I know the camera will record HDV on P2 card but will it record regular dv to tape and/or to P2 cards.

Er, Paul...

Actually it will *not* record HDV at all. Remember HDV is a specific video format developed by a consortium of manufacturers in which Panasonic has no part.

Instead, this camera records DVCPro HD, which is an entirely different thing from HDV. DVCPro HD and HDV may both be considered as high-definition video formats but other than that, they have nothing in common.

Long story short, the Panasonic AG-HVX200 is *not* an HDV camcorder.

Regarding DV, it *could* be that DV is recorded to an onboard tape transport... whether or not the HVX200 actually *has* a tape transport mechanism, well, we'll find out for sure on Monday.

You've asked the big question, and the answer is: wait until Monday.

Some people are absolutely convinced there'll be no tape of any type. Others are leaning heavily towards thinking there'll be DV tape for SD recording and P2 for HD/DVCPRO50 recording.

I thought for *sure* that the latest info on Panasonic's website was pointing to the conclusion that yes, there'd be DV tape in it. But someone on DVXUser pointed out that the SPX800 (a completely tapeless camera) uses the same phraseology as the HVX website did, so... back to square one: we don't know.