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I had a gamble a accidentally to to shoot B-Roll with the Canon HV30 on a short talkie for a 48 Hour Film project against a professional JVC HD100 camcorder. 
What makes professional camcorders HD?
No. There is no advanced lens to make the LX 1 into a HD camera. HD is determined by the sensor in the camera, not the lens. The reason why it is considered a Pro level camera is because of all onboard manual controls.
You many want to consider a Panasonic GH1 or Canon 5D mark II. They both take excellent quality video and are a lot smaller.
Video samples
http://vimeo.com/5981422
Video resolution is measured using horizontal line count.
Less than 480 horizontal lines is less than standard definition video.
480 is NTSC standard definition.
Anything above 480 horizontal lines is high definition - typically, this is either 720 or 1080 horizontal lines.
The camcorder must be designed to deal with the different video quality, higher line count, horizontal line count resolutions. This means the imaging chip and internal electronics must be designed for the resolution desired. The Canon XL1 is an NTSC standard def camcorder. The best it will ever do is standard definition, DV format, video onto that miniDV tape. The high definition replacement for the XL1 is in the Canon XLH series which can do 1080 horizontal line, HDV format, high definition video. The Canon XHA series is a good work-horse HDV camcorder at the low-end pro area.
Sony has a consumer line that starts with "HDR". The CX series uses flash memory. The XR series uses hard disc drive and the HC and FX series use miniDV tape. The FX series are the higher end "prosumer" cams - like the HDR-FX7 and HDR-FX1000. The Sony HVR series is from their pro line up. The HVR-A1 and HVR-HD1000 - in my opinion - are closer to "consumer" than anything else because of their small lenses and single CMOS imaging chip. But the HVR-Z1, HVR-Z5 and and HVR-Z7 are most definitely HDV.
So... Which high definition Sony camcorder "for 400 more" are you referring to?
Less than 480 horizontal lines is less than standard definition video.
480 is NTSC standard definition.
Anything above 480 horizontal lines is high definition - typically, this is either 720 or 1080 horizontal lines.
The camcorder must be designed to deal with the different video quality, higher line count, horizontal line count resolutions. This means the imaging chip and internal electronics must be designed for the resolution desired. The Canon XL1 is an NTSC standard def camcorder. The best it will ever do is standard definition, DV format, video onto that miniDV tape. The high definition replacement for the XL1 is in the Canon XLH series which can do 1080 horizontal line, HDV format, high definition video. The Canon XHA series is a good work-horse HDV camcorder at the low-end pro area.
Sony has a consumer line that starts with "HDR". The CX series uses flash memory. The XR series uses hard disc drive and the HC and FX series use miniDV tape. The FX series are the higher end "prosumer" cams - like the HDR-FX7 and HDR-FX1000. The Sony HVR series is from their pro line up. The HVR-A1 and HVR-HD1000 - in my opinion - are closer to "consumer" than anything else because of their small lenses and single CMOS imaging chip. But the HVR-Z1, HVR-Z5 and and HVR-Z7 are most definitely HDV.
So... Which high definition Sony camcorder "for 400 more" are you referring to?
