DP Shoots Gators With Panasonic

NEWARK, N.J.— Director of Photography Charles “Chuck” Schultz’ last encounter with wildlife was with a congregation of alligators in one of their more famous stomping grounds, the Myakka River State Park in Sarasota, Fla. Armed with his new Panasonic AJ-PX270 P2 HD handheld, Schultz captured extensive video that later aired on “CBS Sunday Morning’s” signature nature segment.

The veteran videographer, based in Fort Lauderdale, is a longtime Panasonic shooter and previously owned an AJ-HPX500 P2 HD shoulder-mount camera.

“I’ve shot successfully with the HPX500 for years, but needed a newer and smaller camcorder to accommodate my documentary work,” he said. “As on the alligator assignment, I need to get in and out in a hurry. When I evaluated available cameras, the PX270 measured up with its broadcast-quality specs, especially the 4:2:2 color space.”

Upcoming projects Schultz will shoot with the PX270 include another nature segment for “CBS Sunday Morning” that will be shot on location in the Colorado Rockies. He will deploy the PX270 on his full assignment roster; past work shot with the HPX500 encompasses multiple nature segments for CBS, a one-hour shown on the Florida Everglades that aired on NBC, and corporate work for companies such as IBM and Office Depot.
The AJ-PX270 was Panasonic’s first P2 HD handheld camcorder with AVC-Ultra recording. It has 3G/4G/LTE wireless mobility, 3-MOS imagers and a range of recording modes, including 100Mbps AVC-Intra100, as well as optional 200 Mbps AVC-Intra200.