Bought an open box HC7
 

Hope I made the right choice here. Been watching the eBay auctions of HC1's with plans to spend no more than $800 and hoping to get it for under $700.

Well, along comes an open-box specials on an HC7 for $750 plus shipping. So I didn't even hesitate, I know I will surely miss some of the features the HC1 has to offer, but then again the it's almost 3 years old technology.

I hope I made the right decision,
James

P.S. And on a different note, I generally like to shoot with a wide angle lens. The Sony camcorder I was using before broke. I think it's a flaw in design. Where the wide angle lens threads on is metal, but this metal ring is held to a plastic shroud with three tiny screws. Over time, the plastic shroud broke where the three screws are. I'm hoping this still not an issue. Has anyone had a similar problem?

I own HC-3 and just bought a HC-7. haven't had a lot of time with the HC-7 but the HC-3 is an excellent camera. The HD quality is awesome. I can't wait utill it is $$$ beneficial to produce HD_DVD. The worst thing about the HC-3 is that it doesn't have an input for a microphone. This was added in the HC-7. Other than that it is a great camera

The only thing you might not like is the lack of a zoom/manual focus ring. Other than that, the image quality is actually better than the HC1.

Well, I'm not getting an HC7 afterall. Order got cancelled because they were out of stock. They did have an open box SR1 for $799.99 but I passed. I think I'm still going to look at getting a used HC1.

Thanks for the feedback,
James