Is it possible to record in HDV and downconvert to DV in the 4:3 aspect ratio ? And if so how do I winkle this out of the labrinthine menu system. If not what is the best way to output the downconverted DV for compatible editing with footage from 4:3 only camcorders ? Any advice greatfully received.

The A1 has the 4:3 downconversion. The HC1 does not.

In the A1 menu there are three downconversion options: stretch, letterbox and 4:3 crop.

Thanks Laurance,
That more or less confirms what I thought. If you record in HDV you should downconvert using Edge Crop to fit in with a 4:3 edit. I suppose with a good quality wide angle adaptor you would recover the cropped edges ? If you record in DV rather than DVD there is a Wide Select setting which allows you to record in 4:3. I imagine this gives you exactly the same size picture as the DVD Edge Crop but without the HDV quality ?

Just to avoid confusion about down converting. Pg. 56 of HDRHC1 instruction manual says: i.LINK Convert Set to on (Auto setting), HDV converted to DV. Hope this helps.