NEED URGENT HELP WITH MY HD 1000U

and downsample to whatever lesser resolution you want in the post-production process...

UNLESS there is a requirement to do 4:3. 4:3 dictates Standard definition (though I suppose you could shoot in HD which is 16:9 by definition and crop or pan/scan to 4:3 - but this is not recommended)...

"SHOOT THE VIDEO WITH AN HD MINI DV TAPE AND DOWN CONVERT IN THE CAMERA TO REGULAR DV MODE" is not going to give you anything better than standard definition video - the tape is not going to make a difference.

My recommendation is to shoot in 1080i high definition and let the DVD rendering software downsample the video to standard definition.

It won't matter to 99.999% of the people watching the final video whether you used "special HD tape" or "regular" miniDV tape. Especially if your initial end-product is standard definition... I use plain Sony Premium tapes at about $3 each when purchased in 8-packs from Fry's. They are cheaper from tapestockonline... I think I answered your question at Yahoo Answers, too.

The Sony HVR-1000U is in the Sony pro line and is a shoulder mount camcorder, but its lenses and imaging chip are the same size as the consumer HDR-HC1, HC5, HC7 and HC9. In good light, all these capture great video. Low light behavior is not so good. Knowing this, avoid setting up shots in low light - you will be setting yourself up for failure if you expect good low light performance. If you need good low light behavior, you need a camcorder with larger lenses and imaging chip(s) like the Sony HDR-FX1, HDR-FX1000 or HVR-Z1U (or Canon XHA1 or Panasonic AG-HDX200 series).