I own both the Canon HV20 and HV30. The HV20 is no longer in production and has been replaced in the product line by the HV30.
Both of these cameras work extremely well, but there is a small learning curve to get the most out of them.
The differences between the 2 models are that the HV30 has a little brighter LCD screen, so it works a tad better in bright light such as outdoors (s screen hoodie help that) Also the HV30 has an additional shooting mode which is 30p. The HV20 has 24p and 60i, the HV30 has 24p 30p and 60i. Oh and the HV30 the camera body is black where the HV20 body is silver.
A good used HV20 can be bought for around the $500 mark, The HV30 retails for $900 or so but if you look around they can be bought closer to $775.
There is tons of info available from HV20 users and the forum is a great place to start. https://www.hv20.com
I use to the HV20 and the HV30 to shoot music related video. Music videos I shoot in 24p and Live Performances I shoot in 60i. You can see some early samples on Vimeo https://www.vimeo.com/1537564
Keep in mind that you will need a few other tools and not just the camera. Things like a good solid tripod, a wide angle lens, a telephoto lens, a few filters (especially ND and UV and a circular polarizer for sure. A microphone helps as the one built in to the cameras tend to pick up handling noise and whir of the camera motor.
But overall you can do a lot for a little with the Canon HV20 / HV30
Remember though that these cameras have a rolling shutter, so go slow on the side to side pans.
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