Panasonic to Announce AJ-HDX100 Under $10,000 HD Camcorder at NAB with 24P by Robin Liss Published on Feb 11, 2005 2:00 PM

The source said that the camcorder was announced at a private press event in New York, however journalists were instructed to keep the information confidential. The new camcorder's model name will apparently be the AJ-HDX100 - a name very similar to Panasonic's AG-DVX100.

The addition of 24 frames progressive recording is big news for prosumers looking to shoot in high definition. There is currently no high definition camcorder under $40,000 which records at a 24 frames progressive (24P) rate. Panasonic saw huge success with their 24P mode in their AG-DVX100, especially with the independent film community.

The camcorder will record to MiniDV tapes, however it will also have a P2 card slot. The P2 card format was introduced by Panasonic as a tapeless news gathering recording format. The cards contain a matrix of smaller secure digital type cards and cost upwards of $4,000 each. The benefit of the system is that there are no moving parts, allowing the camcorder to go into extreme conditions.

Officials from Panasonic had no comment on the leak. It is unclear if the camcorder will record in the HDV format used by Sony's current HD prosumer camcorders. The HDV format has been endorsed by Sony, Canon, JVC and Sharp as a prosumer and consumer high definition video format, though Panasonic is absent from this group.