Silly question, but... I don't suppose there's a way to record a SD DV signal to tape and HD to a hard drive simultaneously? In other words, can tape be used as a backup in case something goes wrong with the hard drive connection?

There are two modes on the cam that are mutually exclusive.

However, you can dub from p2 to tape.

Silly question, but... I don't suppose there's a way to record a SD DV signal to tape and HD to a hard drive simultaneously? In other words, can tape be used as a backup in case something goes wrong with the hard drive connection?

As David said there's two separate modes in the camera. Essentially it's P2 mode or DV mode and the camera must be "re-booted" when switching between the two. DV tape mode obviously just records standard DV to tape. P2 mode records anything from 480i SD to 1080p HD to the P2 interface.

You mention hard drive connection... As of right now, that would imply use of a FireStore or other device like a PC recording the stream direct from the firewire output of the camera. It is possible to record to P2 and to a device like the FireStore or into a capable computer simultaneously. In the near future when the CinePorter HDD recorder is rleased, it will connect via the P2 slot and will appear to the camera as a large P2 device. You could record to it while simultaneously recording to a device connected via firewire. The CinePorter will also be available in configurations with a redundant HDD to help boost reliability.