Panasonic announced at NAB that it would soon offer 32GB P2 memory cards for it’s range of HD cameras. They are expected to ship this November for the price of $1800 USD.
The new 32GB cards will be able to hold:
- 32 mins of DVCPRO HD
- 80 mins of DVCPRO HD 24p
- 64 mins of DVCPRO 50
- 128 mins of DVCPRO
P2 solid state memory cards will now be a serious alternative to tape and disk-based media and feature no moving parts and all the benefits of a file-based workflow. No need to spend hours capturing your footage, just import it and in seconds you can have it on your timeline ready to edit.
I recently worked on a project shot in DVCPRO HD 720p24 with a Panasonic AG-HVX200 on P2 cards. The footage looked great and was an absolute joy to work with in Final Cut Pro. Look for an upcoming FCP Tips article on P2 Workflows.
Panasonic currently has 5 cameras using the P2 format. The ever popular HVX200 has 2 memory card slots. That equates to 64 mins of DVCPRO HD recording time with the new 32GB cards. If you step up to the HPX500 camera and it’s 4 slots you get an impressive 128 mins of DVCPRO HD recording time.
Panasonic’s upcoming AG-HPX3000 camera will not only boast 5 memory card slots but will also feature the highly advanced AVC-Intra compression format. AVC-Intra will essentially offer double the recording time on P2 cards thanks to its lower data rate. How does 320 mins of HD footage in AVC-Intra 50 sound? Goodbye tape… It was nice knowing ya!
The existing 16GB, 8GB and 4GB P2 cards will all be receiving a welcomed price drop. In fact Panasonic seems to be fading out the 4GB flavor all together so grab them while you still can.
