Another camcorder arrived today, the Panasonic AG-HPX250 along with Nigel Cliff from Holdan. Nigel and I go back a long way, he is a genuinely nice person and always has a smile on his face.

The AG-HPX250 is Panasonic’s flagship hand held P2 camera…

• Progressive-compatible U.L.T. (Ultra Luminance Technology) image sensor (1/3-type 2.2-megapixel 3MOS sensor)
• 22x Zoom Lens with Wide Coverage from Wide-Angle to Telephoto
• Full P2HD Image Quality with AVC-Intra Codec Recording
• High-End Operation with Multi-Camera Synchronizing and VFR Recording
• 4-position (clear, 1/4 ND, 1/16 ND, 1/64 ND) optical neutral density filter wheel

As usual the picture quality was exceptional, we had the camera in AVC INTRA 100 at 1920 x 1080 50i, Nigel told me that the 250 is now BBC HD approved.

CES 2012: Panasonic is showing mockups of two large-aperture zoom lenses for Micro Four Thirds. The Panasonic stand plays host to mockups of a 12-35mm F2.8 and a 35-100mm F2.8 lens, prominently badged ‘Concept’ lenses. Next to the models is a lens roadmap confirming the company’s intentions to build a 12-35mm (24-70mm equiv) and 35-100 (70-200mm equiv) ‘X’ grade zooms, but with a note that the maximum apertures are ‘to be determined.’ The diagram appears to suggest both lenses will arrive later in 2012.

Strange but interesting “the maximum apertures are ‘to be determined” and heres me thinking its f2.8. Now take it from me Mr Panasonic lens designer you will win a watch if you can make these lenses f1.8 or better still f1.4 maximum aperture, that would allow a fantastic shallow depth of field for AF101 users, the 12-35mm being a cracking standard zoom for the AF101.

Why is it taking so long to produce the review of the new Panasonic AF160…Simple…I live in Scotland, the land of the rain. I kid you not this part of the world is like monsoon season at the moment plus I have had some paying work in-between so I am afraid it’s not been easy putting together a review of the AC160.

I found myself filming my local fox this morning a wee soul that lives beside us in some spare land the picture below was taken earlier this year with her new cubs. The AC160 has a fantastic 22x lens and amazingly has a digital zoom that’s worth its weight in gold.

Filming the fox I found myself playing with the digital zoom which just happens to be on USER preset No 2, the downside is that you only seem to be able to toggle from 2, 5, 10 and off which is a pain as 5 and 10x are not as usable as 2x.

This would be a great wild life camcorder as the 2x digital zoom is very usable and at 44x you are getting a cracking very un-digitised picture, the OIS is not as good as the steady shot seen on the likes of the Sony NX70.

Low light is better than I was expecting from a 1/3″ camcorder but I will be doing some further low light testing this week. The weight of the camcorder is very illusive as it looks a lot heavier than it actually is.

Although it seemingly has a variable frame rate I have chosen to record my footage at 720 50p because it does not film at 1080 50p unless you are willing to forgo sound.

I have tried simultaneous recording onto both SDHC cards and I have also used the syncro scan feature with great success, this very useful feature is badly missing from both the Sony FS100 and the NX70.

UPDATE : Shot footage at 9dBs this evening in a dark pub setting and I was very impressed with the footage viewed on a 50″ plasma TV. The phantom power switches are very small and a tad on the fiddly side for my liking.

Unlike the NX70 although this camera has a 2 stop reduction in light from wide to tight, filming outside this evening you were not as aware of that loss of light that is very apparent on the NX70 and the 160 has twice the zoom ratio !

Outside daylight footage is excellent and reviewing the 2x digital zoom is very impressive the 1st camcorder NOT to look digitally enhanced when using a digital zoom. (Note. using 2x only).

Auto focus struggles sometimes in poor lighting conditions…no more than the competition to be fair to the 160.

My friend Alister and I will be compairing the Panasonic AC160 alongside the Sony NX5 this weekend using a Panasonic vision mixer and both camcorders plugged via HD SDI.

I have been informed that the Panasonic AG-AC160 is due to arrive next week and I should get a camera to review soon, the one thing that struck me about the 160 during IBC was the quality of the picture.

Since the AF101 Panasonic have been listening to their end users and producing a cracking range of non shoulder mount camcorders from the 10bit 4:2:2 250 down to the AVCCAM AC-130. We are now being treated to camcorders that are fit for purpose rather than those teetering on the edge of even being semi professional.

The AC160 sits plumb in the middle and is the most sought after at it’s price point of £3000 plus 20% vat and the major fact that it by passes the expensive P2 card system that the 250 uses.

With the 160 you get a lot of camera for your money here are just a few of it’s highlights…

1. AVCHD in PH mode 21 Mbps (VBR)

2. 22x optical zoom lens f1.6-3.2 (35mm conversion = 28mm – 616mm)

3. Synchro scan

4. SDHC (4-32GB) and SDXC cards (48-2TB)

5. Dual system 50 or 59.94 Hz

6. Interval recording

7. Variable frame rate plus over and under cranking

8. Linear PCM 2ch sound or Dolby Digital

9. SDI and HDMI out

10. 2 XLR 3 pin connectors for sound I/P

11. 2 card slots allow simultaneous recording

The 160 is packed with features from the manual aperture 22x lens to the ability to record dual memory cards at the same time all for the sum of £3000 plus vat.

I hope to get one next week and put it through it’s paces including a look at the camcorders low light capabilities.

With a new, advanced 1/3″ 2.2-megapixel 3-chip imager featuring Ultra Luminance Technology (U.L.T.), the HPX370 delivers exceptional video performance for master-quality HD production. The shoulder-mount camcorder offers 10-bit, 4:2:2, full 1920 x 1080-resolution AVC-Intra recording with impressive levels of sensitivity and an interchangeable lens. The AVC-Intra codec is unrivaled for its full-raster, 10-bit, 4:2:2 sampling with none of the inherent compromises of 8-bit, long GOP and 4:2:0 recording. The HPX370 provides the ultra reliability of a solid-state design and the faster speed of a file-based workflow.

The HPX370 utilizes a 20-bit digital signal processor and high-resolution 3-MOS imagers, enhanced with U.L.T., which boosts the sensors’ performance to rival the image quality and sensitive of ½” imagers. The new U.L.T. sensor results in marked improvements in sensitivity, measured at F10. These high levels of sensitivity and image quality have been achieved with a new high-sensitivity photodiode and low-noise pixel transistor, both based on low-noise analog process technology. The same levels of sensitivity and image production that characterize the interlace mode are now possible in the progressive mode courtesy of Progressive Advanced Processing (P.A.P.), a 3D adaptive processing technology.

With the flexibility of an interchangeable lens, the HPX370 can be used with 1/3″ to 2/3″ lens adapters for use with existing 2/3″ zoom and prime lenses. The camera offers a broad range of creative features including variable frame rates, advanced gamma functions including a new Cine film-like gamma, Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), built-in scan reverse, Dynamic Range Stretch (DRS) function, waveform and vector scope display and focus assist tools. The HPX370 also comes equipped with flash band detection and compensation software built-in for improved CMOS performance.

HDW : Funny isn’t it only a year ago we were drooling over the HPX-300 till we discovered the bombshell…the dancing black dots, it seems Panasonic never learn and are intent on bringing out wonderful camcorders that stop short of being fantastic. Once again they are using the 1/3″ chipset in this camcorder now as far as I am concerned it doesn’t matter how much dressing you add to the outside of a camcorder it’s the size of the chips that matter and to bring out a further 1/3″ pro camcorder is to say the least dega vu.

Hand held camcorders get away with 1/3″ chips but they are directed at a different marketplace, shoulder mount camcorders are on the whole taken up by professionals who are used to 2/3″ chipsets, they also have spare 2/3″ glass like WA lenses etc. Sony have just brought out the PMW-350 2/3″ shoulder mount camcorder to attract the very marketplace I am banging on about.

Panasonic’s brewing up some 1080p goodies in the new HDC-HS700 and HDC-TM700 (pictured) camcorders, both of which do up 1080p video at a nice 50/60 fps (or 50i/60i or 24p), and record using a 3MOS sensor system. The new cameras are differentiated with a 240GB HDD in the HS700 and the 32GB of flash memory in the TM700, and act as a followup to the well-lauded HS300 / TM300 series. Both of the new shooters are otherwise pretty much identical, including SD / SDHC / SDXC memory card expansion, new 35mm-style wide angle lenses, 12x optical zoom and some gyroscope-based “Power O.I.S.” image stabilization to beef up the experience. They can also do 14.2 megapixel stills and record 5.1 surround sound with the five built-in microphones.

There’s no word on price yet, but it’ll be announced 30 days in advance of when they ship, whenever that might be. For reference, the TM300 hovers around the $1,100 mark currently, so we doubt these will be undercutting that unit on price. Amazon UK has revealed a price and expected arrival date for the HS700. Priced at £1,199 ($1,873), the camcorder is listed as scheduled for a March 1 release, so there won’t be much of a wait for the wealthy among us.

We thought you might be interested to know that Panasonic Professional Broadcast and IT Systems Europe is currently running a ‘trade in’ offer giving dealers up to £13,500 back in part-exchange on certain camcorder models when they purchase a new AJ-HPX3700 or AJ-HPX2700. Panasonic is running this offer until 30^th September 2009 as a way of encouraging purchases of its high-end P2 camcorders and to help dealers in the turbulent economic climate.

Customers can part-exchange a range of camcorder models from the list below and will be rewarded £13,500 when purchasing the AJ-HPX3700, and £8,000 when purchasing the AJ-HPX2700. All ‘trade-in’ camcorders need to be in good working condition for the offer to be completed.

Cameras accepted in part exchange are:

• Sony Digital Betacam
• Sony HDCam
• Sony XDCam Optical Disc 2/3 inch
• Ikegami EditCam Hard Disk
• Thomson/GVG Infinity Digital
• Panasonic DVCPRO50 & DVCPROHD Tape Base shoulder camcorders
• Red One

Cameras excluded from the offer are:

• Sony DVW-700
• Betacam SX camcorders

I still want to know “WHAT ARE PANASONIC GOING TO DO WITH ALL THESE 2nd HAND CAMCORDERS” Why oh why do they mention the RED ONE who in their right mind is going to flogg a RED ONE costing upwards of £27,ooo (Kit plus lens) and pay an extra £13,500 for an HPX3700 with no lens ???