We were exceptionally excited when Panasonic announced the EVA1 at Cine-Gear last year, and the camera lived up to our expectations when we got our hands on it last January. The camera is a fiercely competitive entry from Panasonic in the indie cinema space, with beautiful imagery at both the 800 and 2500 native ISO settings, a solid ergonomic build, and beautiful AVC-Intra internal footage on affordable SD cards.

However, upon the camera's release, external raw recording was promised and is only now arriving with a firmware upgrade. Panasonic is promoting this as the EVA 2.0.

Nofilmschool_eva1_review_15_of_23_06G SDI output for external raw recordingCredit: Charles Haine

RAW files are too big to fit into the internal SD cards used by the platform, and so what's required is the use of an external recorder connected over 6G SDI for RAW recording in the CDNG RAW format. Taking full advantage of the 5.7K resolution of the Super35mm sensor, 5.7K RAW recording is available up to 30fps, with 2K RAW going all the way up to 240fps.

In addition, Panasonic has rolled out new All-I formats for internal recording. While All-I files are larger and take up extra space on your card, the files are easier for computers to process and easier to edit on portable systems (despite their increase in file size). When working without an external recorder, it's likely that All-I will become the default for most filmmakers, except for when hard drive space is at a tight premium.

P1000115_1Credit: Atomos

So far, Atomos has been the first company to announce its support for 5.7K RA over 6G SDI, with the feature available in both the Shogun Inferno and Sumo units. Additional details will be revealed next week, and be sure to look for our coverage from the Atomos and Panasonic booths at NAB. 

Tech Specs:

New External Recording

  •  5.7K RAW to 30fps
  • 4K RAW to 60fps
  • 2K RAW to 240fp

Internal All-I Codecs

  • 4K: 400Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 at 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p
  • UHD: 400Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 at 29.97p/25p/23.98p
  • 2K/FHD: 200Mpbs 10-bit 4:2:2 at 59.94p/50p
  • 2K: 100Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 at 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p
  • FHD: 100Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 at 29.97p/25p/23.98p
eva1All-iatmos
Cinematography & Cameras