Re: Future of betacam?

It has no future. It's a dying format. That said, expect it to be a long slow death - meaning, a lot of broadcasters will continue to accept Betacam for years to come. We are finally making the move to finishing in HD this year. I contacted the dozen stations that carry our spots and only three of them accept HDCAM, the others accept Betacam. Sure HD is here, but Betacam is still alive and kicking in most markets.

"its quite an investment to buy one"

Not really. You can find a used one for a few grand. That's dirt cheap.