Considering that Sony's HDR-HC7 was mentioned earlier this year as one of the best consumer HD camcorders for the money, we figured it prudent to pass along an in-depth review of its successor, the HDR-HC9. Originally announced with a plethora of siblings at CES, this HDV camcorder is nearly identical to the unit it replaces, but that's hardly a knock. Reviewers praised the incredibly functional "Easy mode" for those looking to just dip their toes in, and the all black motif was also enjoyed. Still, critics found Canon's HV30 to be superior in terms of overall video quality, and they also griped that the $1,099 price tag was a touch too expensive for what you get. Still, those eying this here model should definitely take a chunk of their day and browse the full review linked below -- there's a whole lot more where this came from.

If camcorder sales are to recover, it'll be the ability to record in HD that sparks the resurrection. After all, just about any new digicam and some cellphones can do a passing job at recording VGA or better quality video thus making the purchase of a second dedicated device hard to justify for the average consumer. That's what makes Canon's new iVIS HV20 so interesting; it shoots 1920 x 1080 resolution natively in HDV format to miniDV tapes and includes a 24p cinema mode to boot, a first in this class of camcorders. Best of all, it does this for about $1,000 -- not bad considering the price of other pro-sumer HD cams. Japan's Impress Watch are first to get their hands on a unit for review and although we had to read it using machine translation, it's easy to see that they are, er, impressed. Issues with low light shooting that plagued the HV10 seem to have been resolved on the HV20. While the CMOS sensor remains the same size, they've added the noise reduction technology found in their EOS camera lineup to bring low-light sensitivity down from 5lux to 3lux. In fact, the HV20 "eradicates" the HV10's weaknesses "entirely." Impress will be hitting a review of Sony's comparable HDR-HC7 -- a similarly spec'd HDV camcorder that also supports the xvYCC standard found in HDMI 1.3 for wider color range and space -- to see how they stack up side-by-side. No worries, you can wait, the HV20 won't hit US stores until April. Be sure to click the "read" link below for plenty of sample pics and video.

Well howdy HV20, we've been expecting you. Not too much of a surprise to find Canon's high-def iVIS HV20 camcorder loosed after the inadvertent appearance on Circuit City's web site the other day. Instead of an upright form factor like Canon's HV10, they've gone long-and-lean this time which should help bring a bit more stability to your videos. As we hoped, low light shooting has indeed been improved from a 5 to 3 lux sensitivity at 1/30 second shutter speed or from 0.3 to 0.2 lux at 1/2 second shutter speed. Everything else is just like we heard on this HDV 1080i MiniDV recorder: 2.96 megapixel CMOS sensor, 10x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD, miniSD slot and new HDMI out, accessory shoe, and jacks for your headphones and mic. The HV20 is expected to hit Japan sometime in March, priced at about ¥140,000 ($1,154) to go head-to-head with Sony's HDR-HC7. No guarantees mind you, but we expect this to come west before summer.

Update: As Zandr notes in the comments, the HV20 hits US stores in April for $1099.

[Via Impress]

Canon product details have been leaking like a sieve of late. First the accidental Hong Kong listing of their EOS 40D, now what appears to be their HV20 high-definition camcorder thanks to a "coming soon" placement on Circuit City's site shown above (and subsequently removed). According to the CC site, it'll pack a 2.96 megapixel CMOS sensor, 10x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD and feature high-definition recording to regular ol' MiniDV tapes just like daddy used only, presumably using the HDV format preferred by the kids and their own HV10 this model would be following. In fact, all those specs are the same as the HV10. On the face of it, the only difference is the introduction of an HDMI jack. Let's just hope they've improved upon the "terrible low-light performance" and other nits called out by reviewers of the previous model. No pictures posted but we do know that it's "coming soon" for $1100 which is righteous pricing for their second gen, compact HD camcorder.

[Thanks, Michael E]

We just babelfished a bit more information out of Japan this morning on JVC's new high definition Everio camcorder. JVC confirms that their hi-def HDD cam will feature a trio of 1/5-inch CCDs like their GZ-MG505 camera and will shoot 16:9 at 1080i like we had assumed. So if you need to shoot in 1080p and can afford it, well, you'll just have look elsewhere. The new Everio will also be the first to slap on a FUJINON lens presumed to bring a 10x optical zoom judging by the print 'round the ring. We expect to see some working prototypes on display at CREATEC Japan where more information will surely roll.

[Via Impress]

Blah blah blah, high definition makes everything better, blah blah blah. Don't you ever just get tired of reading and talking about how great HD is, and how so many things are captured and broadcast better because of high-def equipment? Nope, we don't either. Today its whale watchers off the coast of Hawaii, who are getting better footage than ever before thanks to their Sony HVR-Z1U camera. Not only relatively small and cheap for the quality, researchers are able to record the whales from further away, and more accurately count, identify and observe their behavior due to the additional clarity. They hope the new technology will enable the first ever shots of humpback whales mating and giving birth. No word on when this hot whale pr0n will make it into one of those documentaries you'll have seen 100 times on Discovery and still watch just because its in HD.

Read [NYT free registration required]

So the HD DVD player has been out about a month now and people are starting to take notice. USA Today's Edward C. Baig has a review up of the higher end model - the HD-XA1. This is the $800 unit that includes the motorized front plate and backlit remote. His take on it: he doesn't give one. In fact the only thing he says about the player is that Apollo 13 got stuck in it and he had to swap it out with another one. There is little information about the picture quality and took us sometime to locate where he talked about it; it is on the left hand side bar. While it is nice to see HD DVD in the mainstream, articles that don't talk about the picture quality is not going to help HD DVD or Blu-ray.

Oh goodness. The Auburn Journal wrote a big 'ole article about how HDTV owners will not be able to receive the Super Bowl in HD because their local cable provider does not have ABC in high definition. Well, we're here to help.

The original article from the Aubrun Journal indicated that users will have to "whip our their antennas" and that is where we are going to start. Thanks to Antenna Web and Google maps, we found out that your town looks to be about 25-30 miles away from Sacramento where KXTV-DT is located. Our goal is to use the high-def signal that they are broadcasting on Channel 10.1 to pull in ABCs HD signal.