The Royal Treatment

At Panasonic Headquarters in Secaucus, NJ, I was shown two great camcorder solutions for education. 

Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Company — Panasonic Education Solutions

Panasonic Broadcast
AG-HMC70
Panasonic professional camcorders
Hardware, $2,495 list price

The shoulder mount AG-HMC70, AVCHD Panasonic professional camcorder was released in April. Unlike HDV, AVCHD content can be captured on a standard SD card (up to 32 GB at this time) and played immediately on Blu-ray players, game machines, computers, and plasma displays. It uses second generation HD format, utilizing MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression, with significant improvements in bandwidth efficiency and image quality over older MPEG-2-based systems. The HMC70’s 3-CCD ¼ progressive image system captures 1080i HD, 16:9 images, and is equipped with a12 x 38.5mm to 426mm (35mm equivalent) Leica Dicomar wide-angle zoom lens, one-push Auto Focus, and integrated Optical Image Stabilization. Users can record from 2.6 - 6 hours, depending upon mode - 6Mbps, 9Mbps, or 13Mbps. It is a fast and easy way for schools to enjoy the advantages of high definition video recording.
www.panasonic.com/broadcast

Panasonic Visit

The AG-HSC1U compact handheld, smallest and lightest 3-CCD HD camcorder weighing in at one pound, lists at $2,099, and the AG-HMC70 lightweight shoulder-mount camcorder for a professional look, which will be available in April for $2,495. Both camcorders use solid-state SD card recording and can capture still images while recording. I tried this and was able to take better still images, in a dimly lighted room than I had with my own digital camera.

The AGHSC1U handheld, foreground, with the AG-HMC70 in the background, will help with size comparison.

What’s amazing is that both save video to SD cards, making them as easy to operate as a digital camera.

  
Bob Harris, Vice President, Marketing & Product development holds a 32GB (gold) SD card in his right hand and a P2 card in his left. Video recording has gotten a whole lot easier. Everything saves to a file and can be edited with almost any editing solution from Final Cut Studio 2, to Adobe CS3 Production Pro, to Corel’s VideoStudio 11. This kind of recording streamlines production and best of all, anyone can do it and produce professional results.

Steve Golub, Product Line Business Manager (Proline and Monitors), demonstrates the AG-HMC70 lightweight shoulder-mount camcorder before handing it over to me for a try.

The images are clean, clear, and stable in all recording conditions. 

Jim Wickizer, National Manager, Marketing Services and Communications enjoyed the presentation with us.

In the old days, I used to borrow a video recorder from the high school during the day to use in my language arts classes, and then return it after school, so they could record basketball practice. I remember that recording wasn’t easy and results inconsistent. Not long ago, as an instructional technology specialist, I wanted to record morning announcements, have our music specialist record lessons, fingering position and technique, best practice lessons, special presentations, daily event, and of course, sporting events, but coordinating all the technology was impossible. Panasonic’s education solutions make these and other ideas possible, and at a reasonable price. You don’t need a production studio to do professional recording and get professional results.

What’s best, is that the even the smallest district or school can do this. I like products like this — that don’t outprice the smaller education consumer.

Thanks to Stacy Moore (right), Marketing Communications Specialist for setting up the meeting.