Panasonic HPX2700 P2 Varicam at SSV

The new Panasonic HPX2700 P2 Varicam HD camera is now renting at SSV! This camera is the true successor of the original, highly popular Varicam. What we noticed is that our HDX900 was renting with FireStore FS-100 on-board hard drives most of the time. So, our clients seemed to prefer tapeless, edit ready, file based recording vs. having to rent an expensive studio VTR or paying by the hour to transfer footage in real time.

We also have seen our Panasonic HPX170 DVCPRO HD P2 Camcorder become very popular since we first brought it to the SF Bay Area in late September of 2008. The P2 memory card format has proven to be a very reliable acquisition format with a proven, convenient work flow.

So, that got us to thinking, "what if we offered a 2/3" high end CCD camera that surpassed the great images of the HDX900, but with in-board, solid state memory, file based recording? What if this camera could record for 6 1/2 hours on five 32Gb P2 cards? What if, in addition to DVCPRO HD, it also offered the option to record on the new AVC-Intra 100 I-Frame, 10-bit, 4:2:2, full raster codec?" This is quality that has never been available previously in a one-piece camcorder, with high ASA 640 sensitivity, low noise and a latitude of 10 f-stops, plus the well known Film-Rec gamma found in the original Varicam, except now at up to 600% dynamic range as well as a three step Dynamic Range Stretch(DRS) feature for very high contrast scenes, and the famous variable frame rates of 1-60 fps in one frame increments for off-speed specialty shots. All this, with the same day rate as our HDX900/FireStore.

The HPX2700, in combination with our Letus Ultimate and B4 Pro 2/3" relay lens using 35mm SLR and PL-mount motion picture lenses, provides a filmic, shallow depth of field when wanted. With AVC Intra 100 being a 10-bit, full sample, low compression codec, you can still apply lots of grading and color correction without worrying about noise and banding that would become evident with 8-bit, low bit rate, Long GOP, 4:2:0 codecs found in low cost cameras, be they prosumer palmcorders or video DSLR 35mm cameras, which record at 18-25Mbps vs. 100Mbps for DVCPRO HD or AVC Intra 100.

Panasonic P2 cameras have been proven by news organizations for years, and this reliability and ease of use has transferred to all types of productions. In-board, long record time, solid state recording, with unsurpassed quality and contrast ratio handling for a one-piece camera, makes for a safe, efficient means of field acquisition that pays dividends to the bottom line for most projects. Given the cost of a typical production, why compromise on the camera and recording format?

What's In A FIlm Look?

Many of us have been striving to capture a "film look" with digital video cameras. We know that filmic lighting, widescreen framing, 24 frames per second and film gammas help get us there. However, there is one ingredient missing, be it with 1/3"(top image) or even 2/3"(middle image) CCD video cameras, and that's the shallow depth of field that 35mm cine cameras provide(bottom image).

SSV offers an affordable, high quality means to capture the shallow depth of field that video cameras with normal lenses cannot--the Letus Ultimate 35mm Cine adapter. The Letus Ultimate enables 35mm SLR(Nikon, Canon) or Cine(PL mount) lenses to be used with palmcorders or full size 2/3" cameras, yielding the shallow, organic look of 35mm.

The Letus Ultimate 35mm Cine adapter provides the missing link to the elusive film look. Finally, we can utilize shallow depth of field, even in small interior settings, that helps us draw attention to the foreground talent or product while making the background complimentary, instead of a distraction. The Letus Ultimate, when paired with inexpensive 35mm SLR lenses, is a cost effective way to raise the production value of any project, providing for a cinematic look that differentiates your footage from the competiton's typical video imagery.

Going Tapeless

Most of us video types who've been around for awhile are kind of stuck on recording on tape. However, even us oldtimers have to admit that file based recording is upon us. Since 2006, SSV has been offering on-board hard drive recording in parallel with tape.

Our DVCAM cameras have been mated to nNovia Quick Capture on-board hard drive, recording Quicktime .mov files or .avi files. We also offer the FireStore FS-100 DVCPRO 50 or HD hard drives, recording in Quicktime and P2 file modes. We also offer P2 solid state recording, for the ultimate in reliability and convenience. A single 16Gb P2 card can record 43 minutes of 720/24P Native footage.

Our Sony and Panasonic cameras can take advantage of these on-board hard drive file base recording solutions, which yields many advantages, such as; back up recording, long recording capacity(5.5 hours in DVCAM, 6.5 hours in 720/24P Native DVCPRO HD), very fast file transfer to hard drives and non-linear editing systems, thumbnail fast access to multiple clips, no need for an expensive tape deck that requires realtime ingest vs. file transfer in a 1/4 of the time.

These file base recording options yield time and money savings over tape based capture and ingest. Files can be transferred to a client's hard drive in the time it takes to label the days tapes. The clips are easy to log and edit ready.

It is understandable that many of us are most comfortable with tape based acquisition, but after taking advantage of file based acquisition and ingest, it truly is hard to go back to the time consuming, costly workflow of tape ingest. We invite you to try our hard drive or P2 recording solutions on your next project, we think you'll be happy you did.