“Treasure Hunters,” a new reality TV show premiering on NBC on June 18, used more than 40 Panasonic AJ-SDX900 DVCPRO camcorders during the production of its 10 episodes.
The reality “quest” series features multi-person teams of treasure-hunting contestants traveling the globe and using folklore, fantasy and actual history as clues to solve an intricate puzzle. Cinematographer Tony Sacco, principal of ABS Productions in Los Angeles, served as both director and DP for the series.
Sacco said the Panasonic camera had a proven track record of being reliable and provided the “24P look” he desired for the series. Most of the camcorders were equipped with 40X lenses.
Panasonic's AJ-SDX900 offers operator-controllable selection of EFP-quality 4:2:2 sampled DVCPRO50 or 4:1:1 sampled DVCPRO recording, with support for native 16:9 wide-screen display. The camcorder combines the “look” and “feel” of electronic film, high-performance 525-line field production, and low-cost NTSC compatible news, the manufacturer said.
It is also the first 50Mb/s 4:2:2 sampled standard definition camcorder to offer 24 frames-per-second progressive scan (480/24p) acquisition, in addition to 30 frames-per-second progressive (480/30p) and 60-fields-per-second interlace scan (480/60i) capture, Panasonic said.
For more information, visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast.
