Shooting Stories Of Life With Panasonic P2

Panasonic have announced that Italian filmmaker Elisa Bolognini has chosen Panasonic P2 for the production of a 20-part social documentary series, 'Racconti di Vita', which will be screened by RAI 2 television in November 2008.
'Racconti di Vita' is an established series that documents people facing challenges and adversities that highlight social issues. For the upcoming series, Bolognini specified Panasonic AJ-HPX3000 cameras and P2 storage cards to take the series forward in quality.
Bolognini said: "As a director, I am impressed by the greater brightness and definition the P2 cameras offer. There is more depth and subtlety in the colour and shading - a richer chromatic range. And, when we are shooting in the field, with the compactness of both the camera and the media, we can travel much lighter. These things are important to a storyteller."
Panasonic's AJ-HPX3000 camcorder records onto the P2 card system of solid state flash memory. With five card slots, and using the highest-quality AVC-intra 100 codec, five 32GB P2 cards will capture 200 minutes of 1080/24p material. The AVC-intra 50 codec (similar in quality to DVCPRO HD) yields twice as much recording time. The AJ-HPX3000 also offers the revolutionary new Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC) that electronically reduces colour shift and optical registration issues that can hinder 3-chip camera systems. The Dynamic Range Stretcher (DRS) function can expand the exposure range of the camera without creating excessive banding in highlights or blocking in shadows. The AJ-HPX3000 has an extremely low noise for an exceptionally clean image. The camera also features six gamma modes including the popular Film-Rec mode from the VariCam.
Jaume Rey, European Director of Panasonic's Broadcast and IT Systems (PBITS) Business Unit, said: "The combination of practical and creative benefits offered by the P2 range of cameras appeals strongly to users across a very wide range of applications. Panasonic continues to stretch out its lead in solid state production with cameras that provide superior image quality, greater recording time and operational convenience, innovative shooting modes, and market-beating value."
Further information is available at: www.panasonic-broadcast.com.
(KMcA)