Canon Vixia HV40

Lens & Imaging System

The HV40 has a different lens and sensor than Canon’s other other consumer camcorders. Its CMOS sensor is slightly smaller than what’s inside the HF S100, S10, and S11, but it is significantly larger than the one inside the HF20 and HF200. The lens on the HV40 has a 10x optical zoom, which is the same as the HF S series from Canon, and it has an automatic lens cover that opens and closes when the camcorder is powered on and off.

Lens
Filter Diameter	43.0mm
Focal Range	6.1–61.0mm
Focal Range (35mm equivalent)	43.6–436.0mm
Maximum Aperture	f/0.0–1.8
Optical Zoom	10x
Lab-Tested Wide Angle	46.0°	How we test wide angle

Sensor
Type	CMOS x 1
Size	1/2.7 inches
Pixel Count (Gross)	2.96 megapixels
Pixel Count (Effective)	2.07 megapixels (video) 2.76 megapixels (photo)

Zoom Ratio Examples
Wide Angle	Mid Zoom	10x Zoom

LCD & Viewfinder (8.63)

The HV40 includes both an electronic viewfinder and an LCD screen, making it one of the few consumer camcorders manufactured by Canon that offers a viewfinder. Neither the viewfinder nor the LCD is worthy of much praise, however. The LCD is 2.7-inches in size, has a 211,000-pixel resolution, and features Canon’s old LCD bezel design—the same design found on the Canon HF20 and HF200. The HF S100, S10, and S11 all feature a flat, glossy screen design, although their LCDs still have the same specs as the HV40.

We would have loved for Canon to include a larger LCD on the HV40, mainly because the camcorder is definitely big enough to accommodate one. The 2.7-inch size is OK, but it doesn’t do anything to set the camcorder apart from the crowd. Brightness can be set manually on the LCD (with 44 increments of control), and you can also bump up the backlight of the screen by holding down the display button for two seconds.

Feature	Canon Vixia HV40	Canon Vixia HF S100	Panasonic HDC-TM300	Sony HDR-XR520V
Display Size	2.7 in.	2.7 in.	2.7 in.	3.2 in.
Display Resolution	211000 pixels	211000 pixels	230400 pixels	921000 pixels
Touch Screen	✗	✗	✓	✓
Viewfinder	✓	✗	✓	✓
Viewfinder Resolution	123000 pixels	0 pixels	183000 pixels	n/a

We love that Canon put a viewfinder on the HV40, but, to be frank, the one Canon included is really bad. It cannot extend, pivot, rotate—nothing. The viewfinder is completely stationary, which makes it terribly difficult to use. Also, if you load the HV40 up with a larger battery pack, you may not even be able to press your eye against the viewfinder at all. The viewfinder is also made out of a hard, non-flexible plastic that is uncomfortable and doesn’t provide a good seal around your eye. We understand that viewfinders are beginning to become a rarity on consumer camcorders, and it seems that Canon wants to make them as unfriendly to use as possible.

The viewfinder is 0.27-inches in size and features a paltry 123,000-pixel resolution. It also has a tiny diopter adjustment slider on its left side. Unfortunately, you cannot use the viewfinder and LCD simultaneously on the HV40, since the only way to activate the viewfinder is to close the LCD.

Connectivity (8.38)

Connection	Canon Vixia HV40	Canon Vixia HF S100	Panasonic HDC-TM300	Sony HDR-XR520V
A/V output	✓	✓	✓	✓
Component output	✓	✓	✓	✓
HDMI	✓	✓	✓	✓
USB	✓	✓	✓	✓
FireWire	✓	✗	✗	✗
Headphone jack	✓	✓	✓	✓
External microphone	✓	✗	✓	✓
Accessory Shoe	✓✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓
Accessory Shoe	✓✓	✓✓	✓	✓✓
Wireless Remote	✓	✗	✓	✓
DC Power	✓	✓	✓	✓
WiFi	✗	✗	✗	✓
GPS	✗	✗	✗	✓

The Canon HV40 has a few connectivity features that aren’t found on most flash-memory camcorders. The most obvious is the presence of a FireWire port that is capable of both input and output of digital video. This is the terminal that is used to connect the HV40 to a computer in order to capture footage from a tape. The FireWire port on the HV40 can also be used to convert video from analog to digital. If you connect an analog video source to the HV40’s AV-input, turn on the camcorder’s AV-DV conversion setting, and connect the FireWire port to a computer, you can digitize analog video footage. When you consider that most AV-DV converters cost over $150, this is quite a valuable feature for the HV40 to include.

The port cover on the FireWire and HDMI terminals isn't very good.	From top to bottom: external mic jack, AV/headphone port, Component-out

But enough about the analog-digital conversion feature; the HV40 has plenty of other connectivity features to talk about. Below the FireWire port on the back of the camcorder is a regular-sized HDMI terminal. Most consumer camcorders have mini-HDMI ports to save space, but Canon opted for a full-sized one here (there’s no difference in quality, just the type of cable required). The port cover that protects these two terminals doesn’t snap into place very well and always seems a bit loose—it isn’t well-designed. Beneath these ports is an unprotected DC-input… why didn’t Canon put this port under a cover as well?

The USB port and MiniSD card slot are located inside the LCD cavity.	The DC-input is not protected by a port cover.

Near the front of the camcorder, on the right side, are a 3.5mm microphone jack, the AV-in/out port, and a Component output. Here, the cover does a better job protecting the ports and it fits into the HV40’s body rather snugly. Inside the LCD cavity (where the LCD panel closes) are the USB port and the MiniSD card slot. The USB port has no covering, which is a shame, but it is protected by the LCD when it is closed. The MiniSD slot probably has the best port cover on the entire camcorder. It is comprised of slightly flexible plastic that snaps shut to create an excellent seal over the port. The use of MiniSD for the camcorder’s car slot is somewhat unusual, as MiniSD cards are not very common. We would have liked to see Canon use a regular SD/SDHC card slot here instead. Still, the camcorder is only capable of storing still photos on MiniSD, so it’s not like you’ll need to purchase multiple cards (one will probably suffice, even if you take a lot of photos).

The HV40 is one of the few consumer camcorders from Canon that doesn’t use the mini accessory shoe design. The camcorder has a regularly-sized shoe, which means most accessories can be attached to the shoe. The shoe is powered, but only items that are compatible with Canon’s advanced accessory shoe design will be able to connect to the powered part of the shoe terminal.

The HV40 can only capture photos to MiniSD cards (not video).	The accessory shoe is standard size and can power any products compatible with Canon's Advanced Accessory fit.

Battery (5.85)

The HV40 can accommodate larger battery packs that should give the camcorder a longer record time. The problem is, if you insert too large of a battery, like the BP-2L24H, you may not be able to use the viewfinder on the back of the camcorder. Batteries that extend too far out block you from pressing your eye up against the viewfinder (or they make it very uncomfortable). This is one of the reasons we wish Canon had implemented a pivot or extension option on the HV40’s viewfinder. Find out how the HV40 performed in our battery life test.

Media (4.00)

There used to be a time—only a few years ago really—when all camcorders recorded to tape. Well, the Canon HV40 hearkens back to that era by recording all video to MiniDV tape. We’re not saying that the HV40 is out of date; it’s simply a modern camcorder that records to an older media. Tape still has its glorious benefits over memory cards, internal hard drives, and internal flash memory. MiniDV tapes are very cheap, they’re familiar—particularly if you’ve ever used a VCR—and they offer you a simple, tangible copy of your video. With non-linear media, your videos only exist as digital files saved to memory, unless you take the time to burn them to a disc. Tape is great for people who don’t want to deal with the hassle of backing up their footage to a computer, hard drive, or DVD. MiniDV tapes are also fairly easy to find, so if you run out of blank ones while you’re on vacation it shouldn’t be too much trouble to purchase some extras.

The main disadvantages of tape are that it makes your camcorder bigger (you have to fit the bulky tape deck somewhere), and it can make the editing process longer. Video recorded to tape must be captured in real time onto a computer, which is often a frustrating and tedious process. Non-linear media has far less mess: you just connect the camcorder to your computer and import videos as you would photos or music. Both systems are time consuming, but with non-linear media, getting your footage from a camcorder to a computer is much more streamlined.

For HD video, MiniDV tape can only hold 60 minutes of video. For standard definition recording there is the option of using the lower-quality LP mode, which allows for 90 minutes of video. The Canon HV40 does have a MiniSD card slot, but you can only capture photos to these memory cards—not video. Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of various media types.