Emmy award-winning production company ASV Communications recently purchased two Panasonic Broadcast AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD cameras to be used in a range of field assignments.

The AJ-HDC27 allows digital cinematographers to capture film-style 24-frame HD progressive scanned images. The camera also has a new option that enables variable frame rates (4 to 60 fps with the ability to change the frame rate in single-frame increments) to overcrank and undercrank the camera to achieve fast- or slow-motion effects. It provides gamma control that permits HD video to more closely match the range of film.

An ASV official cited the VariCam's flexible format, the ability to intercut footage from the two cameras and its utility in allowing archiving in HDTV.