THE HVX202 is the latest award-winning addition to Panasonic's professional P2 camcorder range. Featuring the company's Professional Plug-in solid-state storage technology and a Mini DV compartment for standard-def recordings, it's a versatile unit that effectively offers the best of both worlds. It is a good, reliable option for freelance professionals and production studios on a budget.

The HVX202 is optimised for DVCPRO HD recording in either 1080i or 720p. As mentioned, it uses the P2 recording format to capture high-definition video. This is a new form of solid-state storage media similar to SSD memory cards and is a budding successor to HDV tape. All of Panasonic’s high-end broadcast-quality cameras now use this technology, with most major vendors following suit with equivalents of their own.

The benefits of P2 media over HDV are substantial, including the ability to hot-swap between cards while recording, a data transfer speed of up to 640Mbps, less power consumption, superior 4-2-2 colour recording and instant data access via PCMCIA-equipped notebooks.

Another advantage of the P2 format is the user-friendly way in which data is stored, with each recording appearing on the card as a separate clip. This not only makes playback a simple matter of selecting the appropriate thumbnail but also ensures you don't accidentally record over your footage.
Related Coverage

You can also drag-and-drop files directly onto your edit suite, which is naturally a lot more convenient than real-time transfers.

It has RS 422 and records DVC PRO 25 DVC PRO 50 and can  playback DV, DVCAM and DVC PRO 25 / 50.

It has RS 422 and records DVC PRO and can playback DV, DVCAM and DVC PRO.

It has RS 422 and records DVC PRO and can playback DV, DVCAM and DVC PRO.