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May 5, 2010 by Rick Smith
Filed under All Posts, Equipment, Video Production
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I just ordered a Canon HV40 to shoot a documentary on a subject that is very dear to me. I have not shot anything since I used a Arriflex and a Nagra (!!!)
My question is, what is the difference between the HV40 and the HD Flip? Have I bought too much camera?
I rejected the DSLR situation because I didn’t want to be worried about focus while interviewing subjects, and didn’t want to spend on an external sound unit. (I plan on using a lav for sit-down interviews)
Let me know what you think.
Lisa, you made an excellent choice. I have that camera and really love it. I also had the Flip HD Ultra and recently sold it. With the HV 40 you have microphone input and control of everything: shutter speed, aperture, frame rate, audio levels, color balance, everything! The Flip HD is meant to be used by anyone who wants to point and shoot, but it has no control over anything. It can get an amazing picture, but the big deal breaker for me is that it has no microphone input, so you can only record sound with the build-in mic.
The Flip also records internally. It can hold two hours of HD video but when it gets full you have to dump it. The HV 40 records to tape, so you can keep going for as long as you have tapes. Some people say tape is dead but I still like it as a storage medium; it’s cheap and long lasting.
The DSLR route can produce fantastic video but as you say, you have to record sound separately. I have the Canon T2i DSLR and the Zoom H2n recorder for that purpose. Focus is more critical and this is a much more demanding way to shoot, but does yield excellent results.
Relax about your purchase… you made a very good choice.