WCJ, I made the switch from SD to HDV and can assure you that buying the camera is just the tip of the iceberg. When to go 'HD', everything involved must be HD.. (If you want a true 1080, HD picture to view and share). You must have an HD camera, a housing, computer software that can handle HD [such as Adobe Premier Elements], a computer that can handle the software [at least a dual-core processor], a Blu-ray HD burner, Blu-ray disks, a Blu-ray player, and an HDTV. The biggest mistake people make is that they get an HD camera, but then they burn the video to a standard DVD. It'll work, but your resulting pictures will be worse than SD video. (Believe me, I speak from experience!) As I see replies from people in this forum, who aren't that pleased with their HD cameras, I strongly suspect that not ALL of their equipment is HD. Thus, their resulting video is garbage. For some people, editing video and burning it to disk isn't important. But, for us divers, editing and burning to disk is nearly a requirement. Unfortunately, the sellers of HD camera housings aren't telling purchasers all they need to know... so that they can get really good video from their setup. If you can't make the investment in ALL that it takes to take, edit, and burn true HD, then you should stay with SD. Pictures from SD cameras are phenomenal, and editing and burning to disk are straightforward. And, you probably won't need a new computer for the editing software. (By the way, I recommend Adobe Premier Elements for editing either SD or HD).
Good Luck, Kent
I am a bit of a nerd in that I am VERY into computers. I have 4 that all have quad core processors, SLI, Audigy Sound Card (I know, not the best), and Blu-Ray burners. I have 2 2560x1600 monitors attached , with single 2560x1600 monitors attache to the other 2. The necessary above water equipment is no problem for me, as well as the software.
That said, I plan on using SD after editing, because not everyone who will want to get a copy of the shots will have HDTVs or players. I started this thread mainly concerned about the QUALITY of the footage as the basis for going HD vs SD.
I don't know of a consumer HD camera that will not also shoot in SD, so I decided that I might as well go for an HD camera, even if I decide to shoot in SD. Any comments on this? Will this SD setup still have more problems than a camera that ONLY shoots SD? Or, is it just that the HD requires more light to get good pictures, so the SD shooting through the same camera will turn out fine?
EDIT: I am trying to future-proof my U/W setup for the next 5 years. I have also decided to change my camera selection from the Canon HV30 to the Sony SR12. From what I have been reading on it, the SR12 performs as well in low light as any HD consumer camera until it gets to about 15 lux. Then it is the second best out there at this time.