Praise heaven for MiniDV. For millions of dirt-poor, beret-wearing film students it made broadcast quality video and low cost editing a reality. But here comes high-definition video and the onslaught of low-cost HDTVs to screw that all up. Don't snarf your cappuccino, Dieter.

Never Fear, Sony's Here
Sony's HDR-FX1 Handycam is the first high-definition pro-sumer camcorder to get the format right. The camera records in 1080i HD quality video on MiniDV tape. How does it do it? Sony used three 1/3 inch CCD sensors to capture native 16:9 video with an astounding level of video detail under the HDV MPEG2 standard at 25MBit quality. Incidentally, it will also shot in regular 4:3 format in MiniDV format if you so choose.

Top features include:

• 1080i HDV MPEG2 recording
• 1440 x 1080 recording format 
• 12x zoom Carl Zeiss Vario Lens 
• Records in both HD and SD formats to MiniDV

Wonky tech acronyms aside, this camera has some solidly useful features that serious shooters will appreciate but lacks some features that, frankly, just confuse me.

So Much to Love
The HDR-FX1 shoots outstandingly sharp and nuanced video in all sorts of conditions. This camera is also seriously fun to shoot with given the wide format frame and well thought-out manual controls. Sony was smart to bring many of the truly useful manual features out of menus and into button form where you can effectively access them. Functions like iris control, shutter speed and picture presets are at your finger tips and accurately adjustable.

The 3.5 inch wide format LCD is uniquely placed on the handle near the camera's muzzle rather than in the standard side camera position. Producers monitoring how a shooter frames a shot in the EVF will like that feature short of having an external monitor. Manual switches for the focus and zoom barrels are easy to access and adjust but, sadly, zoom is servo-controlled even in manual mode so snap zooms have a hard time keeping up. Two other great button features are assignable white balance presets and an "expanded focus" feature near the zoom toggle that quickly lets you establish depth-of-field focus in an instant.

What the...
With so many good things to say about the HDR-FX1, it is disappointing that Sony left out some key essentials that pro-sumers everywhere would scoff at not having in a midrange camera. Probably the biggest immediate drawback is that the HDR-FX1 lacks true support for the 24p film-like recording format. There is a function that Sony calls Cineframe 24 but it doesn't look or feel quite right.

The HDR-FX1 also lacks XLR audio inputs. You can hook up XLR in the pro version, but since the camera lacks independent channel levels, why bother?

Last, the FX1 lacks sufficient video editing software support to make it worth purchasing today. Yes, Sony has commitments from independent software vendors to support the MPEG2 HDV video format, but few actual current software packages with the plug-in. Still, just about everyone is on board including Apple, Adobe, Avid, Ulead, Pinnacle and, of course, Sony Vegas Video. Expect wider support it in 2005, sooner or later.

Price: $3700

Pros: Outstanding quality, shoots HDV and MiniDV, well thought-out manual features, good quality LCD and viewfinder

Cons: No support for 24p, HDV format lacks software support, limited audio choices