BIRNS AND SAWYER PURCHASES 25 PANASONIC AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 CAMCORDER

LAS VEGAS, NV (April 17, 2005) – Birns & Sawyer, Inc. (Hollywood, CA), a premiere rental and sales firm serving the motion picture industry, has placed an initial order for 25 AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 hand-held cameras, the world’s first 1080i/720p/480i multi-format camcorder. Birns & Sawyer, a Hollywood standard for quality and dependability for the past 50 years, has been a leading advocate for Panasonic’s advances in camera technology, specifically with its line-up of 24p cameras, including the shoulder-mount AJ-HDC27 VariCam® variable-frame rate HD Cinema camcorder. Offering flexibility and versatility never before available to video professionals, the AG-HVX200 camcorder provides 1080i and 720p recording with the production-proven image quality of 100 Mbps DVCPRO HD (see separate press release). The AG-HVX200 inherits many of the functions of the VariCam, including exceptional DVCPRO HD quality images, variable frame rates to capture fast-speed and slow-speed action, and a cine-like gamma curve and cine-like color matrix to emulate the look of film. According to Birns & Sawyer’s Chief Operating Officer Steve Tobenkin, “The AG-HVX200, with its gamut of frames rates and looks, is a ‘do-anything’ camera. It represents an affordable path to HD, especially for television production that is currently shooting standard definition but has been weighing the move to HD. The HVX200 presents the opportunity to shoot true HD as well as SD affordably. This is a camera that is good for the interim, as well as being forward-looking.” He continued, “We’ve had great results with Panasonic’s 24p cameras and love their similarity in cinematic look, which the HVX200 inherits. This camera will excel at general TV work, and as a B camera on higher-level VariCam shoots. We plan to present the camera aggressively to directors of photography who do mid-range and higher-end work, and educate them in the improvements in their editorial workflow that the camera affords, specifically eliminating the need to digitize in post.” Panasonic’s DVCPRO P2 series products are fully compatible with DVCPRO, the industry’s standard for digital newsgathering, and provide a seamless migration path to DVCPRO HD. DVCPRO P2 offers nonlinear acquisition and instant access to material, high-speed file transfer, laptop field editing without requirement for proxy videos, and compatibility with off-the-shelf data storage drives for low-cost archiving, while eliminating traditional digitizing and ingesting operations. The core DVCPRO P2 products eliminate transports and mechanisms, resulting in a significant maintenance cost-savings because of the absence of any moving parts that can break down or wear out from repetitive use. P2 cards can be re-used, since a card can be re-written on without performance degradation. Moreover, DVCPRO P2 products are resistant to environmental stresses such as shock and vibration. For more information, visit www.panasonic.com/p2. About Panasonic Broadcast Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast, professional video and presentation products and systems. Panasonic Broadcast is a unit company of Panasonic Corporation of North America. The company is the North American headquarters of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) of Japan, and the hub of its U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations For more information on Panasonic Broadcast products, access the company’s web site at www.panasonic.com/broadcast.