Macs read the NTFS filesystem just fine, so NTFS would work as a format.

True you can read NTFS on a mac but you can't write to NTFS. Remember most persons would need to both read and write back to disk. Snow Leopard I hear will write to NTFS though.

I thought that 99% of the time you'd be copying the files off the card and to the computer, so the write issue would be less of a problem. Anyway, I guess FAT32 is such a lowest common denominator format that works for the vast majority of users, they use that, and implement workarounds.

Perversely, it is a file system that is rubbish at dealing with large files, which is precisely what HD video cameras generate... go figure..! ;)

I completely agree. Don't have a file based camcorder as yet. Would love the HMC and would prefer an unlimited size file system. It was a pain editing with FAT32 back in the day and it can only have gotten worse since we thought that that era was over.