Panasonic Varicam 35 & Varicam HS

Even if this is out of my price range, I'm excited to see what it actually offers.
Exactly. I'm not in the market for a large, heavy, expensive 4K camera, but the technology in this will likely trickle down into more products, and will spur the competition to up their game as well. Exciting times!
 
Camera looks great on paper so far. Glad they're back in the game.

Hopefully for those looking at this, Panasonic offers a lens adapter option like Sony does with the F3,5,55. While PL is fantastic and preferred, not being able to mount Nikon, Canon etc. lenses to this will definitely hurt sales. Imagine if the C300 had only been released in PL, or the Sonys for that matter. Even RED offers options for Canon and Nikon.
 
Camera looks great on paper so far. Glad they're back in the game.

Hopefully for those looking at this, Panasonic offers a lens adapter option like Sony does with the F3,5,55. While PL is fantastic and preferred, not being able to mount Nikon, Canon etc. lenses to this will definitely hurt sales. Imagine if the C300 had only been released in PL, or the Sonys for that matter. Even RED offers options for Canon and Nikon.

Excellent build quality. Glad that they are back in the game.
They probably made this for Barry's 50,000th anniversary post.
 
I wonder if the camera's significantly bigger than an F55, it looks fat in comparison but maybe it's shorter? Looks like an F3. Anyway, I doubt the price is going to be much less than the F55 because they've stated that their intent with this camera is to focus it on the broadcast market, and half their R&D has gone towards making sure the codecs fit in with existing workflows. You'll be paying for that functionality as much as anything else.

It'd be cool if you could buy a stripped down version, without half the software you're not interested in, for less though.
 
I have a feeling this camera is going to kick ass. They didn't rush a raw camera or a 4k camera out the door. They took their time and waited until the technology was right and in thus I just have this feeling that it will be a proper well thought out release. In a way over the past two years I might call as if Panasonic wasn't gone missing. Maybe they just weren't rushing. I really hope this camera is something special even if I can't justify buying one.

Come on Panny. I'll sweep your floors twice a month for a month. Make this puppy budget friendly!
 
I have a feeling this camera is going to kick ass. They didn't rush a raw camera or a 4k camera out the door. They took their time and waited until the technology was right and in thus I just have this feeling that it will be a proper well thought out release. In a way over the past two years I might call as if Panasonic wasn't gone missing. Maybe they just weren't rushing. I really hope this camera is something special even if I can't justify buying one.

Come on Panny. I'll sweep your floors twice a month for a month. Make this puppy budget friendly!

I think the paradigm of buying a camera is not appropriate here. This really is a tier 1 rental camera, just as the Alexa is. TV stations yes, the average indie guy, no.
Really, these are made to be production workhorses and all the surrounding gear will be too. Getting back to the notion of rental for serious productions would not be a bad thing.
I have watched the value of our market slide as the owner/operator system has taken firmer hold. We are seeing complete RED epics camera packages rent out for less than $300 a day now.
When you consider the cost of a complete package, there is no way most of these folks can recoop their investments anymore.
The bigger problem too is that our day rates are going down with it.
 
* Out of my price range, that's for sure

* If it shoots 4K 10-bit 422 with a log profile that preserves all the DR from the sensor, for me there's no need for RAW (which seems to require an external recorder, btw).

* This is the first release where I see Panasonic being bold with DR claims. About time!

* If you expect the tech in this to trickle down to more affordable products, think of the C300. We got the C100, but it was heavily handicapped (still a very nice camera, not complaining about that; just pointing out that the tech didn't reach $3K cameras, and that the handicapping was ruthless).
 
I've heard that this camera, specifically the 2/3" version, will replace the 2/3" Varicam shoulder-mount that was shown last year. That makes sense, why build two cameras with the same specifications? Plus, this modular design is a lot more versatile.
 
Unreal.

I'm thinking Sony F5/Canon C500 price-range ($20K). Who knows, Panasonic may under-cut both competitors? Think that's wishful thinking though...
 
Sounds so simple, HFR 1080p and quick swap of the head and now HFR 4k. But the PL and B4 lenses are not exactly compact, lot of kit to be packing there Paladin.

In the end will this be much preferred or cheaper than just having 2 cameras? Or would you buy the 4k now with an eye toward using that B4 glass later?

I still have my 2/3" shoulder mount cam and b4 glass for example. Ditch the body in exchange for one with 14 stops + HFR from a new B4 head?

Or...when I think about it, the F55 right now has an available b4 adapter mount, 14 stops, HFR 1080p, center frame crop mode and fits all kinds of glass with adapters.

So who would really buy the Panny b4 head, who didn't already have complete 2/3" b4 kit at their disposal?

For the production crew, is having one camera that does both singularly going to be better than having two cameras that can shoot simultaneously from two angles?

Is the 4k head going to include a HFR 1080p native crop mode? That really seems like it could be the pertinent question, because it somewhat undermines the need for a b4 head if it did, while cutting in half the amount of lens kit required to pack.
 
I think that's possible, $20K but I don't think it would be less than that. Gratefully, they have taken a modular approach, so there may be some economies there. Panasonic provides more value for the price than Sony or Canon. We will just have to wait and see. It's exciting, though.
 
I see this camera becoming a popular rental. But I doubt it will be affordable…..
It will be more in line with the Sony F65 and the Arri Alexa.
But I can't wait for the shoot out between the new 4K VariCam and the GH4.:nads:
 
Thank goodness we can get some Panny mojo back into our lives.

And let's get real here, this is a $45,000 + camera easy. Under $20k is day dreaming and under $15k..? I'll have what their having.
 
You're probably right. The HPX3700 goes for $60K. These will be up there in the "rent only" range. It is good that Panasonic is in it, maybe some of it will find it's way into... no, not going to be the first on the thread to say it ;)
 
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