Tom Musgrove

Also see this thread regarding HV20 to film, http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=3845&page=2 The same critique of course applies to any digital video footage that is 8bit. Not sure what the HVX200 bit depth is when capturing to P2. Tom M. LetterRip

Hmm a different source states 960-1480Mb/s for HDMI out from the HV20 which sounds more reasonable, so ignore the 4Gb/s used above (it wouldn't let me edit it for some reason so posting a follow up instead). Tom M. LetterRip

You might want ask at the dvxuser and hv20 forums. HV20 is 25 Mb/s recording; HVX200 on P2 is 100 Mb/s. As you note you can do straight to the HDMI out and that is 4Gb/s (will require something like the BlackMagic Intensity (240$) capture card, a compression codec (free one with the Intensity looses a lot of quality) such as NEO HD (599$) or NEO HDV (249$) which will also compress it but it is a higher quality compression). You might want to read these threads http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=94079&page=2 http://forum.videohelp.com/topic338226.html Tom M. LetterRip

B&H has an excellent price (all below 700$ with free shipping), as does amazon, and others - I'd go with B&H personally since it comes with a DVD that teaches you all of the features, and has a 25$ gift card, and B&H has a superb reputation. Tom M. LetterRip

I'm also looking for the right camera, everything I've read suggests getting the HV20, and as suggested above do the variable rate in post. You can pick up an hv20 for ridiculous prices right now (750$+/-75$ from numerous legit places). Or you can go with the rental of more expensive equipment, but personally my plan at this time is 1) HV20 - 700$ 2) Assorted camera accessories (spare battery, filters, DIY adaptor for using standard camera lenses) - 300$ (possibly quite a bit larger) 3) Camera movement accessories - DIY (dolly, crane, looking for decent smooth tripod ideas still...) 200-400$ 4) Sound 150$ - 300$ (low end quality shotgun mike, plus cheapo lav set) 5) Sound accessories - DIY boom, composite poll, vibration mounts - 200$ 6) DIY lightkit 300$ 7) Computer - already have - might get a second monitor - definitely a spare hard drive (250 GB for internal, plus probably the same for backups - although entirely likely I'll need more storage down the line), already got 4 GB of ram (100$) - an additional 400$. 8) software - contemplating going completely open source - Video - Cinelerra and/or Blender for NLE, Blender for Compositing, Titling, and Effects. Audio - Ardour, Rosegarden, plus assorted (I just switched to Ubuntu (Linux) for my primary OS after severe Vista stability issues so unless I switch back to Vista or purchase a copy of XP - I'll need to stick with open source solutions anyway...) All told I figure I can get away with about 2,500-3,000$ worth of gear (excluding the computer itself which I already have) and software. Tom M. LetterRip