New Panasonic VariCam 7.0 Firmware

Panasonic has announced a free firmware upgrade for the VariCam 35 and LT cinema cameras and VariCam HS high-speed 1080p camera that includes additional ProRes codecs and HD-SDI monitor output improvements. Both firmware upgrades add ProRes 4444 XQ, ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 LT codecs for 2K and HD resolutions (VariCam 35 and LT), and for HD resolution in case of the VariCam HS model. The bit depth of Pro Res 4444 has been increased to 12-bit, with 10-bit file playback only in camera. For the VariCam LT, AVC-LongG G50/G25 recording (HD only) is now supported for the majority of frame rates.

For HD-SDI monitor outputs, users can shorten the delay of the outputs to two frames, greatly enhancing onset monitoring applications. For cinema shooters, there's a new support of 23.98PsF output, which provides native frame rate support without introducing 2:3 pulldown artifacts. There's also a new support for “Letter Box” output in 4K/2K in which the image in MON OUT will be automatically set in “Letter Box” mode. For the iPad, there's a new remote control app -- VariCam ROP -- that has a user display similar to VariCam's menu display. In the app, users can select whether they want Master control in the app or camera, a lock switch to prevent accidental operation, and dial up/down operation by screen swipe on an iOS device.

For production, a 2.0:1 aspect ratio has been added to the framing marker choices. Netflix series like Frontier and A Series of Unfortunate Events have been produced recently in the 2.0:1 aspect ratio.

Additional features the firmware upgrades include:

• Focus status can be selected in “Meter” notation, even in V-Log recording (VariCam 35/LT/HS)
• Ability to assign “VFR (ON/OFF)” to USER SW (VariCam 35/LT/HS)
• MON OUT can be selected “ANAMORPHIC DESQUEEZE” in 2K/HD mode (VariCam 35/LT/HS)
• For VariCam 35 and HS, “Image Invert” and “Surround View” can be selected independently
• For VariCam 35 and HS, viewfinder display can be selected “EE (Camera through)” even in Playback
• For the VariCam LT, “Audio Level Meter” can be selected to display on SDI OUT

The firmware upgrade (Ver. 7.0) for the VariCam 35 and HS and Ver. 5.0 upgrade for VariCam LT can be downloaded here.