If you have ever planned to use the Varicam LT for any form of live event productions, Panasonic has some good news for you. The company announced they will release a new firmware upgrade v6.0 for the Varicam LT 4K camera towards the end of February that will make the camera ready for live events, concerts, TV shows and other multi-cam productions.
Firmware version v6.0 is said to feature a shading mode alongside tally and return video management as well as full control of multiple Varicam LTs thanks to Panasonic’s AK-HRP1000 remote control panel. The upcoming firmware will give camera operators extended control from the Remote Control Panel, which includes full paint features – from standard ‘shading’ processes to LUT and CDL management – as well as scene file selection, remote REC control and call function.
“This latest firmware upgrade of the Varicam LT will make this the best large sensor camera to use for live production applications such as TV shows, concerts and corporate events,” said Luc Bara, Technical Product Manager for Panasonic. “It’s a perfect match of the style of the famous Varicam look and the substance of Panasonic’s expertise in broadcast camera systems. It makes the camera an incredibly versatile all-rounder.”
Panasonic Varicam LT Features
- 4K Super35 CMOS Sensor
- Native Canon EF mount (PL mount extra option – easily user swappable)
- 2K/Full HD 240fps Slow-Motion (uses sensor crop)
- 4K/60p and Full HD ProRes 4444 & 422HQ
- 4K/60p Raw to Convergent Design Odyssey7Q+
- Built-in ND filters: 0.6/1.2/1.8
- User Removable IR Cut filter
- Single ExpressP2 card Slot for Main 4K/2K/HD recording
- SDXC Card slot for Proxy Long GOP recording
- Dual Native ISO – 800/5000
- Optional OLED viewfinder ($5,400 at B&H)
- 3 x SDI Out (dedicated one for Viewfinder)
- Support for 3rd Party Viewfinders:
- Zacuto Gratical and BMD URSA Viewfinder
- 2 x XLR inputs – 4 x Channel Audio 24bit/48kHz LPCM
- Pre-Rec / Interval rec / One-Shot Rec
- V-Gamut – exceeds BT.2020 HDR colour space
- 14+ Stops Dynamic Range with V-Log
- V-Look and BC-Look Presets
- Weight: 2.7 kg / under 6 lbs.
An optional PC will allow the use of live grading software (such as Pomfort, Colorfront, FireFly, Codex) to remotely upload LUTs and manage the camera’s look from a user friendly colour grading interface. The new shading mode allows users the option to record V-log in-camera, as well as performing live in-camera colour correction.
Thanks to the Panasonic Varicam LT’s two separate SDI outputs, users would be able to set the camera to output different colour settings, one clean view for broadcasting or recording and one monitoring view for status check, markers and menus. Fibre transmission is possible via transport systems from DTS, ERECA, Multidyne, Telecast and more.
As most cinema grade cameras, the Varicam LT does have a fan to cool it down, however the new ’live mode’ will feature a fan setting designed to reduce fan noise for live recordings. The upcoming firmware update v6.0 will be available sometime towards the end of February and will be free of charge as all other Varicam LT upgrades so far.
To learn more about the Varicam LT head over to Panasonic’s dedicated page here.
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