P2 & modular/convertible cameras?
by Peter DeCrescenzo
on
Mar 29, 2005 at 1:29:42 am
Panasonic makes a line of wonderful, color, standard definition POV/CCTV camera heads which they refer to as "multi-purpose convertible" cameras. These are camera heads only; they don't have a tape transport built-in. They're described in detail on Panasonic's site at:
http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelList?storeId=1...
One of the coolest things about these cam heads is they accept one or more add-in cards which expand the capability of the base camera. There are viewfinder-output cards, SDI output cards, DV output cards, streaming JPEG cards, and so forth. These cards are described under the "Supplies & Accessories" tab on the description page for each camera model. Some of the cam models can be fitted with two cards added at once.
If you look closely at the specs & user manuals for these SD cams, especially the high-end models such as the AW-E800A, you'll see they offer true pro features built-in, like three 2/3" image sensors, color matrix & gamma control, analog component outputs, zebra stripes, genlock input, 12-VDC operation, and so forth. These aren't lowly "survelience" cams; these are more similar to studio-grade cams.
These days it's relatively inexpensive to add items to a camera, such as a viewfinder (either B&W CRT, or color LCD), a shoulder mount, battery systems, and so forth. So assembling a purpose-built camera for field, crane or studio use is fairly straight forward.
I'm hoping/wishing one of the new products Panasonic will announce at NAB next month is one or more high definition models added to this product line.
For example, it would be great if there was a HD convertible model which could accept an add-in P2 card writer/reader card. That's to say, the base cam might not be a P2 cam, but you could add a card to it that accepted P2 cards.
The ability to assemble a camera with just the features you need for particular projects or shots would be way cool!
