Camera Will Ship Later This Month at $1,450

Panasonic announced fairly aggressive pricing this week for the shoulder-mounted AVCCAM AG-AC8, which it debuted at IBC. Aimed at event videographers and documentarians, the AG-AC8 will ship later in October at a suggested list price of $1,450, the company said. At that price, it looks to be a competitive player in the sub-$2,000 camcorder market.

The camera has a wide-angle 28mm f1.8 lens with a 21x optical zoom and a 1/4.5-inch sensor. Recording can take place simultaneously to two SD cards for back-up purposes, or the recording can be daisy-chained across cards to extend recording times. 

The AG-AC8's recording modes include 1080p/60 at up to 28 Mbps; 1080i/60 at up to 24 Mbps; 1080i/60 at variable bit rates (VBR) averaging 17 Mbps or 13 Mbps; 1440x1080i/60 at 5 Mbps (VBR); 720p/60 at 8 Mbps (VBR), and 480i/60 at 9 Mbps. Panasonic said the 720p mode would be especially well suited for coaching analysis. 

Panasonic Professional Video: www.panasonic.com/broadcast