No problem here, I've done quite a few projects with the XHA1/MacBook Pro/FCP2 combo and they've all gone very smoothly. I shoot almost exclusively in 24f mode and edit using the HDV 1080 24p preset, and I've been using a LaCie 1Tb array lately which works well but isn't really necessary - at HDV data rates a single firewire drive is sufficient.

I've done a few projects in widescreen DV using the in-camera downconversion with decent results, but probably won't go this route again - I have a team that does timed filmmaking competitions (48 Hour Film, etc) and we've done 7 short films on the A1 in the past year. We initially downconverted to DV because of time constraints, thinking it would significantly decrease our render times, but on the past 3 films we've gone native HDV with little increase in render times (using the render to ProRes settings someone mentioned above). I never go back out to tape though, as the conforming process does take a very long time - I just render out a full-res master in ProRes and then use that to generate whatever versions I need using compressor, mpegstreamclip or ffmpegx.

If you want to check out some of the films they're on ItDonnedOnMe.com - unfortunately we only have 5 of our seven films currently posted, and only two in HD as fairly low-bitrate MP4s but you can still get a feel for the quality you get out of the camera, even considering these are produced with limited resources and time. I'm in the process of re-capturing the first 4 films in HD which isn't as much trouble as I've heard it made out by some people. It requires some cleanup because of timecode inaccuracies in switching between 3:2 29.97 footage and native 24, but it's not too bad - like I said though, I think I'd just stick with native HDV as it works so smoothly with the macbook/fpc2 combo.

Right, well spotted!

Yes, well spotted!