Panasonic AG-HPX172EN HD/SD Handheld 3CCD P2 Camcorder

At 1.9kg, the AG-HPX172 debuts as the lightest member of the P2 family. It combines small size and light weight with an ideal balance - the center of gravity is in the hand grip - to bring exceptional comfort and maneuverability to handheld recording. The zoom lens further enhances shooting ease and convenience, letting the AG-HPX172 handle a wide range of applications without requiring a conversion lens.

 
The wide-angle zoom lens is smaller, lighter, and wider in this 13x zoom lens with a lens structure that combines 13 lens elements in 10 groups, with 3 aspherical lenses and a minimum object distance of about 0.6 meter helps to maximize the handheld camcorder's inherent mobility. The Leica Dicomar lens incorporates Leica optical technology throughout covering most shooting situations without requiring a wide-angle conversion lens and a cam-driven zoom ring ensures accurate zooming. A multi-coating process minimizes flare and ghosting resulting in sharp, crisp, beautifully rendered images with delicate nuances and exceptional shading and the diameter of the front lens element is 53.2 mm, while still achieving a 28mm wide angle (35mm equivalent).

 
Panasonic's advanced Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) dramatically reduces the blurring caused by hand-held camera work. Optical processing with an automatic correction function helps assure consistently clear, sharp images.

 
The 1/3-inch 16:9 progressive CCD further raises image quality by combining improved S/N ratio and better low-light performance. With a high-performance digital signal processor, the CCD brings higher quality to HD images.

 
Progressive to interlace conversion, cross conversion and down conversion all start with the 1080/50p scan. That initial 1080p native progressive scan offers the highest level of vertical resolution possible at this level of camera. The camera does not record this signal but uses it as a basis for all captures leading to an HD or SD recording with a level of image quality that cannot be matched by electronically processed scans.

 
The digital signal processor uses 14-bit A/D conversion and 19-bit inner processing to attain accuracy. It is from this capture that all other signals are made. It performs a variety of adjustments, including 8 types of gamma settings, for each of the R, G and B channels and also converts the signals to HD or SD format, with a performance equivalent to many higher-end HD cameras.

 
In scenes with mixed contrast, such as when panning from indoors to outdoors, the Dynamic Range Stretch function automatically suppresses blocked shadows and blown highlights. A gamma curve and knee slope is estimated to match the contrast of each pixel, and applied in real time. When dark, bright, and intermediate shades are all contained in the same scene, this produces excellent gradation for each shade and results in a visually wide dynamic range.