Mike Krumlauf

I figured it out and its a stupid reason. I unziped the panasonic file from a windows folder and prepared the cards that way and the varicam let me update.

I've followed the directions to a tee.. tried multiple SDHC cards to load the firmware and no matter what i do the "update" option is not showing up in the P2 Menu. I've tried a 69mb, 32gb, and 16gb SDHC card. Ive called Panasonic tech support and even they are baffled.. what could I be doing wrong? Is there a specific model of SD card I need for the camera to recognize the firmware?

Yup, def see all of that bruce. :) Happy to be back with the varicam line. really well built machines!

Hey im not saying that these cameras are "better", im just saying they are still an option and i happen to like them better then whats out there now at their used price point. Give this PDF a look over. really dives into Film Rec. http://www.motionfx.gr/files/HD%20Varicam%20Film%20Rec.pdf

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this statement. While I will agree that there are def more modern cameras working with CMOS imagers that give a fairly wide DR, shutting down CCD tech saying its not "filmic" or sensitive in its own right for film type work is absurd. The tape and P2 varicam are capable of much higher DR to it's recorded image than you are proposing and if anyone really wants to nit pick CCD cameras for cinema you should look at the Sony F23/35 series. the 35 has a 35mm CCD that has close to 14 stops and you CAN obtain this information in your image. its 4:4:4 RGB. Lets not forget the viper cam as well. The HPX3700 Varicam is a 2/3" CCD like my 2700 only it sports 4:4:4 LOG out duel link HDSDI. There are plenty of CCD cameras able to produce beautiful filmlike results in the right hands and IMHO I find CCD images far more film like than CMOS hence why I left them for personal ownership in 2015 and began investing in cameras like the F900 and Varicam. I've done enough work with all these cameras and I should direct your attention to the quite large userbase of F35 owners over at DVXuser.com to attest that im not the only one still on the CCD bandwagon. I've been at this 20 years this december and after working with well over 60+ cameras, i finally got to a point where i stopped following marketing trends and began looking at what i wanted out of a camera. Its common place that REC709 does not have nearly as much information in it as a LOG curve, thats obvious. The problem is Film-Rec is in this grey area. its really not REC709 and like David mentioned and I can confirm, when you turn the color matrix menus off in the camera, its not really working in rec709 anymore. To really get the full value of what film-rec can do is converting its color space in davinci. I've found lifting the black stretch to 30%max in the gamma menu helps preserve the shadow detail more so you can expose for highlights. Given the 10bit 4:2:2 I can get away with pushing the camera like this and not having the image fall apart at all (i found my problem lied in my editor not the camera) We need to remember that film rec was designed by panasonic to give you as much DR as possible so you could print to film with little to no DR loss. Given we are past that time and have many advancements in post and color software, you can give film rec new life by working with it this way. I've gotten very very film like results from this and through hooking the varicam into scopes can attest that you GET all the dynamic range which film rec can allot which is between 12 and 13 stops. I know bruce has his own findings in this as well im sure he'd be happy to share.. he was the one that really opened my eyes to the power of the varicam years ago when i got my H model.

I can attest to getting this much information in my recorded images with film rec Bruce. I know you and I have been over the DR of film rec many times. And to your suggestion I did some tests with p3 color and it did exactly what you thought it would. The varicam is really surprising me. Wish I knew all this when working with my H model years ago. i have to agree that now returning to the varicam line, it def has the edge over the f900.

I wouldn't say 12 or 13 stops is limited in anyway. The 2700 is an amazing camera, and to my excitement there is a color workflow that can allow proper use of LOG luts with Film_Rec. I've been doing my experimenting inside resolve lite and i found that converting film rec from rec709 to linear and then to cineon log, the possibility of grading become that much bigger. I'm getting some really beautiful stuff!

its imager is native 720p yes, it can do internal 1080p as well but i haven't really used it yet.

Apple Color is amazing, always loved it. I've found importing the AVC Intra into final cut 7 as "native" improves the quality of the images as well. Bruce, have you used the HPX2700 Varicam? I tend to like it compared to the H model. Its like that kipro is built right into the body :)

Okay I need to ask only because im moving to LA next year... Is the pork green chili good in LA? Denver's gotten me hooked on the stuff since I got here last year.

Bruce, i dont know if you are familiar with Apple Color 1.5 software, but, in its Color Node tap, there is an option called "Smooth Step". In its manual this is its definition... "Applies a nonadjustable “s-curve” adjustment to slightly crush the blacks and boost the whites, leaving the black and white points pinned at 0 and 100 percent. Designed to emulate the exposure tendencies of film at the “toe” and “shoulder” of the image. Thisis a similar contrast adjustment to that made by the Film Look node." This process seems to be the perfect "base" for color correcting film rec material.

BRUCE!!!!!! 😄 Always my savor with the varicam! Thank you so much for the explanation. You always helped in grey areas when i had my Varicam H.. nice to hear from you again!

I will say this.. right before I left Chicago last year I saw a chevys open in my hometown (Naperville). Never had the chance to go in, but, my first apartment in the denver area I was living right across the street from one so I had to try... not going to lie, that elvis platter is amazing as hell. As for burgers, I know its not LA, but Portillos in Chicago has my favorite bacon cheeseburger (next to shake shack) but i will also agree that fuddruckers is downright bomb! I grew up going there.. always got the free cookie with my burger at the end. Wish Denver had one, not that it matters.. i'll be living in LA next year anyway and will get all my big city love back 😄

...my point is that I saw both leaving the footage untouched and doing heavy grades, no discernible difference from the KiPro and the internal AVC-INTRA100 codec in the HPX2700, so i sold the kipro. the 10bit codec inside the varicam is every bit as good as prores to my eye and given i still cut in final cut 7, final cut ingests the footage from the P2 card as a Prores 422 file.

No, no difference. Graded the same. It’s not terrible but you just shouldn’t stack log luts onto the material.