I was always stuck between choosing the pd150 and canon xl1s for making short films. I think I made the right choice in the end.

I understand the Canon has a "frame movie mode" setting. Is this 25fps on the PD150 or does the effect vary a little?

I think the PD150 only runs at 12fps making the "frame mode" more or less useless for motion video

The XL1/XL1s's frame mode is still 30 fps, but it's progressive scanned (or pseudo progressive scanned) so it looks a little more like 24 fps--PAL version of the XL1 is 25, I believe.

so which is the better camera for filmmaking?

I say the Canon, because of frame mode, but you can argue against that because you can buy software, I believe, that gives a the 24fps look to footage shot interlaced at 30fps. Then it becomes a question of which camera's look you like better.

Of course, there'se that new Panasonic (AVX2000?) that shoots 24fps. I don't know if it's out yet though. I think it's in the same price range as the other two.

if you are using an NLE such as final cut pro there are film look plug ins available also there are several ways to achieve film looks within FCP itself.some say this looks better than the canon settings but eveyone has an opinion.ive never used a canon but i can say i am pleased with the results using only FCP and a VX2k shooting at 1/60(1/50 PAL).