Big news from Panasonic! Its mysterious 8K multi-purpose camera with organic sensor and global shutter goes on sale in Europe later this month as an 8K ROI kit. For how much? Read down below. 

Panasonic and the race for 8K

Panasonic (like many others) is sucked up into the pursuit for 8K acquisition. In December 2018, we wrote an article regarding Panasonic 8K prototype that was used to shot a short film. According to Panasonic, the technical brief was to film in 4K and 8K using the latest Panasonic’s professional VariCam 35 and EVA1 cameras, combined with the new Panasonic 8K prototype, to examine at how it performs in low and in high light.

Since then, we haven’t heard much about this 8K cinema prototype. However, we also reported on a mysterious 8K camera named as AK-SHB810 model, which, according to Panasonic: “Will be the world’s first 8K cinema camera to pack an 8K organic sensor.” Panasonic said they would release this camcorder in late 2019. Now, at IBC 2019, the time has come.

Panasonic AK-SHB800: 8K camera with “Organic Sensor technology.”

Panasonic will demonstrate the AK-SHB800 8K camera at IBC 2019. AK-SHB800 will be shown as an 8K ROI (Region of Interest) camera kit.

According to the press release: “Panasonic will be demonstrating its latest 8K Organic Sensor technology at IBC 2019. Designed for wide camera angle shots with high resolution, the sensor is set to revolutionize commercial sports and live event coverage”. As stated by Panasonic: “With first commercial use anticipated at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the organic sensor technology has several competitive advantages. It comes with a wide dynamic range delivering more colors and higher quality images than ever before. It’s Electronic Neutral Density Filter (ENDF) can reduce or introduce light more smoothly than its traditional Optical Neutral Density (OND) counterparts and its innovative Global Shutter delivers advantages over current Rolling Shutters by removing the skew when shooting fast-moving images and eliminating flash-band from still camera lighting at live events and press conferences”.

Panasonic will be demonstrating its latest 8K Organic Sensor technology at IBC 2019. Designed for wide camera angle shots with high resolution, the sensor is set to revolutionize commercial sports and live event coverage

Panasonic

8K ROI camera kit

Panasonic says that the new 8K ROI (Region of Interest) multi-camera system will also be demonstrated. This kit includes the 8K multi-purpose camera (AK-SHB800), a processing unit (AK-SHU800) and framing control software (AK-SFC101). The advantages of the 8K sensor are wide-angle, large canvas and out of which four separate “crops” which can be generated out of the processing unit.

Price

The kit goes on sale in Europe later this month at an RRP of 130.000 € (for the whole kit). You can do the math for the cost of the camera alone.

Summary

It seems that Panasonic aims for 8K acquisition in two pathways: Cinematography and broadcast solutions. By judging the spec and price, the  AK-SHB800 is dedicated more for broadcast applications. In my personal opinion, I don’t think this model will be used as an 8K camera for shooting a film. For that, we’ll have to wait for the 8K cinema camera prototype. However, it will be fascinating to explore some footage from the AK-SHB800. I guess we’ll see it in action broadcasting the 2020 Olympic Games.