You have to spend over 2k to get better than the HV20, and 3x that to get something recording to disk or cards that is comparable quality.
Another option: a tape based camera (HV20 or Sony or whatever) and a camera drive, so you can still bypass tape. _______________________________________________________ Brook Hinton film/video/audio art www.brookhinton.com studio vlog/blog: www.brookhinton.com/temporalab