HWM Platinum Award - AG-HVX202 High-Definition Camcorder

Extracts from HWM Singapore, June 2006 / Reviewed By Andrew Tan - The Panasonic AG-HVX202 is considered by many independent filmmakers and industry professionals to be nothing less than the holy-grail of all cost-efficient high-definition camcorders, proclaiming it to surpass the present foray of cameras from Sony, JVC and Canon, and setting an entirely new paradigm for HD acquisition. But why should the average HWM reader bother with such an expensive (relatively speaking) camcorder targeted mainly at professionals and the most hardcore of prosumers? Just as car magazines occasionally review astronomically priced super-cars to show what the best can do (and what your're basically missing out on), allow us to indulge in reviewing this potentially perfect camcorder that showcases the latest advances made in HD shooting.

The AG-HVX202 is the Asian/Australian PAL region version of the AG-HVX200 and the main reason why it's attracting so much attention in the industry is that is employs some of the coveted features from the ultra-expensive (think six-figures) VariCam and CineAlta cameras, namely the ability to shoot at variable frame rates and to shoot HD at 24 frames per second (25p for PAL). In fact it is probably the only camcorder under US100,000 to be able to record 1080 video at 25p. More importantly, it has a whole array of recording formats from PAL (576i), DVCPRO, and DVCPRO50 to DVCPRO HD (both 720 and 1080), across a variety of frame rates. Variable frame rate recording however is only available when shooting in 720p mode. In comparison, other prosumer HD camcorders only record in one particular format (Sony opts for 1080i and JVC goes with 720p). To record in DVCPRO HD however, users have to use the P2 memory card as the storage medium, and not onto a Mini DV tape. The HVC202 does have a cassette holder for a Mini DV tape and is able to record in tape mode, but it can only record in standard definition (PAL 576i/50i or 25p) in that mode. So most people will be looking to record on the P2 card since the whole point of this camcorder is to shoot in high definition.

Inside a P2 card are four high-speed SD memory Cards put in a RAID array together with an LSI controller, all tightly designed into PCMCIA enclosure. The specified maximum data rate is 640Mbps (or 80MB/s) and a P2 card can run from any PCMCIA slot (with the drivers from the included CD-ROM installed). There are obvious numerous advantages in recording to a solid-state medium, including being virtually maintenance-free and not having to worry about condensation or excessive movement disturbing the recording mechanism. Users can also choose which scene to play back from a P2 card; unlike DV tapes where you have to rewind or forward to search for a particular segment. It also greatly increases the efficiency of the workflow, as no video capturing by your NLE (non-linear editing) software in needed. Just drag and drop the files from the P2 card onto your editing system. There is a slight stumbling block however as not all NLE systems fully support the MXF container in which the DVCPRO HD format is put into. Final Cut Pro for example requires that the video and sounds files on a P2 card be put through an intermediary format (MOV) before it can be imported onto the timeline.

But here we come to the main principal, and the only fault of the HVX202, is that the largest size for a P2 card is currently only 8GB. Since DVCPRO HD 1080i or 720p takes up about 1Gb for one single minute of footage, 8GB provides only about 8 minutes. Eight minutes. Let that sink in for a while. Since the camera has two card slots, the current maximum recording time would be about 16 minutes. The idea is that you would have in your possession on three P2 cards, and when recording past the eight-minute mark for Card A, the camera would then continuously record onto Card B without any break. You would take Card A, put in Card C, and put Card A into a notebook or an accessory like the P2 Store portable hard disk unit. And transfer out all 8GB of data. This process can take anywhere from seven and a half minutes to nine minutes. By then, Card B would have been full and the camera would be recording onto Card C already. So you would have to swap out Card B with Card A, and empty Card B and so on. Professionals who have dealt with film would already be used to this frequent changing of film stock media, and there's a camera assistant who is solely in charge of changing it. With the HVC202, you'll probably need dedicated assistants to keep track which P2 card are being copied and which ones to swap out.

There are alternative solutions to this issues, such as purchasing a portable DTE recorder from FOCUS Enhancements ? the FireStore GS-100 (which is priced at US$2195), which is actually an external Firewire hard drice, on connect the camera directly to a tricked-out notebook via Firewire and capture video through non-linear editing software such as Final Cut Pro.

Meanwhile, P2 cards are expected to increase in size (32GB by next year) and prices are also expected to drop accordingly. Right now, the 4GB P2 card costs US$550 and 8GB model costs US$1400.

It is important to establish that this is not a HDV camcorder. The HDV format uses interframe MPEG-2 compression, creating difficulties for editing as it would involve a decompression and recompression of an entire frame group. HDV also records at the same bandwidth as DV, which is 25Mbpps, heavily compresses audio 384kbps and samples in the 4:2:0 space. The HD format which the HVX202 records in DVCPRO HD, records at the bandwidth of 100Mbps, and not a highly compressed MPEG-2 format.

It terms of designing the CCD, Panasonic had to make a fundamental decision between resolution or dynamic range. They could have used a 1/3-inch 1920 x 1080 native resolution CCD but its capturing sensitivity would be too low, hence squeezing as many pixels as possible on a CCD is not always ideal ? the same reason why a seven megapixel camera can have more image noise than a five megapixel camera (given that both cameras' CCDs are of the same size). Instead, Panasonic decided to use 3 1/3-inch CCDs in a 540 x 960 resolution array in 16:9 aspect ratio. Using a spatial offset technique in both horizontal and vertical directions, the effective resolution of the CCD System is set at 1440 x 810. This allows the use of larger pixels on a CCD for greater dynamic range and low light performance, but maintains high resolutions through the offset strategy. The HVX202's digital processing chain uses a 14- bit A/D conversion in a 19-bit system, and the camera is always working in 1080 progressive mode at 50 frames (60 frames for NTSC version), regardless of what recoding mode the user has chosen. So the optical image captured from the CCD system is captured to 1080i, the cross-converted to whatever mode the user has chosen.

Putting aside codecs and looking at the physique of the camera for a moment, the main camera body is made out the same magnesium alloy diecast chassis that Panasonic uses on their DVCPRO broadcast cameras, but put into the same form factor and design as the popular AG-DVX100. The camera body is well-balanced but can get heavy if hand carried for long-periods of time. It comes with a removable lens hood, but its wide-angle Leica DICOMAR lens is permanently fixed. There are a small number of add-on lenses and adapters from Century Precision Optics, Cinemek and others to alter the field of view of this lens. Fans of Canon-Xl series of camcorders will no doubt start using this point against the HVX202, but it seems Panasonic has worked some dark magic in its lens system for its close focusing performance to be truly extraordinary ? right up to the front element ? and all without a dedicated tele-macro function. Its wide-angle coverage is up to 4.2mm (32.5mm in 35mm equivalent terms), and should suffice in most situations. Electronic New Gathering (ENG) applications will greatly benefit from having such a versatile lens, but one important issue must be noted. We found severe barrel distortion when shooting our resolution test chart, so if you're shooting anything with geometrical lines at close-up range, be mindful that the edges are going to appear to bend inwards. The optical stabilization system worked great in ensuring sharpness in telephoto, but it can be turned off at a touch of a button. A zoom toggle and record button can be found on the handle, along with a three-position switch (1/2/3) for adjustable zoom speeds in the menu (Low, Medium, High or Off).

• Back to Awards & Reviews Top