Remember that the camera CAN shoot 60i in SD. Both 4x3 and 16x9. So as long as your project is intended for standard definition you also have the interlaced 60 field (50 in PAL world) setting available.

But doesn't shooting in SD remove a lot of the qualities you would pick up the HD100 for (i.e. better res and colors)?

Also, has anyone used this camera on a crane/jib? I use mine quite frequently and it would be a shame not to be able to continue to do so with the HD100.

That's a myth put forth by guys who have shot video their whole lives.
I mean, let's look at it realistically, are you trying to tell me feature films don't ever have fast motion? Progressive capture of motion pictures has been around for over 110 years. I think we would have heard about it if fast motion was a problem. There are suggested pan speeds that have been in the American Cinematographer Manual for years, but they are not the rule.
The temporal motion of progressive is good, for all applications.

For what you've described the stock lens would work (I think). If you are hypercritical of your shots then you may see some CA but if you can keep off the long end and the short end of the lens and keep it in the middle of the zoom range you'll be rewarded with very accurate shots. Tim D. can speak for the 13x lens and it's capabilities best right now. To me, I can live with the stock lens because I know where it looks best. The problem with the stock lens (for me) is that it's just not wide enough. About the split screen "effect", you can be assured that JVC has optimized their calibration technique. The "effect" of the 2 register CCD being out of sync can be calibrated now with incredible accuracy. Really, hat's off to JVC for having the engineering guts to even put a 1280x720 full rez 1/3' CCD in the camera.

good luck..

Well, by definition you would be shooting SD, hence recording lower rezolution. Colours should not be affected though, as the camera is of course still using the same chip set.