Full-service production company South Coast Film & Video (Houston, TX) recently purchased a Panasonic VariCam LT 4K cinema camcorder that has been used to shoot a new commercial campaign for METRO, the Houston transportation agency serving the nation’s 4th largest city.
South Coast Director/ DP Everett Gorel said that the VariCam LT is the latest in a long line of Panasonic camera gear that the company has fielded throughout its 36+-year history, including the first tape-based VariCam in the Southwest. Gorel opted for the VariCam LT after a rigorous demo with the VariCam 35 and a July 4th shoot-out between the VariCam LT and several other 4K options.
“The LT outperformed the competition in covering our city’s 4th of July ‘Freedom Over Texas’ event, when we shot handheld with it from mid-afternoon through the late night fireworks,” Gorel said. “The Panasonic camcorder stood out in terms of its broad dynamic range and extreme low-light capabilities (native ISO5000), and was a pleasure to shoot with ergonomically.”
Gorel has already used the VariCam LT to shoot two spots for METRO. The first :30 spot, “This is My Metro” profiles Zack, a bus-riding high-school student and drum major. The second spot, with University of Houston football coach Tom Herrman, promotes free rides on METRO to and from every Cougar home football game. Both commercials have been heavily promoted on local tele-vision and METRO’s web site, www.ridemetro.org.
“The VariCam LT excelled at TDECU stadium, where we were faced with a fairly uncontrollable situation, having to shoot whenever the Coach was available, which turned out to be for only 30 minutes in almost direct sun. Not optimal conditions, but the camera looked great.” Gorel said.
South Coast shot both Metro commercials in 4K and handled the color grade and edit in-house, using both Resolve and Avid. The VariCam LT was outfitted with a lens package of Zeiss Com-pact Primes and a Canon CINE-SERVO 17-120mm zoom. View “This is My Metro-Zach” at https://vimeo.com/southcoastfilmvideo/review/179512625/59af718511, and “Ride for Free” at https://vimeo.com/southcoastfilmvideo/review/183700690/a9f2d3aa4d.
For more information on South Coast Film & Video, visit www.scfilmvideo.com.
About the VariCam LT
The VariCam LT camcorder inherits the same super 35mm sensor and superb imaging capabili-ties that distinguish the award-winning VariCam 35, but with significant reductions in size, weight and price. Incorporating this identical imaging “DNA” in a more compact rendition, the VariCam LT delivers 14+ stops of dynamic range with V-Log, and the esteemed cinematic VariCam image quality and color science, as well as the VariCam 35's breakout innovation, dual native ISOs of 800/5000. Weighing just under six pounds and having superior capability to similar sized cameras, the VariCam LT is the ideal camera for handheld, SteadiCam, jib, crane, drone, gimbal and overall cinema verité work. The VariCam LT offers a host of new features including an EF lens mount, hot swappable batteries, IR shooting capability, a 23.98 PsF output, cinema style file nam-ing, and image presets such as scene files. For more information about Panasonic VariCam cin-ema and high-speed cameras, visit us.panasonic.com/varicam, or contact Panasonic at 877-803-8492.
