Panasonic's AG-HVX200 camcorder with 24p
Panasonic's new HD camcorder one-ups the Sony HDR-FX1 by supporting 24 framed progressive video recording. All told, the AG-HVX200 handles video in DVCPRO50, DVCPRO or DV at 1080/60i, 30p and 24p, as well as 720/60p, 30p and 24p. If that alphanumeric soup doesn't mean much to you, the layperson translation is "this camera really covers the stinkin' bases, yo." It will record to MiniDV tapes, but the other big news on this unit is its ability to record to P2 solid state flash media cards. With this high-quality, non-linear media system you get instant access to recorded contents without needing to fast forward or rewind as with tape, but it don't come cheap. For those of us currently bitching about the prices of Memory Stick Duo cards, we can perhaps take small comfort in the fact that P2 media is looking at about $1700 (gulp) for a 4GB card, which will get you all of about 18 minutes of footage (squeezing 5 episodes of the Simpsons onto your PSP's 256MB card ain't lookin' quite so bad anymore, is it?). The camera will weigh under 5 pounds, but will weigh about 6 grand on your pocketbook. And if you want it bundled with two 8GB P2 cards, you'll be dropping a full 10 Clevelands (Grover, that is) on this baby.
