Panasonic’s push into 3D just took another step forward. Recently, they made several announcements about their 3D product lineup including details on their 3D camera (AG-3DA), a new 3D production monitor (BT-3DL2550) and a new 3D mixer (AG-HMX100). Panasonic is moving to bring 3D to a broad community of filmmakers and these new tools certainly show their commitment. We can’t wait to see all of these new products at NAB 2010. Learn more about these new devices after the break.

…continue reading Panasonic 3D Update

Many of you may remember the Panasonic AJ-PCS060G, the P2 reader with a built in 60 GB hard drive. It was a great device at the time, but the 60GB hard drive doesn’t do much for customers with 32GB & 64GB P2 cards. So Panasonic has come up with a new device for downloading P2 cards in the field. The AG-MSU10 or P2 Media Storage Unit. The MSU10 has two slots, one is a P2 card slot and the other accepts a hard drive enclosure from Panasonic (the AG-MBX10). The enclosure has USB and eSATA connections on it and can be filled with any 2.5″ SATA drive, including solid state drives. The P2 Media Storage Unit features a 3.2” LCD screen that displays a P2 thumbnail screen and supports master-quality 10 bit AVC-Intra (100/50) and DVCPRO HD, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO and DV recording formats. With a single touch, AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD content can be transferred from a P2 card to the solid-state drive at four times real-time (faster at lower data rates). The MSU10 is battery-operated. We are looking forward to seeing the device, which will sell for under $2500. The hard disk is not included, but can be easily be purchased at any retail store. See the full press release here. 

A couple months ago, I wrote about Panasonic’s mention of a single card reader to come. Well the official announcement is finally here. It’s called the AJ-PCD2, and it will sell for less than $350. So many of our P2 clients have been asking for this type of product for years, and we are happy to see it here. The PCD2 comes with two USB 2.0 cables, which power the device (2 USB connections equals twice the power) and connects it to a PC or Mac. This makes it a very portable device for field use, which is exactly what we’ve been asking for. The device will be fully compatible with PC & Mac and will be available in April. Read the full press release here.

Switronix has released an adapter to power a Canon 5D Mark II or 7D off a power tap. It is a simple adapter called the XP-DSLR-C that allows users to adapt the Canon DC coupler directly to a battery or other source with a power tap plug. So an Anton Bauer Gold Mount will work as well as the D-Tap found on an IDX battery. This will greatly extend the battery life of the cameras, and the adapter has an additional power tap on it to power other 12V accessories. Look for an adapter for the Panasonic Lumix GH1 in the future as well.

Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6) has been causing problems for many of us, and P2 owners have also felt the pain. One of the most popular methods for downloading P2 cards onto a Mac is using the DuelAdapter from Duel Systems. The DuelAdapter adapts PCMCIA P2 cards to the ExpressCard/34 slot on MacBook Pros. Unfortunately this device just doesn’t work with Snow Leopard, and Duel Systems will not be producing future drivers. So Panasonic made a small announcement on their site:

• P2 card in a DuelAdapter is not recognized on Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), since there is no DuelAdapter driver software for Mac OS 10.6.
• Please use DuelAdapter on 10.5 (Leopard).
• When using a P2 card on Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) of MacBookPro, please use a P2 camera, P2 recoder or P2 drive equiped with USB2.
• Panasonic is developing a new 1 slot P2 drive which works on Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and planning to launch it in the spring of 2010.

This is an annoying situation for sure, but the last line is what really caught my eye. Panasonic is making a single slot P2 card reader. There are many different P2 solutions out there, but most of our clients want a simple single card solution. There might still be an updated driver for the DuelAdapter, but the Panasonic reader is great news for all you P2 camera owners.

For the second part of the ENG Essentials – Camera Matching Series, I will be adjusting the gamma settings on the VariCam 3700 (HPX3700) to match the gamma curves on the EX3. The HPX3700 has more gamma adjustability, so I chose to set the EX3 to a setting I liked and then adjust the HPX3700 to match. Every manufacturer has different gamma curves, so my goal is to set the two gamma curves to match as closely as possible using a DSC Labs ChromaDuMonde chart and Leader scope.

…continue reading ENG Essentials: Gamma Matching

Panasonic has just announced the new HPM200, which is an upgraded version of the previous model P2 Mobile (HPM110). This new version has all the features of the HPM110 and a host of new features that add a great deal of functionality. The new unit will be available in October with a list price of $16,000. Here are 10 new features that I like about the HPM200 and how they improve P2 field production and post production.

…continue reading 10 New Features of the P2 Mobile HPM200