Panasonic’s AG-HPX300: full-res camcorder with AVC-I under $11K

Panasonic announced the AG-HPX300, a 1/3”, 3-MOS shoulder-mount P2 camcorder with a 17x Fujinon interchangeable lens (the Euro version will be the AG-HPX301E). In many ways, it’s a companion to the HVX200A and HPX500: six scene files, 1080i/p recording, 720p variable frame rate recording, SD recording in both DV and DVCPRO50 formats, 24p capability, and two P2 card slots, but there are three things that put the 300 in a class of its own:

• Full-resolution, 1920x1080 sensors.
• AVC-Intra (I-frame, 10-bit, full-raster, 4:2:2) recording.
• MSRP of US$10,700, including EVF and 17x lens.

Let me repeat: full-res sensors and AVC-I recording for under $11K. 

This is big. It’s Panasonic’s first affordable HD camcorder with full-res sensors (it has superb full-res 3-CCD cameras, but they cost 4x what the 300 will), and it offers the http://news.creativecow.net/story/860926 - award-winning AVC-I codec in addition to the familiar DVCPROHD option, providing a much more robust, post-friendly image for chroma-keying and extreme color correction.

NBC Universal is http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/74502 - buying a “large number” of HPX300s , even though they won’t be shipping until March.