As expected, camera manufacturer Ikegami announced at NAB that it is developing a new high-definition camcorder aimed at local news production that will sell for around $25,000.
Ikegami is developing the new “GFCAM” camera in strategic partnership with fellow Japanese company Toshiba, which will supply flash-memory storage packs as the recording medium. The camera, slated to be available in April 2008, will have a 2/3” imaging sensor and will use MPEG-2 compression to record at data rates of 50 and 100 megabits per second (Mbps), though lower data rates using advanced compression techniques are in the product roadmap.
Ikegami executives have conceded that its Editcam disk-based camcorder, which has a data rate of 145 Mbps, has too much bandwidth for local news production and are now marketing it more at high-end documentary production. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6427487.html?q=Ikegami
“We realized [EditCam] was overkill for news production,” says Ikegami director of sales and marketing Teri Zastrow. “This is what we’re targeting at that market.”
In addition to the GFCAM tapeless camcorder, which will have a flash-memory storage device similar to Editcam’s existing FieldPak called GFPak, Ikegami and Toshiba will develop a recording and storage device, GFSTATION, with a list of $45,000, and a compact portable recorder, GFSTATION Portable, which will sell for $18,000.
