so currently, my main camera is a sony trv950. standard definition, circa 2003 cam. 3ccds. think of it as the bridge between 1ccd and 3ccd back in the day. i think it was replaced by the hc1000 (panasonic's equivalent would be the gs400?). pretty solid and definitely no regrets buying at the time. now adays, I have two or so issues with it that have been making me look towards upgrading to HD.
a) it's not HD. (looking towards the future)
b) it's fairly large. i do mainly handheld, ~front row and after an hour, the hands really start to feel it.
i've got a little $$ kicking around, and have been looking at some of the newer hd cams and have thought about upgrading. keep in mind, i'm not looking for a large +$2k cam. while it would be nice, i think it would become too bothersome for the audience members around me. and issue b). a buddy of mine rocks the sony hc1 and i like the size of it. and i do like the way the cmos sensors apparently avoid the vertical smearing that the ccds often have. however, is it me or are the colors not as good (vivid?) as a regular 3ccd cam? the hv20, was also another i was looking at. can anyone comment on the colors that one has? ideally i'd like to upgrade to HD, but not if it'll be with a 1ccd equivalent cam.
sorry for the length and probable confusion along the way, i guess my question is do you think i should pull the trigger now, or wait until a 3-cmos (is there such thing?) hd cam at the consumer level comes along, however long that may be. EDIT: or if you could think of a cam that a) is hd b) 3ccd like color c) small, lmk.