Customer Reviews
Nice and Small, good so far 
2007-12-26
I order this before Christmas, cheaper on Amazon than "anywhere" legitimate that I could find. Camera is small and light weight, LED light is great outside at night chasing my kids on Christmas Eve...even in low light inside, this wasn't that bad. I have a projection TV, not HighDef or anything and it wasn't grainy...just a little softer on the edges, but way better than my high-8 camera that it replaced. Overall, good so far, battery that came with the camera lasts about 1 tape in length assuming you only tape and do not watch video. Focus is awesomely fast.
Generally a good camera but why miniDV? 2007-12-20
Generally a good camera but why miniDV? I had to switch to HD based rather then winding through tapes
Beautiful outdoor video but grainy indoor. 2007-12-18
With all the light on in our house (not that we have the best lighting), our video comes out grainy. Disclaimer... I may need to read the manual thoroughly to discover if there is something more I should be doing to improve the quality.
We selected this type of camera so it would be compatible with our Mac, but I really don't like having to do the tape thing again. It Takes longer than real-time to download to our computer. E.g. 30 min of video takes 40 min or so to download.
Works as advertised and better - and isn't that what matters 2007-12-17
Normally, I'm not the type of person to leave a review for a product. Love to read them, but don't usually feel passionate enough to leave a review. However, the HV10 met and beat my expectations where it mattered, when you get home.
I was initially hesitant to get a video camera because of the bulkiness as well as the fact that you have to lug all of this expensive equipment on your vacation. Also, you feel like you're working when you're filming rather than experiencing you trip. After I arrived home from my trip, I had convinced myself that I was returning the camera.
That is, until I downloaded the video and pictures I took with the camera.
Not only do the pictures look great (not the reason you buy a video camera, but good all the same) but the video is PRICELESS. Let me emphasize this again, I have watched the video I shot over and over and it doesn't lose its value. I feel like I'm back on the trip, the clarity is brilliant and I now LOVE the camera.
I'm working on a Mac and using iMovie to import the video. If anyone is concerned about the MiniDV tape vs. HDs or MiniDVD, iMovie imported the tapes with ease. Yes, it feels a little analog but I set it, watched TV for an hour, and the tape was in. Also, I used the Premium Sony MiniDV tapes (not the ones specifically that say high definition) and they worked great. I don't think I had one dropped frame or the such. I did have a warning right after I stared filming that said to clean the heads but never again.
I gave the product a 4 out of 5 stars simply because of the effort required with any video camera. I guess I would need the camera to require absolutely no effort to give it five stars. I understand it's difficult to show your work in HD currently but I figured it's not that far off before Blu-Ray or HD-DVD wins or we'll skip those formats entirely as small, portable computers and external HDs get bigger in size and cheaper in price. I hope this helps anyone who was wondering about the camera.
Recommended if you accept it's weaknesses 2007-12-16
This is my first camcorder and I decided to go high definition since this is the future and I did not want to buy a camcorder that will be obsolete in a few years. I read the other reviews which describes the weaknesses of the HV-10 which are: (1) No DV tape and DV firewire cable were included in the box. (2) No hot shoe for a separate light and audio mike (3) Uses the "old tech" DV tapes. However, I selected this camcorder for it's strengths which are : (1) one of the smallest and lightest high definition camcorders on the market. (I really hate carrying something big and heavy) (2) quality of the video is excellent which is expected of the canon's automatic instant focusing system (3) there are numerous exposure controls which are there when you need them. (I will probably use the automatic exposure for 90% of my videos) (4) relative inexpensive due to the old tech DV tapes mechanism. I plan to edit the videos on a PC and burn my own DVD anyway so I did not think the "DV tape" versus "DVD" versus "hard drive" camcorders were not that important. DVD camcorders are nice but some DVD may not be compatible with some DVD players so you have to be careful. The "hard drive" camcorders are the way to go but that would have busted my budget. After having this HV-10 campcorder for a while I did discover additional weaknesses: (1) the zoom lense is difficult to operate without shaking the camcorder (2) the covers to the IEEE and USB parts are held by a rubber attachment which may break. (3) you need a superfast PC to edit high definition videos which is not a weakness of this camera but it is something a buyer should think about before getting a high definition camcorder. The bottomline: This is a good buy if size and weight are important to you and you plan to edit the video on a fast PC and burn your own DVD. For those who don't want to do this, I would get the hard drive camcorders but I would check out the editing features on the hard drive camcorder. If the hard drive camcorder has limited editing features, then I question this advantage.
for family use 2008-07-13
I choose this product because I owned one but not hi-def. yet and was stollen but i still have some accessories of canon brand.What can I say with this was owesome simlpy magnificent bright colors that you can see through the LCD screen even in a bright day light.
Good Camera, if you don't mind tapes 2008-05-26
The HV10 produces some great video. Fits my hand well and is easy to use. It uses the older DV tapes, but still has great video quality.
vrry good 2008-01-14
i am so far impress with the image quality, there are problems but it is a good deal for the price cannot beat hat,
TOP OF THE LINE............................ 
2008-01-11
FOR ALL YOU FOLKS OUT THERE WHO HAVE HD TV'S YOU WON'T REGRET GETTING THIS CAMCORDER. THE VIDEO IS CLEAR ,SHARP AND COLOURFULL. I HAVE TRIED THREE OTHER CAMCORDRERES SONY,SAMSUNG AND OTHERS AND NONE COME EVEN CLOSE TO THE PICTURE QUALITY OF THIS UNIT......got it for 595.00 shipped from amazon
PROS
excellent video quality
sharp video
good lowlight video quality
built in video light
very portable
lightweight
high definiton playback up to 1080i
CONS
NO PREPACKAGED HD CONVERSION SOFTWARE FOR CREATING YOUR OWN HD EDITING....however a free downloadable program called HDVsplit allows you to import HDV files directlly from the camcorder also you will need another program called ffdshow for the HD codecs so you can edit it using windows media encoder
GREAT HDV CAMERA FOR THE PRICE 2008-01-07
Pros:
-Lens cap (I hated my sony handycam len's cap ruining the souund of my videos hitting the camera in any movement or windy situation)
-Small size and low weight.
-HD Video Quality.
-Integrated Led light (is really helpful)
-Fast response from off to recording.
-Integrated flash for pictures.
-Optical stabilizer really works!
-Good materials.
-Price is really good.
Cons:
-Battery life is ridiculus (get a replacement batttery together with the camera).
-Software included does not helps to download video to PC.
-Battery life indicator is unreliable.
