Portable P2 Deck - Mockup at DVExpo
 

I was at the Panasonic booth today talking to one of the floor reps about this new toy. They didn't have any literature about it yet, so everything I'm about to say came from talking to the rep and examining the mockup.

It's similar in size to the P2 Store, but with 2 slots and a flip up screen.
Connectors:
P2 slots
SD slot
FW400 in/out (2)
FW800 in/out
RCA audio out (one channel 1, one channel 2)
HD/SD-SDI out
BNC out
Component out (D connector)

Features:
-Play back from cards /view thumbnail (like in MCR mode on the HVX)
-1394 Host mode- for offload to an external HDD (thru 6-pin FW, so bus power is possible!)
-1394 Device mode- for offload to computer, etc
-Can be used as an edit deck: Firewire passthrough to SDI, Component, and BNC
-Powered by a camcorder battery like the P2 Store.

According to the rep, it's supposed to release next summer for... wait for it....... $400-$500.

If these specs are correct, this could replace the need for a laptop in the field and an edit deck in post.... to an extent.

That would be sweetness!!
Any more poop anywhere on this??
Thanks

No kidding; if all that functionality translates into the real product especially at that price-point it would be one of the biggest "must haves" for any P2 workflow. Can't wait.

Were you able to snap any pics (or allowed to) of the mock-up, Matt? Does Panny have any web-lit on it yet?

Here we go... just a few quick shots reaching through a crowd.

I'm not sure about any web lit... didn't catch a model #. The rep said there would be more info sometime early next year.

That and the Cineporter would be cool.

I hope the sales rep did not forget an extra 0 in the price of that unit :)
in any case this is definitely the missing link in P2 field recording.
very interesting, thanks for the news and pictures matt.

Matt, thanks a bunch for the pics -- your report is much appreciated! Cheers,

Matt, that looks really exciting. Thanks for posting the info. I really believe that Panasonic will have a tough time over the next year with P2. A simple, cheap device like this might be the "loss leader" that keeps people buying into the rest of the line. Sure hope so. They make such good cameras. I just hope people continue to use them. Hear, hear, to the future of Panasonic.

No problem guys, glad to contribute.

If anyone reading this is going to DVExpo these next two days, might be worth suggesting a headphone jack to the reps... it just occured to me on the drive home that there wasn't one on the mockup.

I stoped by DVExpo after seeing this post and asked the Pana guy about it, he said it was 'below 5k'. Five THOUSAND I asked, and yes, not 500. ;(

He said it had similar features to the HVX200 except no camera. Seemed high to me. . .Sorry. . .

So it doesn't have a hard drive... it just functions as a playback and import device? And it costs ~$4k?!!!

What's the point? Why not just get another HVX200 for that price?

It doesn't even have the expensive parts of a camera. No offense to Vince, but I'm believing Matt's story.

It's just got to be true!

Sam,
Yes, according to the rep I talked to, there is no internal hard drive. Personally I like their thinking--- you can choose the size of the external drive as well as whether or not it bus powered. It would be smart to add a USB2 port however. There wasn't one on the mockup.

And yeah, I agree that $4-5k for a playback-only device is WAY too much considering the price of the HVX, though somehow it wouldn't surprise me if that is accurate. Around $1000 would make sense, but 500 would be perfect! :)

Charging $5k seems like the same kind of logic as charging $1800 for a 60GB P2 Store...

I think the sale rep meant you can buy that plastic mockup unit for $500 :)

Well $500 is still under $5K !

If the correct pricing is truely "under $5k" then I'll pass. That would make it similar in pricing and concept as what Sony did when the Z1 came out; they offered a stand-alone HDV deck that was basically the FX1 in a shell minus the camera portion - and sold it for about $500 less than the camera. It even used the same batts as the cameras for portability. Most people just bought a second camera and used it as a capture deck rather than buying a "deck only" version.

That's what this device seems to be; an "HVX in a box" minus the camera portion and to me the "under $5k" pricing doesn't make sense.

There is another P2 deck device that would make sense (I can't remember the model or price) but it's more for ENG crews that need in-the-field edit capabilites not tied to an NLE. I'm sure that deck is around $10k, but it's worlds apart in capabilities from this device.

Robert, they are adding HD-SDI out! That's probably where the extra money went! (Joke)

Seriously, tough, I would only buy this item if it could do one thing: preview my backed up data on a firewire drive trough its screen. That way, maybe one could use the deck as a monitoring device, like a matrox MXO, to serve as a passtrough device from firewire to a Component or HD-SDI monitor. And it would be great for reviewing footage on the field- Just connect the firewire drive and see the contents on a portable lcd or the deck screen. If it had these functions, I would certainly think about buying it. But at a 1000 or 1200 pricepoint, nothing more.

No way this is $400 - $500. The P2 store is a silly price for what you get, it should have this functionality already built in. I suspect this will be closer to $2k. Not sure I really get why you would need it when a nice laptop would do the same thing and give you a much bigger screen...



ash =o)

Man, I will be happy if this lil' fella can only playback trough HD-SDI, or even w/o th HD-SDI will be awesome, in my company we do a lot of field production and we need to monitor each take we make, with this our productions will be cool!

P.D. sorry for my lousy english, I'm just too excited aobut this deck.

Its funny why some generic maker wont come out with a P2 card (unless putting SD card in a PCMCIA shell is patent protected for Panasonic).

I dont think it is such a big deal. SD memory cards are super cheap these days at 2Gb. 4 or 8 surely fits in a PCMCIA shell.

Any gadget developer hear me? :) Super business at the pricepoint around $400 for 8 Gb....

I don't think that put 4 o 8 SD cards in a PCMCIA shell would be easy, remember that panasonic's P2 tecnologic says that they put 4 (I don't know, maybe more or less) SD cards in some form of RAID for performance. Maybe as you say that would be easy for us (consumers) to adquire generics P2 cards for less money, but is panasonics decission.

There is a *lot* more going on inside a P2 array than just four SD memory cards.

And they work....
I have not had one problem with P2....
Of course you could always contact Panasonic
and see if you can get a license to manufacture
P2 cards. It is done for thousands of products.....
Or design and make a device like the Firestore....
I take the products that are here and make money with
them today. It is incredible that cameras are where they
are since I started rolling B&W videotape using 1/2"
reel to reel tapes in 1977.
And my sons will probably live on the next moonbase in 20 years.....

Yeah, I wanna be there to get stock footage of them playing micro-gravity golf! (^_*)

Your invited!!

The moon is so 1970's. Everybody know Mars is where the future action in video is going to be. Why do you think they named it the "Red" Camera? As if!

You need a solid base before you go to RED.....