So here it is day one of NAB 2012 and it looks to be the year of the large sensor and not so much 3D. Today was the big announcement from Panasonic and her is the big news…

At NAB 2012, Panasonic unveiled the AG-HPX600, a new P2 HD camcorder with 10-bit, 4:2:2 AVC-Intra recording and the lowest weight of a shoulder-mount unit.

Weighing less than 7 pounds and using low power, the HPX600 incorporates a newly-developed 2/3 type MOS sensor to produce beautiful HD and SD images. The HPX600 will achieve the high sensitivity of F12 (at 59.94 Hz) and a signal-to-noise ratio of 59dB. It supports AVC-Intra100/50, DVCPRO HD, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO, and DV as standard. It is 50 Hz and 59.94 Hz switchable for worldwide use.

The HPX600 will allow the user to upgrade his camera as new functionality becomes available.

This future-proof camera will provide inventive functionality and improved workflows, with options such as wireless metadata input, proxy recording, and variable frame rates (available this Fall), and then AVC-ULTRA recording. When available within 2013, AVC-ULTRA will offer master-quality and/or low-bit-rate 10-bit, 4:2:2 recording in Full HD to meet variety of user needs from mastering to transmission (the AG-HPX600 will not support all AVC-ULTRA formats). The HPX600 also features wireless and wired connection ability with Wi-Fi, USB and Gigabit Ethernet. In addition, a future option will support LiveU for video uplink with real time indication of LiveU’s transmission status and video transmission quality to camera operator.

“With its ultra-light weight and low power consumption, the HPX600 is the first shoulder mount that’s easy on the shoulder while being super-efficient on battery usage,” said Joseph Facchini, Vice President, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America. “With its innovative design and selectable options, the HPX600 is upgradability to new technology such as wireless remote from a smart phone and much more.”

Ideal for news, sports or live events, the interchangeable lens camcorder will be equipped with Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC) to maximize lens performance, Dynamic Range Stretch (DRS) function to help compensate for wide variations in lighting, and a highly accurate flash band detection and compensation software that eliminates this effect.  Original features will include a smart user interface that permits accessibility to the camera’s extensive functions from an LCD display on the side of the camera. The HPX600 will offer two P2 Card Slots and an SD Card Slot.

AG-HPX600 will be available in the Fall at a targeted suggested list price of less than $16,000 (body only) and less than $18,000 with AG-CVF10 new color viewfinder.

Continuing its evolution to higher-speed, lower-cost media, Panasonic announced today a new series of memory cards called microP2 card, which have an SD card form factor to further cost-efficiencies in media pricing. The simultaneous introduction of a microP2 Card Adaptor assures that the new series of 64GB and 32GB microP2 cards will operate in current P2 hardware*.

The microP2 card will ensure high-speed transfer, high reliability and the writing assurance of all P2 frame rates, formats and codecs, as well as Panasonic’s newest compression platform, up to the AVC-Intra200 mode of AVC-ULTRA, which will be available within 2013. Furthering the versatility of the microP2 card adaptor, its design allows Class 10 or high-quality SD cards (at bit rates only up to 50Mbps) to be used in P2 products in emergency situations.

“Since introducing this Emmy Award-winning, solid-state recording format nearly a decade ago, Panasonic has continued to make improvements to P2,” said John Baisley, Executive Vice President, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America (PSCNA). “The development of the microP2 card brings additional innovation to the owners of the more than 250,000 P2 products in use worldwide.”