Pilgrim Films and Television Inc. of Sherman Oaks, Calif., has purchased five Panasonic AJ-HDX900 2/3-inch multiformat DVCPRO HD camcorders to support production of the new season of "American Chopper," which is a part of a new block of programming, Turbo On TLC.
The hour-long show, which kicked off its fourth season on The Learning Channel on Jan. 18, follows the various business and social activities of Orange County Chopper's Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. who build custom motorcycles. The series airs Thursdays on TLC and in HD on Tuesdays on Discovery HD Theater.
The AJ-HDX900 DVCPRO HD is compatible with 1080i, 720p, 24p and 25p, and features a native 16:9, 2/3-inch HD, 1-million pixel 3-CCD system. It is equipped with 14-bit A/D DSP circuits that provide optimum picture quality, color reproduction and luminance gradation. The AJ-HDX900 offers 4:2:2 color sampling and independent frame compression, as well as built-in, image-enhancing features including three Cine-like gamma modes to replicate the look and feel of film.
"The HDX900 has been an overall workhorse camera," said Craig Piligian, executive producer of "American Chopper" and owner of Pilgrim Films. "We are running these cameras at full force for eight to 10 hours a day in every type of environment, and they respond with great HD images every step of the way."
