minimum shutter speed, while the Beach and Sunset modes change the color settings. For other scene modes, it’s more difficult to pinpoint what settings are being tweaked by the camcorder.

Other Auto Features

Low noise levels.