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MillimeterReview: Panasonic AJ-HPX3000
Nov 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Barry Braverman
Rugged, high-performance 10-bit camcorder offers HD shooters a new choice.
The HPX3000 can accommodate up to five 32GB P2 cards. Such a configuration allows a continuous runtime of 200 minutes using AVC-Intra 100 at 24pN.
Image acquisition
The sizable performance gains evident in the HPX3000 may be attributed in large part to the camera's AVC-Intra 10-bit image acquisition, which offers excellent resistance to banding, hue shifts, and other common artifacts. The enhanced image structure is immediately obvious to any experienced shooter accustomed to the traditional 8-bit video codecs such as HDV, HDCAM, and DVCPRO HD.
As savvy DPs, we understand when recording 8-bit DVCPRO HD, for example, that we should generally not exceed an eight-stop range of exposure across the image. Shooting in 10-bit AVC-Intra, we gain two stops of dynamic range — a huge advantage because it makes us better able to handle high compression ratios and a broad range of color. In turn, this translates into more creative options downstream with respect to color grading and other postproduction processing.
The HPX3000 constitutes the first commercial implementation of H.264-based AVC-Intra in a camcorder as a standard feature, a remarkable achievement given the sophistication and complexity of the realtime encoder. The HPX3000 can record traditional 8-bit DVCPRO HD and DVCPRO 50 SD as well, but one must wonder about the point of that. AVC-Intra 100 provides better, more organic-looking images; it also potentially extends the running time of the P2 cards by 20 percent, by shooting 24pN (native frames only) rather than 59.94i, as generally had been the case previously with 1080 cameras.
The HPX3000 also allows AVC-Intra recording at 50Mbps. This effectively doubles the capacity of the P2 cards, a practical option intended presumably for news applications. Even in this mode (AVC-Intra 50 uses the more constrained 4:2:0 color space), recording in 10 bits offers a considerable advantage. I foresee a compact AVC-Intra 50 camcorder — akin to today's AG-HVX200. Fitted with two P2 slots and 32GB cards, such a downsized HPX could run for 80 minutes at native 1920×1080 resolution.
The HPX3000 is not a Varicam, and it cannot shoot at variable frame rates, but the camera provides a working man's range of progressive and interlaced recording formats: 1080-line 24p, 25p, 30p, 50i, 59.94i, and 24pA (advanced mode) for DVCPRO shooters pursuing an all-24p workflow.
One thing you'll never have to worry about with this camera is the HD shooter's classic dilemma of whether to shoot 1080i or 720p. Panasonic makes the decision for you: The HPX3000 shoots only 1080i at full 1920×1080 resolution. There is no 720p capture capability. Nor is there the capability to record standard definition at 25Mbps. Standard definition is implemented at 50Mbps 4:2:2 only. The lack of the lesser DV format no doubt helps to conserve critical real estate on the internal processing boards and help lower the cost of the camera.
