Panasonic Debuts DVCPRO P2 Camcorder
September 19, 2005
Secaucus, NJ - Panasonic Broadcast has announced the availability of the shoulder-mount AJ-SPC700 DVCPRO P2 camcorder ($12,995), tailor-made for a gamut of electronic newsgathering assignments. With the AJ-SPC700, broadcast and event production customers now have access to a DVCPRO50/DVCPRO camera that exploits the benefits of P2 in a highly economical package.
The AJ-SPC700 combines a 2/3” 520,000-pixel, IT 3-CCD camera with 60 fields interlace recording in 25Mbps DVCPRO/DV and 50Mbps 4:2:2 DVCPRO50 format on a P2 card. Switchable between 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios, Panasonic says that the camcorder delivers broadcast-level performance, with low smear, 750-line resolution, an S/N ratio of 63dB, a high sensitivity of F11 at 2000 lux, and minimum illumination of 0.5 lux (at +36dB). According to the manufacturer, Digital Super Gain provides up to an additional 20dB at 6 fps.
With its newly-developed DSP, the AJ-SPC700 has a power consumption of only 20 watts, which minimizes the number of batteries needed for field work. It is equipped with a 12-axis matrix color correction system, and a news gamma curve specially optimized for the demands of field news acquisition. The news gamma curve is designed to help preserve image quality by suppressing over-saturation in highlight areas during sudden changes in contrast.
Panasonic says that the AJ-SPC700 offers unique functions only possible with the P2 memory card. It has five P2 card slots designed to allow seamless, continuous recording over all five (providing up to 160 minutes record capacity at DVCPRO and 80 minutes in DVCPRO50 with 8GB P2 cards). The camera’s hot swap function was developed for non-stop recording, because it allows a user to replace any P2 card (except the one being recorded on) on the fly.
A sixth PC card slot is provided to accept a range of options, such as a MPEG-4 Proxy Video Encoder.
Proxy video – in three quality choices -- may be recorded to P2 cards and SD Memory cards; this proxy data recording and wireless LAN functions facilitate the transfer of low-resolution proxy AV streams with wireless ease for subsequent viewing on a journalist’s PC or personal digital assistant (PDA). The AJ-SPC700 has Instant Rec Start designed to permit recording from the moment the camera is switched on, so users can feel confident that they won’t miss an important shot.
By eliminating all moving parts from the camera recording path, Panasonic says that the AJ-SPC700 is extremely reliable and resistant to environmental hazards, such as the shock, vibration, cold, heat and humidity that threaten camcorders based on mechanical recording transports. AJ-SPC700 images are stored on a P2 card using MXF file format for IT compatibility for file transfer.
The camera supports two audio input channels which will be recorded onto two audio channels of 48kHz/16-bit PCM audio in DVCPRO50, DVCPRO and DV. The AJ-SPC700 comes equipped with a USB 2.0 interface for file transfers, and users can add an IEEE-1394 interface (optional AJ-YAD800G board) for a real-time stream and for connection to laptop computers running a range of popular NLE applications, thereby providing a self-contained field editing solution.
The company says that the AJ-SPC700 offers many innovative functions including:
• Three recording modes – Continuous, pre-record or loop-record assure that a news crew has less chance of missing an important event, and eliminate waiting for tape scanners or optical media to spin-up prior to recording.
• Voice Memo - A built-in memo microphone permits the addition of metadata audio description to clip metadata with specified time code link.
• Shot marker indication on clips of video.
• Thumbnail clip display – the built-in color 3.5” LCD monitor provides easy review of video clip thumbnails, the creation of an in-camera storyboard and the seamless playback of selected clips.
The AJ-SPC700 is highly customizable with features like four user scene files, three user setup buttons, and camera setup memory (up to eight camera setups can be saved to a SD Memory card).
Other features of the AJ-SPC700 include: 2X Digital Zoom for enlargement of the image in the EVF, Auto Tracking White Balance, electronic shutter speeds (1/100 to 1/2000 sec.) with Synchro-Scan capability (1/60.3 to 1/249.7 sec.), 4-position (ND + CC) optical filter wheel, zebra pattern display, and built-in SMPTE time code generator/reader.
Panasonic also offers the shoulder-mount AJ-SPX800 2/3” DVCPRO P2 camcorder, which includes 24fps and 30fps progressive recording as well as 60 fields interlace recording.
Panasonic’s DVCPRO P2 series products are fully compatible with DVCPRO, and provide a seamless migration path to DVCPRO HD. The company says that DVCPRO P2 offers nonlinear acquisition and instant access to material, high-speed file transfer, laptop field editing without requirement for proxy videos, and compatibility with off-the-shelf data storage drives for low-cost archiving, while eliminating traditional digitizing and ingesting operations.
The core products – AJ-SPX800 camcorder, AJ-SPC700 camcorder, AJ-SPD850 studio recorder -- eliminate transports and mechanisms, to help reduce maintenance costs because of the absence of any moving parts that can break down or wear out from repetitive use. Panasonic says that the DVCPRO P2 products are resistant to environmental stresses such as shock and vibration.
For more information, visit
panasonic.com/p2
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