Romualdi Chooses Panasonic P2 For 'Italia Sul 2'

Italian director Filippo Romualdi has chosen Panasonic P2 to produce the episodic drama series shown four times a week within 'Italia Sul 2', a multi-thematic programme.
In production since January 2008, the series is being shot with the Panasonic AJ-HPX3000 camcorder and 16-GB P2 storage cards.
Romualdi explained: "Using the P2 technology we have halved production and post-production time. Now we can check any frame without losing time in rewinding tapes and searching for the right one. The advantage to me as a director is that I can decide immediately if another take is necessary or not - and that adds up to a huge time saving for me and for the operators."
Panasonic's AJ-HPX3000 camcorder records onto the P2 card system of solid-state flash memory. The camcorder is equipped with five card slots and uses the highest quality AVC-Intra 100 codec. Its five 32-GB 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.
Because 'Italia Sul 2' is an SD production, Romualdi emphasizes the image quality as a key consideration in his choice of P2 and the AJ-HPX3000. He said: "Even if you are shooting for SD, the image quality has a similar feel to HD and film. Even without perfect light conditions, we get excellent results: bright colours, high definition of details, and more shadows. That means saving time and money in looking for the perfect light on-location. I'm expecting Panasonic P2 technology to become the most widespread acquisition platform in Italy because it is surely the best on the market for quality and convenience."
The AJ-HPX3000 also offers the revolutionary new Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC) that electronically reduces colour shift and optical registration issues that can hinder three-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 floor for an exceptionally clean image. The camera also features six gamma modes including the popular Film-Rec mode from the VariCam.
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(KMcA/JM)