I read a review in a magazine of a consumer HDV camera (I think it was Sony something) that had 1080i format. But do they also have 720p format with 50 frames per second (for use in Europe)? I think I prefer 50 progressive frames per second above 25 interlaced frames with higher resolution. I don't have HDTV yet so I wonder regarding the 720p format, is it normally 50 frames per second or 25 (in Europe)?

If I understand it correctly HDV is MPEG-2 compressed. Is there a problem with compression artifacts from the HDV cameras? Normal DV format has some problems so I guess it would be even more problems with shaky HDV recordings... This is also a reason why I think the lower resolution may be better because they both have the same bitrate I guess?

I am thinking of buying a new camcorder but I am not sure if it is better to go with a good DV camera or buying a HDV camera. Perhaps I get better end result buying a good DV camera now and wait a few years for HDV. But I would also like to have good quality when filming my soon 3 years old daughter and soon my second child is born. I already have a Panasonic NV DS-28 but maybe I will get an improvement if I buy a Panasonic NV-GS250 or perhaps something better? Or should I keep my DS 28? Could be nice to have true widescreen at least... I don't care much regarding the still picture functions, I have a digital camera for still pictures.

Any recommendations?

EDIT:
I have done more research now. It seems to be only 1080i on the SONY HDV consumer camcorders and I have not seen any other models in consumer price range. So I think I'll go with DV instead of HDV.

I have looked into Panasonic NV-GS500 now because the GS250 is not available any more and GS500 seems to have slightly better video quality. I have not decided yet if I will buy it or wait another year and use my old DV camera a little longer.