NAB: Panasonic Showcases Two New VariCams

At its annual NAB press conference, Panasonic highlighted its two new VariCam cameras, the VariCam HD announced at the market and the recently announced VariCam 35.

The VariCam 35 has a newly developed super 35mm MOS image sensor that is capable of 4K as well as 2K and HD production. It is more targeted to theatrical film or episodic TV production.

The VariCam HS has a 2/3 inch sensor for 1080p image capture of up to 240 frames per second. It is targeted to uses such as sports or wildlife documentary production where long zoom lenses are needed. Both have a modular design with separate camera heads and recorder.

It also described a strategic product development alliance with Codex Digital to produce a high-speed 4K uncompressed RAW recorder for the VariCam 35 camera, which would make it more attractive for 4K theatrical film production.

The VariCam HS will launch fall 2014, with a suggested list price under $55,000. The VariCam 35 is also scheduled for fall launch with a suggest price of under $60,000.

The company also introduced new 256GByte expressP2 Card that is capable of handling the VariCam 35’s recording of 4K video at frame rates up to 120p and highlighted a number of improvements that will help streamline newsgathering workflows.

As part of its alliance with Aframe to provide cloud based production services, Panasonic announced that its AJ-PX5000G and handheld AJ-PX270 camcorders are now able to upload files directly to customer’s Aframe accounts using the built in wireless connectivity of the cameras.