What's great is that if you wanted to shoot at something like 3200 ISO you could just go to 5000 and put NDs in.
VaricamLT: Panasonic VariCam LT
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What's great is that if you wanted to shoot at something like 3200 ISO you could just go to 5000 and put NDs in.
Erik Naso
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Camera Expert
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Official site:
http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/varicam/lt/index.html
http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/varicam/lt/index.html
I need to see the assistant's side of the camera. I'm glad the shoulder pad is actually useful, compared to the Alexa Mini one.
YAY! Won't need to be sent into a service center.
So it can at least do UHD 60p raw? Awesome.
bill totolo
Veteran
Nice setup, rigs up like an FS7 with optional baseplate, optional handgrip/extension arm, and optional viewfinder. Really light and well balanced.
Confusing!! Looking at that microsite it seems that Panasonic is marketing LT for wedding videographers
looks promising. Possibility of a third party mount with a speedbooster!
Its a documentary mate, a high end one - but with minimal crew and one lending itself to the FS7 form factor. right tool for the job of course, but I want to see the FS7 shoot a narrative DRAMA on the level of DR. Foster (BBC) or Anything on Amazon, Netflix then that's something else. Anyway, back to awesome Varicam LT.
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thanks for confirming my hunch Mitch.
Matt Gottshalk
Resident Preditor
In that situation I would give this camera very serious consideration. I appreciate the ND setup, connector layout and the fact it has a stereo audio input and a lens control connector. Looks like it could run and gun quite well.
Grug
Veteran
I think this about sums it up really. A really appealing camera, but I'm not sure it really offers enough to get people who already own mid-tier cameras to change. It will be very interesting to see how the market responds to it.
That said, if I were in the market for a new camera at the moment (and Alexa Mini were beyond my grasp) the 800/5000 ISO mode (coupled with all the other sensible aspects of the camera) would probably be enough to sway me over to the new Pannie. 5000 ISO opens up a whole lot of possibilities for people dealing with limited lighting budgets.
stoneinapond
Veteran
Don't. Stay in your own and make decisions based on your shoe size. :beer:
slidemaster
Well-known member
Dont forget there is a member here shooting FS7 for a network in San Diego, Eric Naso
I know Eric, he's a good chap. He shoots for NBC and I have a lot of respect for him and his work.
Like I said before, I dig the FS7, having shot with it, the camera has its quirks, and as much as I dislike certian parts of it, it does give a lot for very little money.
But in the grand scheme of things IMHO it's not a contender for top end work - it's too big of a risk. And I stress - HIGH END NARRATIVE WORK. Not saying FS7 cannot produce really decent images in capable hands, quite the opposite - it can and many have proved it.
I am simply saying that high end productions do not take chances - ARRI/RED/VARICAM/F55 or Film - that's pretty much it. When you are burning through $10-$20K a minute reliability is above all paramount. And it's not that Alexa's or Epics havent crapped out on set, they have. But above all they are proven camera systems for high end work. Crews are used to them, experienced crew known their quirks and can work around them. If problems arise, they are resolved quickly.
Producers don't like to take chances when they can potentially lose their job because they OKay-ed an unreliable and not-suitable camera for this type of work. There is a reason why the Alexa is built like a tank and weighs a ton. There is a reason why it costs so much. Images aside - its next to bulletproof. It is designed for the purpose of working in the most atrocious conditions all day, any day of the week.
Like I said, there's a tool for any job and the FS7 can do a lot of them, I am just not convinced it will get through a top end TV Drama for a whole season without breaking or frustrating the camera crew because of deep menus, lack of dedicated buttons for major functions and countless other ways.
This is why I think the Varicam LT is above the FS7 and C300 II. It comes from that top end pedigree.
I know a few. And I am sure they;ll produce lovely content with it. But I doubt I'd see a press release saying that Netflix has chosen to shoot the next season of NARCOS on the FS7 as a main camera. The FS7 is taking over what the C300 had, and that's a big chunk of the mid-range broadcast work. It's a good place to be. I am really looking forward to seeing more narrative drama on a Major network shot on FS7's , maybe it will happen. But it will be a huge risk for the producers. Huge risk.
Last night I just saw the Varicam LT at the Panasonic unveiling at the Director's Guild in Hollywood. This could very well be an Alexa killer. We saw a five minute narrative film shot in a variety of lighting conditions and projected on the big screen. It looked good, but the real treat was when we stepped into a smaller theater next door and saw it displayed on a high dynamic range monitor. WOW!
It's hard to imagine any photographic image looking better than this. The entire film was shot in Vlog, and for the first time you could see that full 14+ stops of dynamic range reproduced at something approaching it's true brightness range. In a boxing scene, fluorescent lights looked like real lights - almost hurting your eyes. It created a sense of three dimensionality and space that was better than any 3D movie. This room was filled with film industry veterans, and everybody was genuinely impressed.
*About the price - $18,000 for the body + a removable data screen that also doubles as a small monitor. $2,000 for a 256 GB P2 card. $6,000 for the viewfinder, however a Panasonic rep was quick to point out that you don't need to use their viewfinder. You can plug in anything you want.
Panasonic knocked it out of the park.
It's hard to imagine any photographic image looking better than this. The entire film was shot in Vlog, and for the first time you could see that full 14+ stops of dynamic range reproduced at something approaching it's true brightness range. In a boxing scene, fluorescent lights looked like real lights - almost hurting your eyes. It created a sense of three dimensionality and space that was better than any 3D movie. This room was filled with film industry veterans, and everybody was genuinely impressed.
*About the price - $18,000 for the body + a removable data screen that also doubles as a small monitor. $2,000 for a 256 GB P2 card. $6,000 for the viewfinder, however a Panasonic rep was quick to point out that you don't need to use their viewfinder. You can plug in anything you want.
Panasonic knocked it out of the park.
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