On Sat, 13 Oct 2001 23:03:25 -0400, "Steve S." wrote:

>Two thoughts:
>1) many, if not all, of the one-chip mini-dv camcorders do not seem to have
>manual focus. Auto-focus in video is unusable for any professional purpose
>in my opinion.

????
All of the Sony one-chippers have manual focus, as do most
others I've seen... The best AF can outdo my MF skills,
especially given the so-so resolution of most of the finders
on the Mini-DV camcorders, and I do use it for many pro purposes...

>2) There is a big jump in image quality from one-chip cameras to three-chip
>cameras.
>Steve S.

Not always true, though the image quality of the best of the
3-chippers does beat the one-chippers - but recent megapixel
one-chippers produce a picture that is sometimes very good,
and often better than that of the worst 3-chippers...