Archive notice: This article was originally published on October 21, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
SWR already provides more than 30 Panasonic AG-HPX171 cameras to equip its video journalists at three locations—Mainz, Stuttgart and Baden-Baden. The video journalists are trained in multi-week “VJ boot camps” run by the public-service broadcasters. According to Panasonic, under the guidance of experienced VJ practitioners, participants in these VJ courses intensively explore the many possibilities for designing content and reports, as well as the safe handling of the Panasonic camera in every conceivable video-shooting situation. The trained video journalists at the locations now use the AG-HPX171 to produce current reports for SWR and ARD programming every day.
The first VJ boot-camp training for an entirely tapeless report-production process was held that year at SWR in Mainz with 23 participants and four trainers. During an extremely demanding four-week training period, participants learn every refinement of video journalism with regard to fast camera handling, current shooting situations, and prompt editing and post-production. Today’s modern video journalist has to handle all these requirements quickly and reliably alone—especially in documentary shooting situations, this provides a particular advantage because the authenticity of the shoot is not disturbed by a large multi-person team.
Panasonic’s AG-HPX171 is a solid-state P2 HD camcorder and enables entirely tapeless video production based on the P2 workflow, as well as easy integration into standardised IT processes. The VJ can edit footage from the P2 memory card directly on a laptop or save it to a hard drive, making production of the final report significantly easier and, above all, eliminating lost time.
The camera has HD-SDI and supports more than 20 HD and SD formats: 1080i and 720p in DVCPRO HD, 576i in DVCPRO 50/DVCPRO, and 576i in DV. The model is equipped with three 1/3-inch 16:9 CCDs, a 13x Leica Dicomar 28 mm wide-angle lens, two P2 slots, CineGamma mode, FireWire, USB 2.0, composite and component outputs, XLR audio with 48 V phantom power, and manual audio-level control.
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