Last Updated on July 8, 2020
- PANASONIC AJPX270PJ P2 HD HANDHELD...
A First Look at AJ-PX270
Continuing the work of its predecessor, AG-HPX250, the Panasonic AJ-PX270 is promising to be an industry workhorse for news, documentaries, wedding and other non-fiction projects—only that it is exceptionally lighter-weight, extra compact and better performing under low light than the former. It is very convenient to lug around; it can be easily slipped into a small sack and carried through public places without attracting a lot of curious glances, making it the perfect tool for avid travellers who just love to document their trips not just in photos but also in videos.
Why You Will Love It
Better P2: The AJ-PX270 is the first of Panasonic’s P2 camera to support an AVC-ULTRA recording at 200 Mbps, which is enabled by the much better performing P2 media, including a microP2 card. The P2 cards make it possible for every videographer, even the newbies, to capture astonishing, crisp and clear images. Granted of course you are willing to pay the extra price for the paid upgrade. (Yeah, it unfortunately doesn’t come for free).
Lower Noise Sensor: The new camera is equipped with new 1/3-inch 3MOS sensors, offering many operational advantages—much to the delight of those shooting documentaries—including superb balance, ease of focus, lighter weight, and more compact form-factor. And despite having small sensors, you won’t have to struggle with pixels when shooting in low light because the PX270 addresses all that with better improved shadow integrity and lower noise level. It in fact comes with a new High Sensitivity menu option which facilitates setup, adjusting and many other functions.
Expanded Menu: I would dare say there’s just about everything in the new AJ-PX270 with its menu having expanded “exponentially” and embracing a more comprehensive approach to meet professional needs. Among the new additions is a 12-axis color corrector that supports three skin-tone configurations, enabling you to easily integrate multiple cameras when shooting broadcast event. Another worth-noting menu feature is the Film-Rec option, which before can only be found in the pricey VariCam. This newly added option comes with a dynamic level that can be set up at as high as 600%. There’s also a Video-Rec option that offers higher contrast level especially useful for dramatic productions for televisions. Other options added to the menu include low-bandwidth recording formats and master pedestal settable at +-200.
To highlight:
[list type=”check”]• 1/3inch 3MOS Sensors at 1920 x 1080
• 22x Optical Zoom Lens
• 2 x microP2 & 1 x P2 Media Card Slot
• AVC-ULTRA with 1080p Variable Frame Rate
• 3.5-inch LCD OLED Viewfinder screen
• Individual Zoom, Focus, Iris Rings
• Front Mounted Mic with Front Audio Level
• TC In/Out, Genlock In, 3G-SDI, HDMI Out
• LAN Port, USB 3.0 Host, USB 2.0
• Wireless file transfer option
[/list]What Will Make You Gripe
While the PX270 is operationally convenient in terms of ease-of-support during the shooting process, the severely limited space and the notably shrunken sizes of the essential buttons and controls make it rather difficult to operate the camera—especially for those of us with Barney-sized fingers.
Conclusion
No camera is perfect and certainly the AJ-PX270 is without a few comprises. Despite those, however, it delivers an extraordinary high level of performance at a relatively low cost. So, why not give it a try?
Image Device | 1/3″ 3MOS, 2.2 MP |
Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
Lens | 22x Optical Zoom Lens |
Minimum Illumination | 0.02 Lux (F1.6, Gain 18dB, 1 second exposure, High Sens mode) |
Built-in Filters | ND Clear 1/4 1/16 1/64 |
Recording Frame Rate | 720 x 480: 59.94i, 29.97p 720 x 576: 50i, 25p 1280 x 720pN 23.98/29.97 1280 x 720p 23.98/25/29.97/50/59.94 1920 x 1080i 50/59.94 1920 x 1080pA 23.98 1920 x 1080pN 23.98/29.97 1920 x 1080p 23.98/25/29.97/50/59.94 |
Recording Format | AVC Intra 100/50Inter LongG: G12/G25/G50 LongG6: ProxyDVCPROHD(except 720p/24p,30p,25p) DVCPRO50/DVCPRO/DVNote: The AJ-PX270 does not support all of the formats included in the AVC-ULTRA family. AVC-200 is announced as an update available June, 2014 |
Memory Card Slot | 2 x Micro P2 1 x P2 1 x SD |
LCD Monitor | 3.5″, QHD, approximately 156k dots |
Viewfinder | 0.5″ OLED, approximately 1.76 MP resolution |
Input and Output Connectors | Video Input Timecode: 1 x BNC Genlock: 1 x BNC (shared with video out)Video Output 3G-SDI: 1 x BNC Video: 1 x BNC (Combo Genlock in/Video out)Audio Input Balanced: 2 x XLRAudio Output Audio out: 1 x Headphone out: 1 x |
Power Requirements | 7.2VDC Uses: VW-VBD58 battery Compatible: CGA-D54 |
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Pleased as can be with this 4k camcorder. its smooth as butter @ 60 fps.