This is what is commonly said...

Canons - great lens, less good electronics.
Sony - great electronics, less good lens.

This means that the canon my give a more 'alive' image but will suffer more from DV problems (jaggies, fringes, bright edges) than the sony.

Both are great camcorders. I think the canon has the edge in low light, not sure. I would be happy with either.

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I have two prejudices - I am anti HDV for consumer camcorders, and I eat mooks who claim to be pro wedding vidders and ask dumb questions.

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JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.