I've just had a look at the simply DV site,
SimplyDV Review: Canon HV20 HDV / DV Camcorder
and I must say it looks a very impressive piece of kit. You have manual overide on focus, white balance and shutter speed plus firewire in/out.
I don't know the answer on close-ups. I use a sigma 105 macro on my XL2 which gives amazing close-up results way beyond anything I can achieve using a Sony PD170.