KTVU’s staff news photographer Ben Cruz tries out one of the station’s new Panasonic AG-HPX600s. OAKLAND, CALIF.—KTVU, a Cox Media Group station, is the Fox-affiliate for the San Francisco area. We’re well known in the Bay Area for our locally-produced news, public affairs and children’s programming, especially our 10 o’clock news program, which for years was the only television news broadcast in this market that aired at that hour.
The station provides news coverage throughout northern California area and well beyond, with our news crews recently covering the Super Bowl in New Orleans and Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. We produce 50.5 hours of news each week, and our newscasts are ranked number one in the Bay Area market.
KTVU was one of the first stations in the country to convert ENG operations to P2, and we’ve been shooting news in P2 for seven years now.
Recently, we added 27 new Panasonic AG-HPX600 P2 HD shouldermount camcorders to our news coverage. Our decision was based on the camcorder’s high level of performance, easy operation, expandability and future-proof design.
LIGHTWEIGHT/LOW BATTERY DRAIN
The AG-HPX600 is a 2/3-inch imager shoulder-type of camera that accommodates a wide variety of interchangeable lenses. Its compact body provides superior mobility and has the distinction of tipping the scales with the industry’s lowest weight—approximately 6.2 pounds for the main unit—and also has a very low power consumption—just 18 Watts— making it easy on battery life.
The new camcorders are really a good fit for us as we transition to HD field operations. We know that we’re getting more for our money in terms of camera quality and performance. The lighter weight and longer battery life of the AG-HPX600 are also factors that our camera operators find really appealing.
PLAYS WELL WITH LIVEU SYSTEM
Another big plus that comes with these new Panasonic cameras is their wireless integration feature. This is important for us, as we’re now using LiveU products in the field. The Panasonic HPX600 directly supports LiveU’s video uplink system, allowing us to deliver high-quality video back to the station via existing cellular and wireless network connectivity. The system’s live option upgrade allows the LU40i’s “start-and-stop” functions to be remotely controlled from the camcorder, and the uplink status indication to be displayed in the HPX600’s viewfinder, thus allowing camera operators to monitor and control the transmission of their live video feeds.
John Stevens has been with KTVU for more than 30 years. He may be contacted atjohn.stevens@ktvu.com.
For additional information, contact Panasonic Professional Video Products at 877-803-8492 or visitwww.panasonic.com/broadcast.
