Panasonic says the introductory price for the HVX200 is $5,995, for the camcorder only. $6,995 gets buyers the camcorder and two 4GB P2 cards. For $9,995, buyers can take home the camcorder and two 8GB P2 cards.
The HVX200 has the ability to capture images in 21 video formats, including 1080i and 720p in 100 Mbps DVCPRO HD quality. The DVCPRO HD format offers users cost-effective, intra-frame compression, where each frame stands on its own for editing, and its full 4:2:2 color sampling allows the image to hold up under color correction.
The camera records video on a P2 card as IT-friendly MXF files in 1080/60i, 30p and 24p; in 720/60p, 30p and 24p; in 50Mbps DVCPRO50 and in 25Mbps DVCPRO or DV. With a pair of Panasonic’s new 8GB P2 cards, the HVX200 records for 64 minutes in DVCPRO or DV, 40 minutes in 720p, 32 minutes in DVCPRO50, and 16 minutes in 1080/60 and 720/60. The HD and SD video recorded on the P2 card can be quickly downloaded to a nonlinear editing system or server, or edited instantly from the P2 card by connecting to an IEEE 1394 or USB 2.0 interface.
The camera has two P2 card slots and offers a variety of record modes, including hot-swap recording to ensure continuous recording; loop recording; pre-record (up to 7 seconds in DVCPRO and 3 seconds in DVCPRO HD); one-shot record (from 1 frame to 1 second) and interval record (from 2 frames to 10 minutes).
The HVX200 is also equipped with a Mini-DV tape drive for shooting 4:3 and 16:9 images on DV tape in 60i, 30p and 24p. The unit inherits the variable frame rate capability of Panasonic’s popular, shoulder-mount AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD Cinema camcorder and can capture fast or slow action in 720p at various frame rates. The camera can also downconvert off-speed recordings in 720p recorded on a P2 card and copy it to a mini DV tape.
Audio features include 4-channel non-compressed 48KHz/16-bit digital audio in DVCPRO HD and DVCPRO50, and two channels in DVCPRO and DV.
Third-party nonlinear editing systems, such as Apple Final Cut Pro; Avid Newscutter XP, Newscutter Adrenaline FX and Xpress HD; and Canopus Edius HD are compatible with the AG-HVX200.
The unit weighs just over five pounds, and is built with a magnesium alloy diecast chassis for durability.