Panasonic Beefs Up P2 HD Line, Cuts SD Prices

A slate of price cuts on existing SD equipment, including the popular SDX900, will precede upcoming NAB product launches of new P2-based HD equipment, company officials told Film & Video. “We still consider [DVCPRO 50] a very viable format,” said Robert Harris, Panasonic VP of marketing and product development, explaining that the price reductions will reposition DVCPRO 50 products at close to what he called “DVCAM-level.” Panasonic didn’t say exactly which products would be affected, or what the new prices would be, but said details will be announced within a few days.

The company’s big pre-NAB announcement is the AJ-HPC2000, the first shoulder-mount P2 HD camcorder, which uses three progressive 2/3-inch CCDs and records at 720p, 1080i and 480i. Panasonic will have a working model at NAB, but the camera isn’t scheduled to ship until November. The price hasn’t been announced, but Harris said it’s expected to be much cheaper than a Sony HDCAM and “probably a little more” than the $26,000 XDCAM HD.

The AJ-HPS1500 P2 HD studio recorder is being described as the P2 card’s entrà©e to the IT-style network – it has five P2 slots, two removable hard-disk slots, and a variety of I/O options (including HD-SDI, gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0 and FireWire). And the AJ-HPM100, nicknamed the “P2 Mobile,” is a field recorder with six P2 slots and, again, a wide array of ins and outs, including HD/SD SDI, analog composite and analog HD component. Like the HPC2000, both will ship in November.

The price of P2 media is continuing to drop – an 8 GB card now sells for just $1400 after a markdown in December – but Panasonic reps got cagey when asked about the roadmap for introducing a 16 GB model. Well, they have to hold something back for the show – look for news on the P2-capacity front to be announced in Las Vegas in April.

Also new is the AJ-HC1500 ($19,950), an HD box camera that’s switchable between 1080i and 720p, due in April; the AG-DVC20 ($1850) a shoulder-mounted, three-chip addition to the MiniDV line-up, shipping in June; and the BT-LH2600 ($4950), a 26-inch LCD monitor that will be displayed at Panasonic’s new, CRT-free NAB booth (Harris calls latency a “non-issue” with new LCD displays), also slated for June. Speaking of flat screens at the company’s booth, be sure to get a load of Panasonic’s 103-inch (!) plasma display while you’re there.

For all the details on Panasonic’s NAB pre-announcements, visit Press Release City at StudioDaily.com.