I recently came across “The Invaluable Guide to the AG-HVX200,” a delightful document from Panasonic that provides a detailed description of the features and capabilities of the AG-HVX200 prosumer HD camcorder in a format that’s easy to read like a brochure, but with plenty of substance and details you’d expect from a well-written technical overview, it’s got lots of great illustrations. If you’re thinking about purchasing or renting this camera, you’ll want to download a copy from http://panasonic.biz/sav/p2/ (it’s a PDF document that comes in two versions, one for the AG-HVX200E European/PAL and the other for the AG-HVX200P US/NTSC versions of the camera (they are different in terms of the formats/frame rates they record).
Hi, I got wind of your blog from Tom White at MIT. I had called to ask him and now I ask you : how does the 23.98 output of the HVX200 compare with the HDXDCAM that MIT purchased? Have you seen both? Sony’s lower end products don’t do 23.98 well at all: Panasonic has that end of the market sown up. But I wondered how the XDCAM looks.
By the way, I totlaly share your feelings about avoiding Microsost products as much as possible, if “only” on ethical grounds!
Brian
I’ve shot with both the Sony XDCAM HD and the Panasonic, they both look very good. They both do 24P. I’ve not seen them side-by-side, however. My qualitative impression is both cameras do a fine job. Personally, I like the smaller form factor of the HVX-200, and given the price difference, I’d rather have the smaller cameras and the P2 cards which offer faster media transfer to the host. On the other hand, the Blu-Ray disks you shoot with can be used as archive backup, and with the P2 system you have to create your own archives. One more step to worry about, but not so bad as the detractors make it out to be.