Panasonic launches three new professional 4K 60p camcorders

The new all-in-one cameras HC-X1500, HC-X2000 and AG-CX10, due to their lightness and ease of use, are emerging as options to take into account for certain professional uses.

Coinciding with the beginning of the year, and the celebration in Las Vegas of CES 2020, Panasonic has announced the launch of three new professional 4K 60p camcorders. The new cameras are the HC-X1500, HC-X2000 y AG-CX10 and although the current trend seems to point to S35 and full-frame models, these all-in-one cameras are emerging due to their lightness and ease of use as options to take into account for certain professional uses.

These new cameras have a 1/2.5 MOS sensor (inches) and a fixed lens F1.8 – 4.0 24x Leica Dicomar. Its usability is guaranteed with two manual rings (focus and zoom), an ND filter (1/4, 1/16, 1/64, OFF), a built-in LED light and recording audio PCM lineal 24-bit high resolution.

The AG-CX10 supports file format P2 MXF oriented to broadcast environments, including AVC-Intra100 y AVC-Intra50 which will come to the camera via a future update in summer 2020.

The models also have a High precision AFn and the ability to work at 4:2:2 10-bit internal recording using the HEVC codec with various recording formats. Additionally, for coverage of live events, your Wi-Fi integrated allows you to distribute streaming events in high definition from the camera itself. At the same time, the use of the NDI|HX protocol offers a high degree of connectivity as a live camera in IP configuration environments.

The integrated lens offers a 24x optical zoom ranging from a 25mm wide angle to a 600mm telephoto lens while incorporating the “face detection AF/AE” function, making focusing easier. The i.Zoom reaches 32x in 4K resolution, and 48x in FHD. The 4-disc lens system drives the four lens groups independently.

Design

One of the aspects that Panasonic has taken the most care in the design of these new cameras in its refrigeration since it has a newly developed fan that has allowed such a small and light unit with an integrated lens to be capable of recording 4K 60p. The fan introduces fresh air from the back of the body, dispersing it efficiently to the front. In addition, it is using technology Venus Engine, the same one used in the development of its popular Lumix and which allows internal 4:2:2 10-bit recording with a maximum of 29.97p in UHD and up to 59.94p in FHD.

When configured for 10-bit recording, cameras can capture 4K 60p 4:2:2 10 bit via HDMI. The HEVC recording (LongGOP/10-bit 4:2:0/MOV) also supports 59.97p recording at a bit rate of 200 Mbps. As for file formats, in addition to MOV, MP4 y AVCHD, the AG-CX10 also supports P2 MXF for broadcast applications. AVC-Intra100/50 codec support is planned for the future. Recording of all P2 formats requires a microP2 card.

In FHD mode, it is possible to slow motion recording at 120 fps (for 59.94 Hz)/100 fps (for 50 Hz). 10-bit recording is supported, producing full-frame images with the image area uncropped, even at high frame rates.