800 / 5000 Dual Native ISO

Dual Native ISO is a unique technology from Panasonic that can be found in the cameras that are part of the cinema camera lineup. The sensor of the VariCam camera has two native ISO settings, 800 & 5000. This means that, simply put, you can take advantage of having two film stocks in a single camera. This allows you to shoot ISO 800 for normal lighting situations, or to gain almost 3 stops with ISO 5000 to capture magic hour or candle-lit scenes; all without any loss of dynamic range, resolution, or color.

Any predispositions you have that correlate using a high ISO to shoot video in low-light situations and the noisy footage that may come as a result of that need to be checked at the door. Dual Native ISO technology makes noisy low-light footage a thing of the past.

In order to enable noise-free low-light video shooting, Panasonic cinema camera engineers implemented two dedicated analog circuits on each pixel of the VariCam sensor. Each of these circuits on each pixel of the sensor is essentially an individual native ISO before gain processing. This allows the camera to achieve a much higher sensitivity without the increased noise. Normally, noise is introduced in the gain process of rating ISO in digital cameras.

When shooting with the Panasonic cinema cameras that feature Dual Native ISO technology, you can now save time and money with fewer lights and much faster set-ups.

Cinematic Low-Light Camera

Utilizing the game-changing native 5000 ISO, it's not just about shooting cinematic footage in the dark. There are other benefits that can help streamline video productions, whether they are happening on an organized video set, in a broadcast studio, for a low-budget indie film, or even on a run and gun documentary shoot where anything is possible. Dual Native ISO technology creates new opportunities for the video production crew to save time, cut budget spend and to bring their actual creative vision to the screen.

Here are just a few of the key benefits of shooting with native 5000 ISO: