The Great HD Shoot-Out - Canon HV20, Sony HDR-HC7, Panasonic HDC-SD1, JVC GZ-HD7by David Kender and John NeelyPublished on Apr 30, 2007 6:00 AM 
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Ease of Use
Canon HV20 – If you prefer to sit back, relax, and operate your camcorder in cruise control, the HV20 is a comfortable ride. We’re talking Auto mode here, and this Canon performs on par with its competitors for the most part, with the welcome addition of Instant AF – an option that turbo-charges auto focus speed with terrific accuracy. Canon also offers up a mind-boggling array of Recording Program or AE modes that allow you to shift the cam’s auto parameters to suit anything from sun-bleached sands to darkened auditoriums. Jump to Manual mode and you’ll find a limited but well-chosen set of features. Your options include P (AE), Av (Aperture Priority), Tv (Shutter Priority), and 24P. All these shooting modes allow for quick manual control adjustments. Adjusting the HV20 is very easy given the smart menu design, manual controls that work well within the limitations of the camcorder’s size. Unfortunately, the camcorder’s ergonomics fall short. The HV20 doesn’t feel as natural in your hand as the other cams in this article, and the zoom rocker and joystick are tough to operate efficiently without adopting an awkward grip. The viewfinder is also only marginally useful, with no eyecup and no way to extend or tilt it. Yet these knocks are still overwhelmed by the camcorder’s performance, and an intuitive interface that gives you what you need when you need it – no small feat for a consumer HD camcorder. 
Sony HDR-HC7 – Sony knows ease of use like no other manufacturer. The Easy button is a case in point – while other camcorders may feature an “auto” button, Sony’s Easy Button puts its camcorders into idiot-proof mode, locking you out of any option that might get you into trouble. We like choice – and Easy mode is about locking you out of choice – but Sony’s finely-tunes auto controls and solid performance ensure that you’ll still get decent video if the only controls you know how to use are the zoom toggle and Record button. The touch screen menu is another feature that makes the HC7 highly accessible. If you can read and point to buttons on the screen, you’ll be able to navigate through the menu and make selections without learning the ins and outs of a specific interface. Just be forewarned that touch screens are smudge-prone, and this menu sprawls like suburbia, meaning you’ll get what you need, but getting there might feel like traversing LA at rush hour. Manually adjusting this camcorder is a mixed bag. The Cam Control dial looks good on paper, but we found it so small that dialing in focus accurately, or selecting a given shutter speed option is far from easy. The problem is especially acute with manual focus. Yes, the LCD is very sharp, but the HC7 includes no Focus Assist option as on the HD7 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1529), HV20, or SD1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) to guard against focus errors when Easy Mode isn’t up to the job. 
Panasonic HDC-SD1 - The HDC-SD1 is a cruiser, and ease of use is one of its strong points. Unlike the unbridled sprawl of a Sony menu, this one keeps every submenu to a single page, the rear-mounted joystick allows for speedy navigation, as on the HD7 and HV20. Playback mode is also a quick and easy process, and makes use of the kind of thumbnail display found on most non-linear media camcorders. The SD1’s manual control menu has also gone up a notch over previous Panasonics for ease of use as the opaque icons now have useful titles attached when the Info feature is engaged. The LCD screen is also a tad bigger than on the other HD models in this article, and that’s a good thing as there is no viewfinder! Finally, this camcorder records to SD and SDHC media. The flash cards are tiny, silent, and durable, so other than their limited capacity, the only risk you’ll face is losing one in the darkened recesses of your camera bag.Sadly, when it comes to archiving, viewing, or editing video shot with the HDC-SD1, your options are rather limited. AVCHD is an efficient codec, but it hasn’t been around long enough to spur development of post-production options. It’s also not yet supported by hardware, so forget dragging and dropping those clips onto a DVD unless you happen to have one of the few players that support the codec. No matter how easy to use this – or any – AVCHD camcorder may be right now, the HC7, and HV20 both offer production-to-post workflows thanks to the maturity of HDV, while the HD7 includes a decent software package.
JVC GZ-HD7 – Much more than the other HD cams discussed here, the JVC GZ-HD7 looks and feels like a scaled-down prosumer camcorder. It’s slightly larger than the others, giving it some extra weight, and some added stability during hand-held shooting. Following the prosumer camcorder model, its surface is crowded with a lot of controls and buttons - and this makes it an easy camcorder to understand visually, since there are dedicated buttons for both settings like BLC (back light compensation) common on high-end consumer cams, as well as for settings like Aperture Priority that are not. More physical buttons and controls means you’re spared from having to go hunting and pecking your way through a menu to make a manual aperture adjustment. On the other hand, the number of buttons will leave some users daunted, though the learning curve isn’t steep. The joystick makes for quick and efficient navigation of the main Admin menu - though there is a slight delay in response time after making a given selection. The HD7 also makes good use of control clusters, with three buttons for image brightness settings on the back of the camcorder (iris, shutter speed, and exposure value), all adjacent to a Setting Select Lever used only for those adjustments. The other main control cluster governs focus, with the Focus Priority and Auto/Manual focus toggle buttons right next to the excellent focus ring. And, don’t forget this is an HDD camcorder which means you’ll replace tape management with one-touch DVD archiving (if you drop a few hundred bucks on the optional HD Share Station. While this may be an easy camcorder for the experienced user, it’s less suited than the other HD cams for novices due to spotty auto control performance, and that intimidating array of external buttons.
Handling
Canon HV20 - The HV20 is a model of intelligent interface design that above all does a heck of a lot with a little. Take a gander at the HV20 and you don’t see a scaled-down version of a bigger camcorder as with the HD Everio, a technological wonder as in the Sony HC7, or a minimalist cruiser as in the HDC-SD1. Compared to the other camcorders, the Canon looks unassuming, and feels less “expensive.” Actually it is less expensive, to the tune of a few hundred dollars. It is also more physically challenged than its cohort, with a thin hand strap, control placement that could be improved. Yet the Canon’s video performance is the best of the lot, and access to the most important controls is amazingly fast and efficient. For field production where getting your shot depends to a large degree on how quickly and accurately you can dial in focus and aperture, the Canon is equaled by the HD7 – and gets you there in an entirely different way.
The HV20 is wide, yet lightweight.
Even thought the focus dial is just OK, and is basically a focus-only version of the Sony Cam Control dial, this is a camcorder that’s unusually easy to focus manually thanks to an excellent Focus Assist that is engaged at the touch of a button. Without Focus Assist, focusing HD video with the tiny dial would be difficult – but that feature elevates the manual focus to among the best we’ve seen. Instant AF is also excellent, and amazingly accurate in lower light than the other cams’ auto focus can handle. Canon has also placed three key controls outside the menu for fast access via the joystick. The settings are Zebras, manual audio levels, and end search. Canon also places key image controls - Program AE, Shutter Priority (Tv), and Aperture Priority (Av) modes - outside the Admin menu for fast access, and offers up a wide selection of AE modes, also above the Admin menu level.
Canon left out some features that are available on the other three camcorders, such as gain control (SD1), LANC jack (HC7) and focus ring (HD7). What Canon has done is to equip the HV20 with a unique interface that miniaturizes controls without losing too much of their efficiency, accuracy, or speed. Of these four HD camcorders, only the JVC GZ-HD7 matches the Canon in terms of overall manual usability – and it does this with the best video performance of the lot, in both bright and low light. If you can get past the low-end feel, the pedestrian ergonomics, and quirky interface, you’ll find the Canon handles like a roadster.
Sony HDR-HC7 – If the HV20 handles like a nimble, stripped-down roadster (why abandon the car comparisons now?) the Sony HDR-HC7 handles traffic more like a Lexus. It’s bigger, and it’s not exactly quick on its feet, but it combines impressive horsepower with a laundry list of luxury options. Pick up the HC7, and you’ll instantly appreciate Sony’s obsessive focus with the user’s experience. Unlike the Canon, the Sony feels expensive (as do the Panasonic and JVC), refined and balanced. The very nice zoom lever is exactly where it should be, the screen looks sharp, bright, and colorful, and the camcorder looks advanced and capable without being flashy. Wander through the city-sized menu and you’ll find just about every option under the sun, or at least every option a consumer camcorder buyer could hope for, from zebras and color tweaks to independent iris adjustment. And let’s not forget Easy Mode, which keeps the quality images rolling in even if you fall asleep at the wheel.
The HC7 stands a bit taller than the HV20.
Ahh, but there is a dark side to luxury. That vaunted multifunction Cam Control dial is but a shadow of the ring that made us love the HDR-HC1 (Specs, $2295), HDR-UX1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $729.95), and HDR-SR1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99). The dial is just too small to make quick adjustments to more than a single parameter. And then there’s the touch screen menu which is so deep and so wide you may find you spend more time getting your settings just right than rolling tape. Than again, none of the other top HD cams include a LANC jack for remote operation on that boom shot you’ve been planning for your parents’ 40th anniversary party.
Panasonic HDC-SD1 - With OIS that could reduce the Loma Prieta earthquake to a rolling sway, and sleek a sleek fashion-forward design the HDC-SD1 handles like a luxury SUV in the body of a roadster. The sleek design gives the camcorder a very nice in-hand feel though the gun-barrel shape may strike you as unusually cylindrical: you'll find that wrapping your hand around this cam is reminiscent of gripping a beer bottle. Like other consumer Panasonics, the SD1 can be operated entirely with one hand while the other camcorders entail two hands for many adjustments. The barrel shape makes it a bit more awkward than on a taller-bodied Panasonic to reach all the controls with ease.
The SD1 is the most compact camcorder in the herd.
As for the joystick-based menu and manual control interface, you'll either love it or hate it. The joystick manual control interface is an amazing feat of efficient design, allowing access to virtually every manual setting with one hand, and in the hands of an experienced user it's as fast as anything out there. Until you try to focus the camcorder manually, that is. The focus ring on the JVC, and the dials on the Sony and Canon are better for making fine adjustments, and the Focus Assist feature can't quite make up for the lost ground. Simply put, this is a difficult camcorder to focus manually, so you may be safer keeping focus set to auto. In fact, t his camcorder is a good candidate for full auto operation, producing very good color and generally performing solidly. With its formidable OIS engaged, you'll capture a nice looking ultra-steady image, and might be lulled into forgetting the egregious lack of AVCHD post-production support
JVC GZ-HD7 - The JVC HD Everio GZ-HD7 is the Ford Mustang of consumer HD: it's heavier than the other contenders, but just as fast as the Canon roadster when it comes to changing lanes, i.e. from shutter speed to exposure. It's less refined than the unabashedly high-tech HC7 and SD1, but it has an in-hand balance that feels very natural. It's also the only camcorder of the four that handles much like a prosumer cam, thanks to the focus ring and dedicated buttons for aperture, shutter speed, and exposure compensation.
Adding up the differences between how these cams handle must account for many variables, but there's no doubt that one-touch control access is faster than scrolling through a menu, or cycling through options with a joystick or dial. The speed and simplicity of one-touch access also helps keep your head in the shoot rather than on menu navigation. The focus ring is another welcome inclusion on the HD7 because no other interface gives you such fine control as you hone in on the focal plane. The Sony and Canon dials are operated with smaller fingertip movements that don't allow the same finesse, and joysticks even less sensitive than dials. We always like focus rings, and they make very good sense on HD camcorders because the increase in resolution over standard definition video makes them that much harder to focus accurately. With the JVC's Focus Assist, the ring is a uniquely excellent focus control.
The HD7 is a giant.
The JVC GZ-HD7 is a wonderful camcorder to shoot with, but it falls short in terms of versatility with no on-board audio mixing and no headphone jack. Its video resolution is also lower than the other camcorders by a good margin, and video performance is underwhelming. The handling makes up some of that ground, but you'll need to determine for yourself whether it makes up enough for you.
Menu
Canon HV20 - The Canon HV20 menu epitomizes refined user interface design, and it offers some real speed advantages over other camcorder menus. Part of the advantage stems from what Canon has kept out of the menu. In either Tv or Av mode, shutter speed and iris respectively are also one-touch adjustable, via the joystick. White balance is located at the top level of the menu, as are Program Recording modes and Image Effects, so changing any of these settings can be done in a matter of seconds versus tens of seconds on the HC7. Panasonic’s joystick-based interface is equally quick, but less intuitive than Canon’s, which displays many menu options in an L-shaped list, running down the left side of the screen and along its base upon pressing the Function button. At the lower left corner of the screen is the Function Menu icon, and selecting this option brings up a screen listing the following submenus: Camera Setup, Rec/In Setup; Card Operations; Play/Out Setup; Display Setup; System Setup; and Date/Time Setup. Navigating through these Function Menu options is quick and easy thanks to the joystick controller allowing you to move in the four cardinal directions. Pressing in on the center of the joystick selects a given menu option.
Sony HDR-HC7 - The main HC7 menu is accessed by pressing the Menu button in Easy mode and the P-Menu in standard recording mode. In Easy mode, the menu is reconfigured in a simplified interface that enlarges the size of buttons, and restricts options to the basics. In standard recording mode, all options become available when you press the P-Menu button near the lower right corner of the LCD display.
The P-Menu options appear as buttons on three screens, six to a page. Page one includes options for Menu (which contains most of the camcorder’s settings and manual controls), Disp Guide, Scene Select, Smooth Slow Record, Tele Macro and Fader; Page 2 includes: Exposure, Shutter Speed, AE Shift, WB Shift, White Balance, and Spot Focus; Page 3 includes: Spot Meter, X.V Color on/off, Dial Set, Beep on/off, Language, and P-Menu Set Up (allows customization of the P-Menu). Pressing the up or down arrows on the left side of the screen move from page to page.
Pressing the Menu button provides access to all the camcorder’s submenus, and pressing any option within a sub-menu displays an interface specific to that option. The Sony HDR-HC7 menu is wide and deep, but the touch screen interface makes it easy to understand with almost zero ramp-up time.
We would be remiss if we didn’t revisit the reasons we think touch screen menus are a Bad Thing – despite the fact that they are practically idiot-proof. First and foremost, the LCD is the primary means of monitoring the recorded image on this camcorder, and a touch screen interface impedes effective use of the screen. Fingerprints will inevitably build up, making it difficult to see the display clearly and assessing exposure or focus on a screen cluttered with icons is at best a compromised endeavor. Worst of all, making manual control adjustments using virtual buttons superimposed over the image you are adjusting is only slightly easier than herding cats.
Panasonic HDC-SD1 - The menu on the HDC-SD1 cuts right to the chase, and Panasonic diehards should feel right at home in either the Administrative menu or the joystick controller menu. The Admin menu is about as straightforward as they come, and we think this is a good thing. In any operating mode, pressing the Menu button on the back of the SD1 brings up a display of top level Admin menu options for that mode. In recording mode, for example, the options include submenus labeled Basic, Picture, Advanced, Setup, and Language.
Navigating through the menu is done with the joystick, and for this purpose it’s a great control interface. Panasonic’s menu design also keeps all the options on a given page visible, but this arrangement makes the naming of submenus seem arbitrary. Why all the audio options end up in the video category while Scene Modes does not makes no sense to us, but at least the one-page arrangement makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.
The joystick menu on the SD1 is similar to those found in Panasonic’s consumer line for years, but it’s easier to use on this 2007 model thanks to the inclusion of banners and text. When an option is selected, such as the fade effect on page 1, a text description appears momentarily along the base of the LCD. Though we generally love the efficiency of the joystick menus Panasonic has included on its camcorders, the icons can lead to confusion especially for novices. In addition, the Help function, also on page 1, offers more detailed explanations of each joystick option, all but eliminating our concerns over the approachability of the joystick menu.
JVC GZ-HD7 –The JVC HD7 menu interface actually consists of the main Admin Menu, accessed by pressing the Menu Button in the LCD cavity, a Program AE menu accessed directly from the joystick, and the Function Menu. The division of items between these menus generally makes sense – and it’s similar to the Sony and Panasonic menus in terms of depth and ease of use. The Function Menu contains several important recording settings including White Balance and Zebras, while focus, aperture, exposure, and shutter speed are all controlled via dedicated external controls. Hallelujah! The Program AE Menu can be brought up by tapping the onscreen joystick left, and then scrolling to the desired option.
The main Admin Menu contains the bulk of the camcorder’s settings, and the items are placed intuitively for the most part (unlike the HDC-SD1 which tosses some settings in submenus that seem arbitrary). In fact the only item we’d definitely move is the Focus Assist setting (sets the color mode for Focus Assist to red, green or blue), which lives in the General submenu rather than Video where we found ourselves looking for it. All in all, the menu systems are consistent with the overall mini-prosumer feel of this camcorder. Nothing is hidden too deeply, the right controls are readily available during a shoot, and navigation is made easy and fast thanks to the joystick. Nice work, JVC.
Portability
Canon HV20 - Measurements: 88mm x 80mm x 138mm (3.5” x 3.2” x 5.4”). Weight: 535g (1.2lb.) without lens and battery pack.
Sony HDR-HC7 – Measurements: 82 mm x 82 mm x 138mm (3 1/4" x 3 1/4" x 5 1/2"). Weight: 650g (1.43 lb.) with tape and supplied battery.
Panasonic HDC-SD1 – Measurements: 74mm x 69mm x 142mm Weight: 430g (.95 lb.); 490g (1.1 lb.) with included battery pack and SD card.
JVC GZ-HD7 – Measurements: 91mm x 77mm x 186mm Weight: 665g (1.5 lb.); 750g (1.7 lb.) with included battery pack and strap.
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