Wexler Purchases 12 AJ-HDX900 HD Camcorders

Wexler Video Corp. has purchased 12 new Panasonic AJ-HDX900 2/3-inch DVCPRO HD camcorders. The Burbank, Calif.-based equipment supply company will rent the AJ-HDX900s out to clients working in scripted and non-scripted television production, as well as in documentary, independent cinematography and corporate video production.

The AJ-HDX900 provides 4:2:2 sampling and intra-frame recording at 100 Mbps in 11 high-definition formats. The AJ-HDX900 features a native 16:9, 2/3-inch HD, 1-million pixel 3-CCD system. It offers an IEEE 1394 digital output that allows video professionals to connect directly with nonlinear editing systems and VTRs.

"Directors of photography love the 24-frame cine-style look-and-feel that the SDX900 has given them," said Joe Ordesky, Wexler's chief technical officer. "The HDX900 allows a DP to significantly step up in quality but at a lower cost than before for full 2/3-inch HD quality shooting. This is a significant benefit to a mainstream production. We can offer a high-performance HD camera at a cost level a mainstream production typically rents an SD camera for," he said.

Ordesky said, the HDX900 is highly compatible with Panasonic's variable frame rate AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD Cinema camera, and he expects both cameras to be rented together for television assignments.