It looks like a pro broadcast camera, it feels like a pro broadcast camera, but it clocks in at $10,700, which is just the extreme end of the Videomaker market, so there you go. We indy video producers have reached new heights, and the high-end cameras have met us half-way by bringing affordable pro cameras to our market.

At a pre-NAB press junket in New York, our press associate, Paul Pierog, got to sit down with a few folks from Panasonic and look over some gear that Panasonic will be showing off in Las Vegas at the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention in April. Among the toys were a P2 Rapid Writer transfer tool for P2 workflow and some HD broadcast monitors, along with this AG-HPX300 P2 camcorder.

The 10-bit 4:2:2 camera has a 17x HD Fujinon lens and such features as waveform and vectorscope, hot-swapping of the two cards, and the output can be set for down conversion or cross-conversion with letterbox, 4:3 crop or squeeze.

If you can’t convince your partner, spouse, or bank to pop for the 10-grand, check out the AG-HPx300′s little brother, the Panasonic AG-HPX170, which will only set you back $5695. To find out more about the 170, here’s a sneak peak at the review in the upcoming May issue of Videomaker magazine. To find out more about the 300, read this press release below. Read the rest of this entry »