Thinking about replacing the Sony HD1000E of one of my guys by a secondhand Sony DSR-250. We use the HD1000E only in SD/DV mode and very often in lowlight situations. And that's especially what I need, less noise and a better picture in lowlight situations on a shouldermount camcorder. I know people having a PD170 and working in 16:9 mode for the same broadcast station as we do. Would te DSR-250 give me a similar result in 16:9 mode as the PD170 does?

I've got or had both the 170 and 250 ---they are the same camera except the 250 is on steroids. Electronics, glass, virtually everything is the same. Well actually the 250 is the exact same as the PD150 not the 170 so the low light of the 250 is a tiny bit less than the 170.
Having said that I have always found the widescreen mode of all of them (PD150, PD170, DSR250) really isn't to my taste. It squishes the image a bit which the untrained eye may not notice but I did so I never used it.

I will say thatI really loved using the DSR250. More so than pretty much any other full sized camera, not because the image was any better but the weight. A very light weight camera that will accept full sized tapes. MAny times I wish I still had it.

Don, thank you very much for your reply. Do you also think that the DSR-250 in 16:9 mode will be giving a better picture than the HD1000 in SD/DV mode, although the last one is a newer camera? What about the zoomrange of the lenses, is that about the same?