Cool new P2 recording deck the AG-HPG20

The AG-HPG20 from Panasonic (also known as the P2 Gear)

This is going to be very popular amongst HD Producers wanting to shoot in tight spaces or with cameras that record at low bit rates Like the Sony EX1!

The original (1st generation) P2 gear had two P2 card slots and had a built in 60GB hard drive. It was designed to be a location backup device when card capacity was a lot smaller (4gb, 8GB) however there was no confidence monitor ands so when a card had copied the light changed from orange to green. Not ideal for absolute confidence that the files had transfered.

Then the Second generation of P2 Gear (HPG-10) had no built in hard drive but did come with an LCD screen. The idea was that you could review P2 cards on the LCD panel, copy clips from one card to another then write to an external hard drive of your choosing.

Panasonic have got it just right with this device!

This unit has HD-SDI input for Full HD recording in AVC intra 50/100 and DVCPRO 100 and Firewire in for DVCPRO 25/50 in SD, which means you can use it like a multi format record deck, yet it’s not much bigger than a brick!

Here’s a short video (only 2 minutes) presented by Marc Irwin , UK Marketing Manager for Panasonic Broadcast. He gives us a short overview:

Professional & Broadcast equipment product videos from Creative Video

So what does that mean for you?

Well if you record full 1920×1080 HD at 10 bit 422 AVC intra 100 then you have a device that can take any HD-SDI signal from any camera , from any manufacturer and record onto a format that is widely accepted by HD broadcasters the world over.

For example, the BBC in the UK and Sky HD and Channel 4 HD all currently have an issue with the 35mb/s recording of the Sony PMW-EX1 and PMW-EX3 and have suggested that users plug in the Flash XDR from convergent design in order to record at a higher bit rate than 35mb/s (the Flash XDR will record 50mb/s-140mb/s but on to Compact Flash cards)

While the Convergent design Flash XDR is a great piece of kit if you are say using Polecam or minicams with easy access to monitor play back and more controlled shooting situations but it doesn’t tick all the boxes if you are running around as a one man band operator or a self shooting director with an already large workload- you just don’t need the hassle.

But if you are a self shooting AP working on an observational documentary project and you are running around following a subject, then you might consider this device the HPG-20 for the following reasons:

Firstly there is a built in LCD screen which allows you to review your shots straight away

(takes the worry out of wondering whether or not you are recording and you can instantly review clips - one less thing to worry about)

Secondly it’s powered by a small Panasonic standard camera battery so the whole device remains compact

(you throw it in a backpack and off you go - getting back to concentrating on your subject matter)

Thirdly you can record a variety of formats: AVC intra 100/50, DVCPRO 100/50 and 25

(one size fits all applications both SD/HD in one smal box)

This really is a product worth looking at if you are shooting in HD!

- Den

Here’s the video again

Professional & Broadcast equipment product videos from Creative Video