Yes, it is. The DigicDV III chip is superior to the HV’s II version.

You said:
It’s stupid of Canon to give true 24p support to a much inferior quality-wise camera like the HV40 is, and not to the HF-S series.

It is simply not true. All Canon HD consumer cameras in 2008. were more or less the same in picture quality right from the camera. They will be more or less the same in 2009. too, regardless of the series (HV, HS, HF and so) and what camcoderinfo will say in their reviews. I know that because I tried all of them (from 2008.).

Now I have only HV30 (and good old GS-400). I took HV 30 because it is the biggest, it has (no ideal) VF, I can deal and know what the gain is (also not ideal, but we all know the trick) and it has the best workflow in Vegas and Ulead MF6 with smartrendering in both so the final picture quality is the best and workflow is the fastest because most parts of my video are not rendered at all. I can’t do that with AVCHD – even if I cut only a second from my video the whole video will be rendered in Vegas and I lose quality (and time). And AVCHD 24 mbps forget it for now in Vegas and Ulead. I don’t want to buy new programs or PC. I would rather give that money for better cam or cam accessories.

Picture quality: it depends not only on cam functions, but much more on handling in some situations (for most people it is not all ideal like for you because you only use tripod) and knowing what your cam can do. Most people rarely use tripod and I know that and see that almost every day.

What I know also that I will never buy cam without VF because in real life I would than be like blind old man in many many situations (and with some prosumer cam also). Cam without VF on the beach and sun is like children toy. And I like beaches and sun on summer.

So I will wait and hope that in 2010 (or later) somebody will make something what looks and handles like GS-400 and shoots HD like HV-30 (or even better) for consumer price.

And one big big cons for the whole Canon and Sony HD consumer family from last 2 years is: very bad low light capability compared to GS-400 (and GS-400 wasn’t the best in low light compared to some other Sony SD cams). It is not camcoderinfo but mine examinations, but HV-30 needs 4,5-6 dB more Gain than GS-400 in same conditions, or 100 Lux more light. It is very much in some situations and you need much more light. And HV-30 was best consumer HD in low light last years (but not so much like camcoderinfo said).

So, I wait for better low light capability in consumer HD cams too. Until then, I have 2 very good consumer cams – HV30 and GS-500.

Tape, solid memory, HDD , mpeg2 or mpeg4 – it is not so much interesting to me – give me good handling cam with body which doesn’t look like box of cigaretes, with good and easy manual settings with more buttons on cam’s body, with good low light capability and with pivoting VF – and I will buy that one. There is nothing like that in what I see for 2009. from Sony or Canon. And I would also give 500 $ more for cam like that. But, there is big hole in price between consumer and so called prosumer cams, much much bigger than 500 $.

Thank you so much for updating your blog with the latest and greatest Canon info. I am in love with the ability to create that CMOS HD cameras offer. The HF-S100 looks great except for your noted shortcomings. The goofy feature decisions Canon makes on it’s product line has kept me from buying in. I found the HF 100 for $545 at Newegg.com today, an attractive price for the features. I am looking at what Sony is doing in this area, too. Using Vegas 9.

I think you have a few things confused. The HF and HV series are all using Cinemode the same way, as part of the Programmed AE menu. It has nothing to do with the PF24 option. The HF-S series use Cinemode on their Colors menu, so it’s the HF-S that has the advantage, not my and your camera.

>and the Zebra support would be nice too, but I can do without it…

Not if you are serious about how you shoot.

In fact, the lower light rating of the HF-100 (1 lux) is significantly better than the S series. I will wait before buying anything new. 24p native would be nice, but I have Neo-HD and so pull-down is not an issue, and my current workflow is quite acceptable. So all the S series offers me, IMO, is the ability to lock focus on a face and track it. Something I would only do very, very, occasionally. It it even works

Oh – and the Zebra support would be nice too, but I can do without it… Same for gain support – it is amazing how well the fully auto TV mode of the HF-100 manages to (pretty nearly) always get the exposure just right…

I was able to sell off both HV20s, hopefully, the HG20 will be my tapeless solution.

Moving workflow to Sony Vegas (I still think FCP renders faster on a single core, but with Vegas I’m essentially able to brute-force the problem with my new quad-core, overclocked computer.

I’m using Sony Vegas 8.0c for right now, though I’m probably going to upgrade to 8.1 once all the compatability kinks are worked out.