havent been able to find all of this info i one place, so please tell.
have been using xl1 for almost 9 months and have bought some associated items:
-canon 3x wide (use a LOT)
-canon 16x manual (use a LOT)
-fu 1000 viewfinder
-a couple others incl 4x4 mattebox w/ filter set

if i go to the xlh1 vs. the xl2 i feel like i have to consider the following:

-will not be able to do dsr-11 editing deck i was planning to get/use. will have to use camera for capture.
-was planning on getting a broadcast monitor for editing in the <$1000 range and this will not be available for editing hd.
-may need a g raid external firewire 500gb drive for huge clip files
-will not be able to use my old lenses mixed in with the factory h1 lens due to image quality issues
-final product has to be downsampled to equivalent of sd to burn to dv.

In the end, i really only need the xl2, but can just barely squeeze the hd in
$$ wise. i am suspecting that if i get it a whole new world will open up that i will miss without the option, quite possibly one that includes good paying work that i will never be considered for with sd video. that alone may pay for the difference alone. what concerns me most is the absence of ability to do close wide angle work. i use the 3x wide heavily so would be back, most of the time, to shooting with a $9000 xl2.

am driving over to meet brian at zotz digital who has an h1 demo in stock. it will be hard to walk away from it with him demoing/lauding it no doubt.

i know this message is a little disjointed, but i hope you get the general gist of my dilemma. any thoughts anyone?

respectfully- greg

I believe that most of the tests done with the 14x, 16x and 3x SD lenses on the XL-H1 have proven to be adequate. The 3x can be a little soft, from what I hear, but still useable.

Personally, I'm planning on using these lenses on the XL-H1 for future productions.

if i go to the xlh1 vs. the xl2 i feel like i have to consider the following:
-will not be able to do dsr-11 editing deck i was planning to get/use.will have to use camera for capture.Considering the cost of a deck you might find wearing out the camera head good economy. I don´t know exactly how much the replacement would be on a H1, but my guess is it wouldn´t look to bad.-was planning on getting a broadcast monitor for editing in the <$1000 range and this will not be available for editing hd. I´m still using a Sony SD monitor while deciding for a HD display. My deck-link-card downconverts the HDV signal on the fly. It´s a 800 lines monitor and the downscale looks absolutely great.-may need a g raid external firewire 500gb drive for huge clip files
HVD actually takes less disk-space then DV.-will not be able to use my old lenses mixed in with the factory h1 lens due to image quality issuesYou might if outputting SD.-final product has to be down-sampled to equivalent of sd to burn to dv.You wouldn´t wanna go to DV. You would master to HDV tape. Or make a SD uncompressed master to disk. Or burn an SD DVD master, taking advantage of the condensed color rez. when downsizing from HDV. No need to buy a digibeta deck when you can deliever a 10bit uncompressed master on a hard-drive, send it to a studio and have it copyed to whatever tape format needed.
Works for me. =)

appreciate the feedback. my last question was meant to comment on the fact that you cannot output to dvd (not dv as i stated) without downconverting (as i believe it is referred to).

but what i would also really like to know is what all is required gear wise to make the switch to hd from sd. kristen answered my questions fairly completely, but am i forgetting something? fairly new to all this btw, less than a year immersed.

but what i would also really like to know is what all is required gear wise to make the switch to hd from sd.

In my case; the camera. My Deck-link SD videocard downscales the HD to SD on the fly so I can basically keep on working in SD, knowing my footage can be output in HD when I need it. (H1 downscale looks way better then my 1/2" JVC DV-500)

DVD´s can be made anytime real-time simply by connecting a analog recorder. DVD masters would have to be converted anyhow, SD or HD, so the pre-downscale isn´t much of an issue.

You need a HD ready NLE like Final Cut, and to work with HD programs you would need a HD videocard and some sort of HD display. That´s basicly it.