Panasonic ups the P2 ante to 16GB. Is it enough?

Panasonic unveiled its P2 strategy for the new year today by announcing the company’s solid-state P2 recording technology is set to take a big step forward, jumping in May from a maximum of 8 GB to a much more attractive 16 GB on a single card. P2 users who have been getting restless over the delayed introduction of 16 GB P2 cards (which were originally tipped for delivery in 2006) will be heartened to hear that the cards are finally slated to begin shipping in May.

“They want media-less cameras,” said Facchini when asked about the needs of P2 videographers in the field — for instance, the six camera crews that are slated to cover the upcoming Iditarod dog race with the existing generation of 8 GB P2 cards. “Their ideal workflow would be to put 32 GB cards in a camera and close the door and bolt it shut. And you could almost do that with 32 GB cards.”

Funny thing is that you can do it now with HDV camcorders. Clint Eastwood used Sony HDV camcorders sealed in ammo boxes for some of the footage in Flags of Our Fathers. Digital Content Producer relates, "They sealed and stabilized a series of Sony HVR-Z1U HDV cameras inside prop 50-caliber machine-gun ammunition cases, ...and gave the machine-gun cases to several extras acting in particular battle scenes." They captured wild footage that editor Joel Cox eventually mixed into certain sequences.  “...even with 8GB P2 cards, the run time was not sufficient for the way Clint was shooting, and the FireStore was not yet available. So we stayed with the Sony cameras for both movies."

Moreover a HDV tape costs around $10 (for 13g of space for 25mbps HDV) versus the current $1200 cost of a single 8g card, which holds just 8 minutes of 1080i footage. If you are thinking about an independent feature, there is great value in the ability to give yourself 60 more minutes of record time in the 20 seconds it takes to change a tape. Don't think its that much of a problem to offload P2, or a camcorder with an internal drive? Then read this