Infinity

[Tony]

I hinted at this new technology months ago when everyone was all hyped up and excited about P2.

“Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water, another tapeless digital systems arrives”

Tony Salgado

[Toke]

But at the very different price range…

[Tony]

$70 bucks for the REVPro media 10 pack sure beats thousands for P2. Even the REVPro drive at under $500 dollars seems like a steal.

It’s P2 in reverse higher cost camera with cheap digital media.

Since the press release doe not mention 24P it looks like the 1st generation Infinity camcorder is aimed at the professional ENG broadcast market to start out at first.

I personally am more excited about the REVpro drive and media and it’s possible applications with higher end digital cinematography camera.

Tony Salgado

[Len Feldman]

The big problem that I have with Infinity is the use of the Iomega REV drives. They aren’t close to being “industry standards”: So far as I know, the only company that makes and sells the drives and media is Iomega, which has already been in and out of bankruptcy. There isn’t really an industry-wide removable hard disc standard format, but Infinity should (and, for all I know, may) have a standard PC Card slot and open interface spec, so that any portable hard disc vendor can build compatible products.

[Nick B]

The camera also has compact flash for recording,
and It almost does not matter if its ‘industry standard’ a few hundred $ for a revo drive should be no problem for editing to get footage into the system.
the disks can be re used after editing and archieve.
It is also a quality camera.

and it does 25p at 720

Seems to be the most cost effective quality HD camera solution coming to market.

I like it.

[Graeme Nattress]

Oh dear. It seems that P2 finally has serious competition, although, on the downside, I wouldn’t trust anything with Iomega written on it with a 10ft barge pole. But 10bit 4:2:2 with a modern JPEG2000 codec knocks the pants off DVCProHD…..

Graeme

– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP

[Toke]

45 mins of hd to 35GB means 100Mbps, which should be pretty nice with jpeg2000, 2/3″ & 720p.
AFAIK you can also attach any external hdd (fw & usb) to it. And even Gb-ethernet.
With 1080p24 it would be a killer in its price range.

[Brian FitzGerald]

I likewise am skeptical of the Iomega media but don’t know anything about this JPEG 2000 that you are praising. Why is it so much better than DVCPro? Can you expand on that?

Brian FitzGerald
FitzVideo.com

[Tony]

We are finally seeing what occurred with the price war on HD video capture cards occur with HD camera gear.

By next year a 2/3″ 1080 24P camcorder will cost $7000 but of course gas prices will have risen to $9.00 a gallon.

Tony Salgado

[Emery]

Wow…

Its always that ONE THING missing…. we want 24p. and 1080 at that. Even if this is aimed at the ENG market, doesnt it make sense to add 24p to open it up to the largest market possible? Im not an engineer and do not know how much more difficult it is to add 1080 24p but it seems to me that if they can make that whole camera it wouldnt be too hard for them to add 24p!!!!! Anyway, very interesting and definitely something for me to keep an eye on.