The 500 is a fair bit cheaper,at the moment that the 800.. the menu,s are not quite as fancy in the paint dept.. but its cineAlta so 24p and the same Hyper gamma,s.. and 422 HD.. Ive had to "educate" a few production managers,and its a relatively new camera.. but Ive used it for Discovery PBS and Natgeo ..I'm pretty sure the PMW500 has caught on overseas a lot more than here where habit is entrenched. I see information that indicates that a lot of the shooters are with the 700/800's, but can hardly recall any 500's. As much either cost, if you can afford the 500, you can probably eek out the more accepted 700/800.