Yep, I bought one!
 

After our lengthy discussion of the size of the A1 for everyday use, and a trip to see one up close, I decided to purchase one.

The good news: it is really hard to take bad footage at any aperture opening outside! I ran the iris in both directions and adjusted the shutter accordingly and was amazed how sharp the picture was even above 5.6. And how about that wide end?? That was the 2nd deal breaker between this and the HV20 (the first being no full manual). This lens has a fantastic wide angle compared to the regular consumer offerings. How do folks use consumer cameras indoors w/o an adapter??

The OIS is also amazing. Never used a video camera that had it before (I do have 2 still IS lenses). It really allows one to shoot by hand much more than I ever thought possible. Still, I can't wait for my tripod to show up. The camera does get a bit heavy after awhile.

The bad news: my camera seems to have an intermittent short in it and must be exchanged. I tried turning on to record yesterday and nothing would happen until I laid the camera on its side...then it would power up. The VCR function, however, worked. These things happen (though I wish they wouldn't happen to me!).

My guess (& I could be wrong) is that you're exchange is uneccessary because the standby/lock switch was in the lock position, preventing power-up & possibly leaning it on it's side knocked it back to standby.

Bill

An excellent thought and certainly a possibility. I tried a few scenarios to try and duplicate that but could not.

That switch is awfully sensitive though, isn't it?