Wednesday night, the Digital Cinema Society and Lightiron Digital hosted a Varicam introduction event at Panavision Woodland Hills. Needless to say, it was a real treat to see footage on Panavision's large screen.
Micheal Cioni, CEO of lightiron, went into great detail about the efficiency of the 4K AVC-Ultra codec in relation to the other 4K codecs on the market. As you can see from the pic, in relation to the others, Panasonic's is able to handle more data in a smaller footprint. Micheal shot & colored the original demo footage and later, he moved into a live color session with the Varicam, demonstrating how easy and quickly the codec responded to manipulation. Notice the size of the Alexa data vs. the Varicam......

Jim Martin
EVSonline.com

Notice the size of the Alexa data vs. the Varicam......
Yes, but you're comparing a RAW file from the Alexa, against coded from the Varicam, so the difference is only to be expected, isn't it?

Was anything said about the RAW option on the Varicam? Will it do RAW compressed?

David-
It was stated that the 4K RAW option (up to 120fps) would be available Januaryish but you do need to record to the docking Codex V-RAW recorder.

Jim Martin
EVSonline.com

Here's a link to Codex......
Codex V-Raw Recorder (http://www.codexdigital.com/products/recorders/v-raw-recorder)

Jim Martin
EVSonline.com

David-
It was stated that the 4K RAW option (up to 120fps) would be available Januaryish but you do need to record to the docking Codex V-RAW recorder.

Jim Martin
EVSonline.com
Thanks - there had been a hope that a form of RAW compression may have been implemented in the Codex recorder, even if the camera itself only outputs uncompressed RAW - from your link, this sadly doesn't seem to be the case. So in a like for like comparison (amongst RAW formats) the Alexa must then be seen to have far more manageable file sizes.

Looking at your link, it gives the power consumption as 30 watts? Is that a misprint? It seems extremely high for just the recorder - I know of broadcast cameras whose total power consumption is less than that!?

I just wrote an upcoming feature article on the new VariCam(s) for Welcome to HDVideoPro | HDVideoPro.com (http://www.hdvideopro.com) I interviewed Michael Cioni as well as some of the Panasonic team. I have to say that after getting into it, these new cameras a pretty amazing and do a lot of things that will blow people away, especially the post workflow, in-camera dailies with multiple format output, having two native ISOs and having wireless control of ASC CDL and LUTs built in, the feature set is quite unprecedented.

The VariCams are not inexpensive but based upon what the cameras are capable of that no RED, Alexa, Sony or any other camera on the market can do, I am of the mind that if you can afford it, this is possibly one of the best solutions on the market for high end episodic and feature production. The images, to me, look amazing and functionally, this camera comes closest to being "all things to all users" that I have ever experienced.

Keep an eye out for the article at the beginning on 2015. Unfortunately print has a long lead time.

Myself and our rental manager Toby Fulp Un-boxing our first unit;

Is that the 35 or HS you guys received?

Dan-
Its the 35........

Jim Martin
EVSonline.com

Here's me and our evil genius Tommy Mack with the Varicam 35...