I was planning to buy a Sony HVR-A1U, but then I found out about the bottom loading cassette tray. Why on Earth would Sony do that? That will make it horribly difficult to change tapes while shooting on tripods (which is mostly what I'll be doing.) Are there any plans to release a model exactly the same, excepting the bottom loading "feature"? If not, are there any cameras with the same quality/features within a few hundred US dollars of the A1U?
Thanks,
Mike

The closest setup would be a Sony FX1 with a beachtek adapter, but that will run you about US$1,200-1,500 more. You lose the Black Stretch feature but get a little more low light ability. Or you could get a tripod adapter for the A1U.

That's the current compromise in this price range.

Thanks, I will check that out. :)
Wow, it has 3CCD as well. Sounds really good.

I've been hearing reports about the FX1 being phased out of production. More and more evidence is pointing to it.

Also, if you're going to get a tripod adaptor, I suggest the Cavision one instead of the DeMaagd shim one, which not only pushes the camera off center, but also doesn't let me use on some of the medium to large size tripods. The DeMaagd one also can't take rails.