There are HD cameras now available to suit most production genres and budgets, and with HD broadcasting ramping up, it’s a format all TV producers will have to embrace sooner rather than later. Some top feature film directors such as George Lucas and Michael Mann have also already done so.

The following are five hot pro cameras of different stripes that are worth giving a test drive.

Sony PDWF350L

This XDCAM HD camera is best suited to news and sporting events in extreme conditions. Director/cameraman Mark Falstad used it to shoot the Iditarod dog-sled race in Alaska, as well as several other news pieces for U.S. networks.

The camera provides HD recording in 1080/59.94i, 50i, 29.97p, 25p and 24p formats, and can also record in DVCAM mode at 25 Mbps.

Price: US$23,000

Panasonic AG-HVX200

Having launched in April, this is a preeminent handheld, HD solid-state camcorder, able to shoot on multiple HD and SD formats.

Steven Spielberg’s feature Munich and the pilot for the upcoming Fox/Global series Vanished made use of the HVX200, while BBC called on it for its ENG coverage at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Price: $10,280 for the camcorder and two 8GB P2 cards.

Canon XL H1

Launched late last year, this HD camcorder offers affordable HD to ENG producers and doc and low-budget feature makers. Priced higher than the comparable Panasonic AG-HVX200, it has yet to be used on any major productions, but, according to Canon, it has been tested and favorably reviewed by filmmakers including Scott Billups (Homo Erectus) and Rick Shaw (Beat the Drum).

Price: $11,500

Thomson Grass Valley Viper FilmStream

Most famous as Michael Mann’s camera of choice, the two-year-old Viper has helped earn raves for the director and DOP Dion Beebe in Miami Vice and Collateral. Toronto rental house Sim Video currently has Vipers in China shooting the RHI Entertainment MOWs Son of the Dragon and Marco Polo.

A digital cinematography camera, and not strictly speaking HD, the Viper offers 9.2-million pixel frame transfer CCDs, and an RGB 4:4:4 10-bit log output.

Price: US$150,000 (without lenses)

DALSA Origin

Waterloo, ON’s DALSA has the first 4K digital cinematography camera (4046 x 2048 pixels), offering film-like resolution that is beyond HD. So why hasn’t the Origin taken over the industry yet? Probably because DALSA’s strategy is to win over Hollywood DOPs one at a time, inviting them to shoot tests at its L.A. facility and evaluate the results.

The camera has been used for Post Cards from the Future, an upcoming large-format film by special effects wiz Alan Chan, as well as some TV spots.

Price: The camera and data recorder rent for $3,000 per day.