[EvilHomer80]

Hi All

I was in the market for a camcorder (my first ever) and narrowed myself down to Sony and Canon. I have a lot of other Canon products (ixus 860 is, EOS 40D with variety of lens) so I always tend to lean in Canon's direction.

Having initially only considered the Sony HDR SR12 and Canon HG21 I finally opted for the canon. Price was comparable, however most reviews suggest that the HG21 had slightly better picture quality. It did seem that actually this depends on each individual and their preference but thought as I know canon I might as well stick with them.

My only concern, having since ordered, is the HDD Altitude problem. Whilst I'm led to believe I can record directly to SD Cards on the HG21 (such as when in rough conditions) I can't seem to find any information that indicates I should be ok to turn the camera on but only record onto SD when at altitude thereby saving the hard disk. Anyone know if this is possible??? Also there seems to have previously been debate as to how serious this problem actually is since HDDs tend to be more robust than they once were. Anyone know canon's official stance on it (can't find a manual or info online)?

To be honest I'm so rarely doing anything above the altitude or that is particularly rough where I'd have the camcorder, but you know, £780 quid is an investment for me and don't want to find in 6 months time I need to buy a new one.

[jdouthett]

I am doing some shopping and just put my order in for the HG20. The Canon website has the user manuals, and I saw the warning about high altitude use. I also saw where the camera starts up in default mode which includes recording to the internal drive.

What I didn’t understand is it the altitude alone that is harmful to the drive, or is it using the drive in high altitude situations. I assume it’s only a usage thing, since these drives are shipped in unpressurized air cargo planes without warning or issue. If its only usage, you should be able to determine when and where the drive starts up, to determine if you can reset the recording target without starting the internal drive. Of course, be careful, forget once and all bets are off.

[jdouthett]

Here is link to the manuals for the US models.

Canon Consumer Camcorders - VIXIA High Definition Camcorders

[alpine101]

Originally Posted by jdouthett

Here is link to the manuals for the US models.

Canon Consumer Camcorders - VIXIA High Definition Camcorders

I assume this is because at very low air pressures, the amount of air between the heads and the disk surface is too low to allow the laminar flow 'flying' effect that is used in hard disks to stop the heads crashing on to the surface. The HG10 manual says don't use it above 3000 Metres, same as the HG20. It would I suppose be true of all HDD camcorders, and indeed laptops etc. It may be that the small disk size means that the heads run even closer to the surface than larger disk types, which may compound the problem.

[hum8ug]

Low pressure at extreme altitude will certainly be a problem: ipods (which also have small, high-capacity HDs) are well-known for failing somewhere above 3,000m/10,000ft as I found out myself. For best info and explanation check out: iPod: Altitude Limit. ipods generally seem to be fine again once under 3,000m (mine was) but now I know about the problem I wouldn't take the chance with an HDD camcorder, especially if it already had footage stored.

Robustness also does not seem to be the issue: consensus is that higher capacity HDs more prone to failure, especially when working hard (eg ipod playing video rather than just music) so trying to record hi-def video looks like asking for trouble...

Also, you cannot start up an HG21 without spinning the HD. If you really do need to shoot at high altitude you'll have to forget about HDD.

I e-mailed the technical support department in Canon to ask about this issue (using an sd card above 10000 ft, and here's what I was asnwered:


"Thank you for your inquiry about using your VIXIA HG20 above 10,000 ft.
We value you as a Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to
assist you.

We can not recommend this. It may be possible, but Canon can not
support this. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance with your
VIXIA HG20.

Thank you for choosing Canon.

Sincerely,"


Could anyone please tell me what this is supposed to mean? Can it be used or not?? "it may be possible" is not really a clear answer to me...

Don

[A n d r e w]

Translation follows:

"We can't state categorically that your camcorder won't function perfectly well under such conditions, but on the off chance that the hard drive destroys itself, we won't be accepting it back as a repair to be carried out under warranty."

Originally Posted by A n d r e w

Translation follows:

"We can't state categorically that your camcorder won't function perfectly well under such conditions, but on the off chance that the hard drive destroys itself, we won't be accepting it back as a repair to be carried out under warranty."

What I actually asked them is if I can set the camcorder to record to sdhc BEFORE even reaching that height, so that when I turn it on above 10,000 ft, the HDD won't spin. Has anyone tried this? Did it work fine?

[lerougegorge]

I bought an HG20 before my trip to Nepal (with treks up to 4500m) before reading about the altitude limit. How I wish I had bought something else, but I'll have to make do with it. A couple of notes:

1. The Hard Drive turns on even if the camcorder is set to SD card mode, so that won't help. Could even be that the camcorder's flash memory is stored on the Hard Drive.

2. Would be great to have some user feedback on how high it actually works (and what happens if it fails). I will try it up to about 4000m on my Nepal trip and will post what happens back here.

Damn! This isn't looking good... ok, lest's hope someone can give us some positive feedback on this issue.
Thanks for the info, lerougegorge.