I have been a long time user of the Panasonic P2 format, going back to the days of the HVX200. There have been numerous improvements to the cameras, media and offload tools over the years, but the biggest change to date may have been the move to the MicroP2 card.
The MicroP2 card looks like an SD memory card, but is designed for high throughput. When used in my PX270 camera, the MicroP2 card is the only way to record 1080p60, a full-size P2 is just not fast enough.There are more pins on the card itself to facilitate moving the data.
Another nice feature of the SD form factor is that I can pop the card right into my Mac for easy offloading. I never though about the time it took to offload the media since it was a background task and not on the forefront of my mind.
When I upgraded my main edit station to the MacPro last year, I lost the built-in card slot. Since the MicroP2 card did not work in any external SD readers I owned, I decided to pick up the Panasonic AJ-MPD1.
The unit is a two-slot, USB3, bus-powered drive, with a street price of around $325. My first 5 card reader was $2500!
Here is the part that surprised me. This unit rips through the offloads at blinding speed. I am seeing a 5X increase over the built in reader. I even ran the tests twice just to make sure. Enough said.
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