Panasonic VariCam 35 and VariCam HS cameras are shipping.

The VariCam 35 has a 35mm sensor, PL mount, and records 4K RAW,  4K, UHD, 2K, HD and ProRes. The Varicam HS has three 2/3″ sensors, B4 mount, and records 1080p up to 240fps.

Both models will offer Apple ProRes 4444 and ProRes 422 HQ and both include Panasonic’s AVC-ULTRA family of codecs.

An interesting feature is how the 35mm and 2/3″ camera heads share the same recording module. An umbilical cable (coming in the next months) will connect between the camera head and recorder — useful for rigs, stabilizers, jibs, cranes and remote operation.

The VariCam 35 has a new Panasonic S35mm 4096 x 2160 (17:9) 4K MOS sensor with 14+ stops of dynamic range.

Working with Codex Digital, Panasonic will offer a high-speed 4K uncompressed RAW recorder for the VariCam 35 camera later this year (estimating December). It will record 4K VariCam RAW (V-RAW) up to 120 fps.

Both bodies are made of a rugged aluminum alloy and have a removable control panel.

Built-in color management includes support for the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) and in-camera color grading.

Panasonic  developed a new log curve (V-Log). The VariCam 35 can assign various LUTs to individual recording channels and camera outputs. For example, shoot UHD and record with the V-Log LUT, but assign a ”baked-in” 709 LUT on the HD / proxy recording for real-time monitoring, editing and dailies. The camera’s monitor, EVF and EVF outputs have similar selectable LUT capabilities. The VariCam 35’s In Camera Grading feature is fully flexible, with the camera able to record an ungraded 4K master (with associated metadata grading information) and graded (baked in) HD image simultaneously.

The cameras have a new OLED electronic viewfinder with optical zoom for checking focus.

VariCam 35

The VariCam 35 records 4K and UHD in AVC-ULTRA 4K, and 2K and 1080p HD in AVC-Intra 100/200 (AVC-Intra200 available only for FHD recording) and ProRes. To handle rapid file exchange, the camera encodes a high-resolution 3.5 Mbs proxy in parallel with 4K and 2K production formats. Metadata will also be available and it is written to all recording formats and files.

Connections include:  3G-HD-SDI x4 for 4K QUAD output;  HD-SDI out for monitoring (down-converting from 4K); a dedicated VF HD-SDI output  with all EVF status and display data; two XLR inputs to record four channels of 24-bit, 48KHz LPCM audio.

The VariCam 35 uses Panasonic’s new expressP2 card for high frame rate and 4K recording. The camera has four memory card slots, two for expressP2 cards and two for microP2 cards. The new 256 GB expressP2 card can record up to 90 minutes of 4K/4:2:2.  The microP2 card is designed for recording HD or 2K at “normal” production frame rates.

VariCam HS

The VariCam HS records 12-bit 4:4:4 AVC-ULTRA for mastering and archiving–and 4:2:2 10-bit for documentaries and sports.

The VariCam HS has three newly-developed, 1920 x 1080p MOS imagers with 14 stops of latitude. The camera/recorder uses a traditional RGB prism/imager system.

TheVariCam HS offers real-time high frame rate and off-speed recording to 240 fps in 1080p (using AVC-Intra Class100), and has the ability to ramp / change frame rates while recording. For example, you can ramp a shot of a player from normal speed to super slow motion while the camera is running.

The new VariCam HS offers image controls such as matrix, detail, gammas and a new Log recording capability.

The VariCam HS has a range of recording formats including AVC-Intra Class100 (recording as 1080/24p, 25, 30p, 50 or 60p with VFR up to 240p), AVC-Intra Class200 (up to 30p/60i) and 12 bit sampled AVC-Intra Class4:4:4 (up to 30p). Both AVC-Intra Class200 and AVC-Intra Class4:4:4 are suggested where image quality is the most important consideration.

The VariCam HS includes V-Log in addition to FilmRec and Dynamic Range Stretch (DRS) image contrast management controls. The VariCam HS has Panasonic’s Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC) technology to minimize lateral chromatic aberrations of the lens. The VariCam HS also has in-camera color grading.

Like the Varicam 35, the VariCam HS encodes a high-resolution 3.5Mbs proxy file in parallel with other formats, and uses Panasonic’s new expressP2 card for high frame rate recording (frame rates above 60fps). The new 256 GB expressP2 card can record about 32 minutes of 240p 1080 HD video.

• The VariCam 35 (with AU-V35C1G camera head) has a suggested list price of $55,000.
• The VariCam HS (with AU-V23HS1G camera head) has a suggested list price of $46,000.

Both prices include the he AU-VREC1G common recorder, AU-VCVF1G OLED viewfinder, and the AU-VSHL1G shoulder pad/tripod mount.

 

For more information call Panasonic at 877-803-8492 or go to: www.us.panasonic.com/varicam