Panasonic announced the AG-DVX100 24P mini-DV camcorder. They showed a non-working prototype in the booth. This little critter incorporates three 1/3 inch, 410,000 pixel, progressive-scan CCDs delivering a 480-line progressive-scan image with a 4:3 aspect ratio at either 24fps or 30fps. I’m uncertainty about the quality to expect from the camera as there is speculation that internally it’s a interlaced 60 field camera that converts the signal to 24fps or 30fps progressive. How good will the conversion be? One nice touch is the camera sports two XLR audio inputs (line/mic switchable) with +48V phantom power and independent manual volume controls. Apple said they would support this camera in a future version of Final Cut Pro.
This post is a section from the article “NAB 2002 Roundup” published in the New York Independent Film Monitor, Vol. 7, No. 7 (May 2002)