November 5, 2007 Panasonic’s one-piece, shoulder-mounted AJ-HPX3000G is a five-slot P2 HD high-end production camcorder capable of producing full-quality 1920x1080 high-definition images. With the accompanying release of a new 32 GB P2 card, this means that more than five hours of continuous recording are possible without the need to transfer content onto a hard drive.
Laying claim to a number of firsts including the first camcorder to achieve native full HD in 4:2:2, 10 bit without pre filtering, the new AJ-HPX3000G provides a common production broadcast platform in HDD5 quality, in addition to offering industry-standard DVCPRO50/HD content compatibility for high-end television, film, and commercial productions.
The AJ-HPX3000G is designed as a compact unit suitable for all areas of high-end production — from digital cinema to commercials and television drama.
A raft of related products accompany the release including a a P2 HD Portable Player/Recorder for field viewing, the AJ-YBX200G AVC-I Codec Board and a memory card that quadruples P2 storage media capacity to 32 GB. In brief:
AJ-HPX3000G
- AVC-I (H.264 compliant) giving a compression scheme that offers DVCPRO HD quality at half the bandwidth
- three newly developed high-density 2.2-million-pixel CCDs, 14-bit A/D conversion and 12-pole matrix colour correction to produce stunning 4:2:2, 10-bit 1920x1080 HD images
- AVC-Intra recording capability in two switchable modes
- 50/60-Hz switchable for use around the world
- side-mounted, 3.5-inch color LCD monitor
- five 32GB P2 cards to allow extended recording time of 320 minutes in AVC-Intra 50, 160 minutes in AVC-Intra 100, and 160 minutes in DVCPRO HD
- Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC) function fixes registration errors and minimizes lateral chromatic aberration in lenses
- multiple advanced gamma settings, including VariCam's noted Film-Rec mode, provide filmmakers with versatility when shooting
- high F10 sensitivity at 2,000 lux (at 1080i) and a minimum illumination of .064 lux (at +56db gain-up)
- Key operational benefits: instant recording start-up, clip thumbnail view for immediate access to video content on all cards, and a host of recording modes
The AJ-HPX3000G costs USD$48,000.00 and will be available this in Australia month at a recommended retail price of AUD$ 69,385.
32 GB P2 memory cardThe 32 GB P2 card release effectively quadruples the capacity of P2 cards within one year and gives camera operators new flexibility by allowing them to shoot and store four times more high quality SD/HD content.
P2 HD Portable Player/Recorder
The P2 HD player/recorder provides viewing, back-up recording, and systems interface options for HD and SD content. The AG-HPG10E P2 GEAR is a compact unit that simplifies the exchange of content between P2 solid-state memory cards and virtually any IT storage device while giving the operator the opportunity to view content, add metadata, and put together clips for transmission or archiving.
When connected to a P2 HD/SD or tape-based camera, the battery-operated AG-HPG10E can serve as a versatile backup recorder. With its two card slots, the AG-HPG10G can record up to 64 minutes of 100-Mbps DVCPRO HD, 128 minutes of DVCPRO50, and 256 minutes of DVCPRO quality video on two 32-Gb P2 cards.
The AG-HPG10E P2 Gear is available now at a recommended retail price of AUD$ 6,420.
AJ-YBX200G AVC-I Codec Board
The AJ-YBX200G codec board allows both the AJ-HPX2100E production camcorder and the AJ-HPM100E field edit and playback device to operate in the new, highly efficient AVC-I codec. Since the debut of the AVC-I codec, which is intra-frame only and based on H.264, Panasonic has intended to incorporate it into selected equipment alongside the already well-respected DVCPRO HD format.
The AVC-I codec enables producers to create content in two bit rates, one offering greater economy in storage space, the other offering higher-resolution images.
The AJ-YBX200G is available now at a recommended retail price of AUD$ 5,386.00.
For more info see Panasonic.
