Panasonic has announced a number of camera kit packages for the Varicam LT, which is scheduled to begin shipping later this month. In addition to the camera kit packages, Panasonic has announced a forty percent reduction in the price of express P2 media cards that the camera uses.
The VariCam LT will be available in four packages:
Basic Camera Kit: Varicam LT camera body, top handle, control panel and control panel mounting bracket. suggested list price $18,000US
The VariCam LT-VF package: Contains the basic kit plus the AU-VCVF10 OLED Viewfinder. Suggested list price $23,700US
VariCam LT-PRO: Includes the camera body with basic kit accessories, AU-VCVF10G viewfinder, shoulder mount, operating grip and PL lens mount. Suggested list price $27,550US
VariCam LT-PROEX: Including all of the contents of the VariCam LT-PRO package (camera kit, viewfinder, shoulder mount, operating grip and PL mount) plus two 256Gbyte expressP2 cards and an expressP2 drive. Suggested list price of $30,200US
The AU-XP0256AG 256Gbyte expressP2 card, now has a suggested list price of $1,200US. This card can record up to 90 minutes of 4K/4:2:2 content at 24 fps. With the new pricing is better than before it is still almost double the cost of the CFast 2.0 media used by the competing ARRI Alexa Mini and Canon C300 mkII.
The majority of todays cameras require quite a few accessories to make them useable, and the Varicam LT is no exception. It is important when budgeting for a camera that you take this into consideration as the accessories and media can be quite costly. The VariCam LT-PROEX package for example adds $12,200US to the base price of the camera. Of course you can opt to use third party accessories instead to keep package costs down. I suspect that quite a few buyers will opt for EVFs like the Zacuto Gratical instead of the Panasonic one. Likewise a good wooden handgrip is a reasonable alternative to the Panasonic control grip.
