Violin or fiddle is indeed a primary instrument in Hungarian folk music, the one who plays it in a band is called prímás ('pree-maash') which means the person who is #1 in the band.
When is it a fiddle and when is it a violin? A simple general statement could be that it's basically the same instrument, but the term violin is used more for classical music, and fiddle is for traditional. For more on it, see this Wikipedia page.
Village musicians are not learned musicians, in the sense that they don't go to music school, don't get formal education. They learn by hearing, watching what the older ones are doing, fathers passing the knowledge on to their sons. They hear melodies from other villages or nowadays regions as well, and build them in their repertoire, adjusting them to their and the community's taste. The names of who created a music pieces is very seldom known. This is traditional or, with another word, authentic folk music, by definition.
It is very common that playing music stays within Gypsy families as a profession. The good ones are known and go around in their regions to play at weddings and other occasions. Some especially brilliant ones were discovered by urban collectors and musicians, and their art can be enjoyed at festivals even in remote countries (as long as they are alive...) and on CDs, DVDs.
Local musicians of Kalotaszeg region (Transylvania) play at a dance camp. As far as I know, it's only the youngest one who is still playing music in this world...
The next video shows how urban young people keep the spirit alive; they visit the villages to learn from the old musicians, listen to archived recordings for thousands of hours, and also learn from older masters of the Hungarian folk revival that started in the early 70's.
Now let's take the Gypsy orchestras; this is what many people identifies Hungarian folk music with. Three-four-five piece bands in Hungarian restaurants, or bigger orchestras; we even have a would famous one with 100 members... Their repertoire spans from traditional folk pieces through Liszt or Brahms dances and rhapsodies, with operettas or "nóta" in between (="art song" - if someone has a better translation, please correct me. This is popular music originated in the 19th century, played by Gypsy musicians, and with the composers known - which is a big difference from traditional folk music.)
Many of these Gypsies are highly trained musicians, they play with a brilliant technique which is unique to this part of the world, and fortunately, despite of often being super-technical when playing, they don't lose the spirit of it, they give their heart.
One has to mention "világzene" (="world music"), which is not strictly folk music; it's traditional pieces arranged in modern ways, or other kind of music arranged and played with traditional instruments. One great band is this:
I hope you can see why one can't live without this music...
Some violins for you, from each of the types above:
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