The New Panasonic EVA-1 Is Here

Back in the summer, I posted a tweet when Panasonic introduced the new S35 EVA-1 at Cine Gear Expo, a sub $10K 5.7K camera designed to rival cameras like the FS7 and C200:

"New Panasonic EVA1 Could be The Ultimate Indie #Cinema #Camera" #videoproduction #cinematography https://t.co/kkQ8eQz1FT

— Clint Till (@ClintTill) June 4, 2017

There were high hopes for this camera at the time of the announcement, with No Film School claiming that it could be the "ultimate indie cinema camera." Philip Bloom also anticipated good things to come with this camera when he wrote about it on his blog.

Now that the EVA1 is finally here, reviews, first impressions, and videos featuring EVA1 test footage are coming in. Here are some of the initial reactions.

DP Kenny McMillan takes a first look at the #EVA1 at LA's Linwood Dunn Theater. "Well​ ​done,​ ​Panny." https://t.co/vV9LRZR8s4

— Panasonic ProAV (@PanasonicProAV) September 18, 2017

#Eva1 is awarded as the Best Documentary Camera @RedSharkNews #panasonic pic.twitter.com/e0jimwlkpp

— Panasonic VariCam (@TheVaricam) September 17, 2017

Beast in disguise!! The new #Panasonic #EVA1 is tiny but with plenty of power, ease of use and cheap workflow with sd cards pic.twitter.com/lGosTYsKk9

— Alvaro Soto (@AlvaroSoto13) September 18, 2017

Certainly one highlight of this years #IBCShow is the @TheVaricam compact, 5.7K, super 35 #EVA1. Video coming soon. pic.twitter.com/Pwuc83r25u

— BPS (@BPSukltd) September 18, 2017

Panasonic EVA1 4K Footage Just Released:https://t.co/qesd3PSRUa#EVA1 @Panasonic_ProAV @Mitch_Gross

— Texas Media Systems (@txmedia) September 15, 2017

Check out the @panasonicprovideo #EVA1 This is an impressive offering from Panasonic and would be a good contender against the Sony FS5 and the Canon C200. Camera felt great really good ergonomics and first videos looked amazing! #f8imaging

A post shared by Charles Zablan (@f8imaging) on Sep 15, 2017 at 12:45am PDT

"The #EVA1 is light enough to do pickups & great for docu-style! Gives you a big budget look w/o a need for a big crew&big💲" @elleschneider pic.twitter.com/ZbZSTIjTRQ

— B&H Photo Video (@BHPhotoVideo) September 11, 2017

The initial feedback seems to be positive, but shooters will need more real-world experience with the camera before a final conclusion can be drawn about its performance. After all, the AF-100 seemed promising, but never really lived up to its potential (partly due to the timing of its release, the shifting tastes among shooters, and the lack of a full frame sensor).