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i just spent a month using Panasonic's AG-HPX170 camcorder. While its P2 storage makes it an expensive choice for most event shooters, it boasts several new features that I hope will become standard in future camcorders. Several of its features demonstrate the value of solid state storage that will become particularly relevant when AVCHD camcorders that utilize less expensive SD memory become widely available. Let's start with shooting-related features.
One of the biggest challenges of HD recording is trying to achieve a sharp manual focus using only the camera's CCD or tiny viewfinder. Some HD camcorders can zoom the preview image to 2X to assist focus, but this view is usually only available during preview, not while recording, which is like a GPS device that works only when you're stationary and turns off once you start driving.
In contrast, the HPX170 offers four Focus Assist features (in addition to a peaking display) that actually work and stay visible while you're shooting. To start, when you enable Focus Assist, the camcorder displays a zoomed preview in the middle of the viewfinder, a histogram in the upper-right corner, and a moving bar below the zoomed image. I found the moving bar the more helpful gauge. Essentially, as you focus on your subject, the bar extends to the right. If you go too far, it starts backing down to the left; so you focus until the bar is...