Pro video blog…Produced by Philip Johnston DoP/Editor

AC8

I should be getting one of the new shoulder mount Full-HD 1080P AVCCAM camcorders, the AG-AC8 from Panasonic. This camcorder should fit the bill for event, education, media training and emergency services training, so on Friday night I will hand it over to Stuart one of my freelance cameramen to give it a run through during a charity night in aid of “maggie’s” cancer charity.

H Preston Media have this camcorder priced at £1,070 a cracking price, I hope to get a video produced by the end of next week.
AC8-side

Holdan : “An unbelievable price for a full HD shoulder-mount camcorder with lots of professional features. It’s a great introduction to handling a fuller size system and will be of interest to videographers, the webstreaming community and education users.”

Features:

  • Shoulder mount Full-HD 1080P AVCCAM camera recorder
  • Dual SD Cards
  • 21x optical zoom and intelligent auto mode (iA) with up to 50x zoom
  • 5-axis hybrid OIS (Optical Image Stabiliser)
  • Eye-Fi™ SD card compatible
  • Interfaces
    HDMI TypeA, Microphones (stereo mini), Headphone (stereo mini), USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Host/Device, AV, Video Component
author

Having been working in the video business since 1988 I have amassed a great amount of knowledge of both the kit and production values over the last 30 years.

2 thoughts on “Panasonic AG-AC8 Video Overview coming soon

  1. I’m interested in the AG-AC8 and have read your overview with interest and the video review where you tested the camera with Graham at Viewpoint Video Productions. I’m looking for a low cost camera (I currently don’t have the budget for something like the JVC GY-HM650U), which will be mainly used for run and gun situations, filming interviews and music performances with little or no set up time and mostly available light and possibly a camera mounted LED light for close up interview shots.

    I’m torn between the AG-AC90 and the AG-AC8. There seems to be very little information about the AC8 to make a comparison between the two so was wondering on your tests, how low light performance compares between the two cameras? Is the supplied on board shot gun mic on the AC8 any good? Is there a marked difference in image quality (colour saturation and dynamic range), between the 3 CCD AC90 and the 1 CCD AC8? Would the AC8 have a newer technology chip that may in fact have some advantages over the AC90’s 3 CCD’s?

    The main reason for me looking at the AC90 is the XLR audio and 3CCD’s. Although at present I’m recording audio separately and dubbing which has not caused any lip sync issues. The AC90 looks good but the technology looks a bit old and seems quite similar to my 3 year old Panasonic SD900 spec wise.

    Any advice / comments you can give will be gratefully received.

    Keep up the good work with the reviews, very informative and well put together.

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