Nice presentation. I especially like your comparison of "million dollar" feature vs. "amazon". As a DP for Nat Geo, Disc., NOVA, and History shows I've experienced both worlds. Two years ago I shot a show in the rain forests of Ecuador, "Peyote to LSD: A Psychedelic Journey", with my Varicam and took an HVX200 P2 setup as a 2nd rig. We were downloading to a Mac laptop with Cofan Indians looking over our shoulder. Worked great, as did the Varicam in extreme conditions. We now are using the HPX 3000 as our flagship camera along with the Varicam and a HDX900. I think your comments regarding "skilled" DPs goes a long way.
I still have and love my Aaton Super 16 XTRprod and can certainly appreciate the DOF issue that seems to be the "flavor of the week" in discussion groups. Moving the camera back and working with a longer lens is a great inexpensive fix to the "everything's in focus" issue. I hope younger filmmakers can appreciate the human element such as good composition, lighting, etc. vs. getting too caught up in the technical add ons that seem to be driving the market. I don't get the idea of turning an HDV system into a 50,000 package via add ons and adapters.
Anyway, thanks for the fine effort at comparing the many choices.
Bill,
FLHD.tv