Last July, Hurricane Emily, a Category 4 storm with winds of more than 125 miles per hour struck the border region between the United States and Mexico, and put tapeless ENG acquisition to the test as news crews from Texas converged on the region.
Houston’s Fox O&O KRIV-TV and ABC affiliate KRGV-TV, covering Harlingen-Weslaco-McAllen-Brownsville, TX, covered the storm with their Panasonic P2 series AJ-SPX800 camcorders. The solid-state acquisition format permitted the stations’ news photographers to continue acquiring gripping footage while rival stations’ tape-based equipment succumbed to the torrential rain, winds and humidity.
In large part, the durability of the camcorders can be attributed to the fact that the solid-state-based format eliminates transports and mechanisms of conventional tape-based acquisition formats and is resistant to environmental extremes including shock, vibration and humidity.
Prior to Hurricane Emily, KRIV purchased several P2 products, including AJ-SPX800 cameras, AJ-PCS060 portable store drives, AJ-PCD10 drives and AJ-SDP850 decks. KRGV recently purchased an AJ-SPX800 to aid in its transition into a tapeless news operation.
For more information, visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast.
