The title says it all. Do you need 5.1 or will FCP 5.0 work adequately with xdcam hd?

Thanks for the help.

Best,
John

Using XDCAM HD footage requires Mac OS X v10.4 or later, QuickTime 7, and Final Cut Pro 5.1.1 or later ... Sony XDCAM Transfer software must also be installed to effectively access the XDCAM HD footage

Yes, you can. In July last year I edited XDCAM footage in FCP 5.0.x before 5.1 came out. But you have a limited count of codecs at your hand. I worked under OS X 10.4.7 and XDCAM transfer 1.0