From TVBE’s Acquisition Newsletter: Panasonic‘s new 2/3-inch ENG P2 camera, the AJ-HPX3100, uses WiFi to allow other users to view proxy video and add metadata.
It can use a standard web browser, so up to three people, such as the director, camera assistant, continuity or logger, can access it at once using their laptop, iPad or mobile phone.
The €32,500 mid-range camcorder replaces the HPX-3000, and is smaller and lighter, and now generates much more usable proxy video files, thanks to improved resolution of up to 960×540 from 320×240 previously.
“We’ve adopted the .mov format for the proxies, so they are easier to handle than MP4, and we haven’t forgotten the audio, which is now AAC or uncompressed 16-bit 48kHz [up from 24kHz on the 3000], so that an editor can do a complete audio edit on the proxies and not have to redo anything for the full resolution video,” explained Jerome Berrard, director AV Systems, Panasonic Europe (pictured).
It weighs 3.9kg, has three 2/3-inch 2.2-megapixel CCD sensors, has Chromatic Aberration Compensation and Dynamic Range Stretch. It records AVC-Intra (up to 100Mbps 10 bit, 4:2:2) at various HD formats, plus SD, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO and DV, to two P2 card slots.
The camera is expected to start shipping in Europe next Tuesday (October 19th).
Shouldering AVCHD
Panasonic is also introducing a new shoulder-mounted AVCHD camcorder, the AG-HMC81. It lists at €2.550 excluding VAT, and records both HD at 24Mbps and SD (in the 25Mbps DV format) to SD cards.
It uses three 3-megapixel MOS sensors. It can also take 10.6-megapixel still images and store them as standard JPEGs on the SDHC card.
The shoulder-mounted camera includes: user-assignable manual focus ring functions (Focus/Iris/Zoom); time code/UB recording; time/date stamp; and two wired remote control terminals (for zoom, focus, iris, REC start/stop controls). It has a 12x zoom lens with a 40.8mm (35mm lens equivalent) wide-angle setting. It has an Optical Image Stabilizer, Dynamic Range Stretch and a Cine-Like Gamma mode to give recordings a more film-like look – it can record 1080/24p (as well as 25/30p, 50/60i and 720 24p, 25/30p. 50/60p).
Outputs include: HDMI (AVCHD only), USB 2.0, composite (BNC), analogue component (BNC x 3) and FireWire (DV). For audio it has a built-in stereo microphone, a 3.5mm mini jack, and two XLR inputs.
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