Panasonic said the Focus FS-250WF, an H.264 proxy recorder developed in conjunction with Vitec, is ready to ship later this month with a suggested list price of $1555.
The camera-mountable unit, designed for the AG-HPX250 and -HPX255 camcorders, records H.264 proxies (including timecode and metadata) to SD cards as .MOV files at the same time high-resolution 10-bit 4:2:2 AVC-Intra camera files are being recorded to P2 media. It also allows custom metadata input from a web interface, along with the viewing of streaming clips, via an included wireless module. A desktop application synchronizes the proxies with their associated P2 clips, and aggregates the metadata.
The resolution and bit rate of the proxies are user-selectable from a low of 352×240 (NTSC) at 800 kbps to a high of 960×540 at 3 to 4 Mbps.
For more information, download Vitec's datasheet [PDF] or visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast.