Well, we've got the house booked and the dates picked for our "Return to WDW" trip next year (June 25 - July 9, if anyone cares). Only one serious decision is left to be made: What toy do I convince myself I "need" in advance of the trip ? I've got it narrowed down to either a 5D (or 5D successor) or a HD Camcorder, like the Canon HV20 or the Sony equivalent. The pluses of the 5D are obvious: Far better pictures than I've ever taken before in the parks. The downside, of course is: Extreme price, the 'joy' of lugging lenses and gear around along with a 7 and 1 year old, and the fact I'll become the official photographer for a group of 15 and will never actually be in any pictures. The pluses of the HD Camcorder? I enjoy editing the film into professional looking vacation videos when I come home, and nothing captures the fun of the event like live video of the kids so excited they can't contain it. The downsides ? About 50 hours of precise editing work when I come home, and the fact it will probably force me into buying one of the early versions of an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray DVD burner on my computer. Also, I'm wondering if the latest HD camcorders can handle the indoor lighting. I'm probably asking for it putting this question up on a SLR board ... but I'm hoping some of you enjoy a little video work on the side as well.
Ack! Hard choice. First, Blu-Ray. Second, I would choose HD Camcorder, b/c I'm not looking to upgrade my camera for a verrrrrry long time. At this point it appears that a 5D successor won't be released until the spring anyway, and it may be that the 5Dn might not be readily available by June 2008 anyway. (Looks more like 40D and 1DsMkIII only this fall) We'll see if Canon has serious rebates again this fall what their plans are.
For distributing HD video I think you can cram a reasonable amount onto a DVD. You'd need a computer to watch it, but I think you could get decent results using that as a stopgap measure.
That's the problem with video in a nutshell. The recording tech far outpaces the distribution and viewing tech. However, when you're recording your kids, I guess I want as much of it as possible in "HD", so when they are older we'll have the highest quality "memories". As for the 5D, I guess Canon does play a role in that. I'll probably not make a move on that until a successor comes along, and there's certainly no guarantee it will even be announced - let alone out - before the trip. Besides, when push comes to shove, the Rebel XT is still pretty darn good for Park pictures. Besides, we're going back in October 2008 and June 2009 as well - got to milk those annual passes. I suppose I can always go video first and a new DSLR later.
Yes, the XT can produce good pictures. But I learned recently that making sure your lenses are calibrated to your body is essential. My 70-200 was considerably off (backfocused) with my 30D. HD video and dSLRs are moving closer to one another. Red One produces 4520x2540 at 60 fps. The price point is still up there, but is lower than medium format. Medium format can't handle low light action shots without a large expense & large lens. So I see, and I think Canon sees (Canon has a working model of a medium format camera that they were going to introduce back in the pre-digital days but didn't) the future being: merging dSLRs with HD video, and medium format size cameras for those that need to print billboard size prints.
