The Panasonic Lumix DC-BGH1 is a highly modular camera, aimed at videographers, and built around a 10.2MP Live MOS sensor.
Starting at 8:45am PT/11:45am ET/15:45 GMT, join our DPReview livestream on YouTube to learn more about Panasonic’s latest camera. Chris and Jordan will talk about the BGH1, cover Panasonic’s own livestream, and answer questions from viewers.
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Panasonic’s Lumix DC-BGH1 is a new type of product for Panasonic: a box-style video camera that is designed to be as adaptable and flexible as possible.
It’s built around an oversized Four Thirds sensor very similar to the one found in the GH5S, and the ‘GH’ in its name is designed to invoke that series of cameras, but the BGH1 expands far beyond those models in terms of what it can do.
The idea is that it can be connected to a wide variety of other devices, depending on your needs. The expectation isn’t that anyone needs everything the camera offers, but instead that it offers a wide number of users the couple of features they need.
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The core video specifications of the BGH1 are similar to those of the GH5S, but with the added ability to capture 4K/60p footage in 10-bit quality. The 60p footage is 4:2:0, with 4:2:2 available for 4K at up to 30p.
Panasonic has also reworked the sensor’s output, optimizing for noise at the base ISO steps of its two gain modes (rather than trying to offer the most consistent performance at all settings). This decision has helped lower noise and hence boost DR at those settings.
In turn, this has prompted Panasonic to expand how much of the V-Log gamma curve the camera uses. The V-Log system works by using the same curve shape, with each camera using different extents of the curve depending on how much dynamic range they can usably capture, so that the footage of any two Log-capable Panasonic cameras can be used with a single set of LUTs, when they’re being processed.
So, while the BGH1 is still classified as shooting V-Log L, it’s using a larger region with more DR than the GH5S does.
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As you might expect from a camera whose name explicitly references the GH series, the BGH1 does pretty much everything the GH5S does, in video terms. This includes Variable Frame Rate mode, with 1080 capture at up to 240p and 4K at up to 60p, output at a variety of frame rates.
There’s also 10-bit HLG capture and anamorphic support, with corrected previews output over HDMI or SDI. The BGH1 uses the latest improvements to Panasonic’s DFD autofocus system.
The only thing missing, really, is the ability to output waveforms or vectorscope, which Panasonic says it expects to be offered (often with more precision) by many of the things you might connect the BGH1 to.
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Before we discuss how the BGH1 can be used with other equipment, it’s worth pointing out that it can be used as a self-contained camera. Not the most ergonomic one, perhaps, but it has a series of customizable buttons and a control dial to mean that, other than the lack of screen, the BGH1 can be operated as a standalone device.
In its simplest form, the camera can be framed using the Lumix Connect app on a smart device, and set to record.
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Anyone using the BGH1 as a standalone camera, or building it into a rig with an external monitor will find the inclusion of dual UHS-II SD card slots immediately valuable.
The provision of internal capture options also means it can be attached to a drone and can record onboard while in flight. But Panasonic’s expectation is that only a proportion of users will ever make use of the SD card slots.
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A hotshoe might seem like an odd addition to a video camera with no mechanical shutter, but its provision means it’s compatible with Panasonic’s DMW-XLR1 module, that provides XLR balanced audio inputs.
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As you’d expect, the BGH1 includes an HDMI socket, to allow the output of Raw or gamma encoded streams. This is the most consumer-friendly of the camera’s outputs, allowing the use of external monitors and recorders while shooting.
As well as Raw, the port is fast enough to allow a 10-bit stream of DCI 4K at up to 60p.
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Under one of the covers on the camera’s corners is an array of SDI connectors.
The first of these connectors can be used to output a video signal. It’s a 3G SDI socket so the output is limited to Full HD but can output a signal with less latency than is possible using HDMI, which is essential for audio syncing in some live environments.
The next one along is a timecode in/out socket, allowing the camera’s use as part of multi-camera shoots.
But it’s the third socket in the line that shows the camera’s ambitions: a Genlock port that allows perfect synchronization with other devices. Whereas timecode allows multi-device sync as precise as a single frame, Genlock allows even finer precision, for applications such as 3D, VR and volumetric capture, where multiple perspectives need to line-up exactly, in order to work.
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Another way of using the camera is via its Ethernet connection. The BGH1 supports power over Ethernet, in addition to video transmission and camera control signals, allowing it to run without a battery or plug-in power. Additionally, up to 12 cameras can be operated remotely from the Lumix Tether app, which provides a complete array of camera controls.
Panasonic says that it’s working on firmware that will allow the streaming of video using the RTMP system over Ethernet, meaning the camera can be sent to an interviewee, configured remotely and then stream back to the studio using a low-latency RTMP connection.
Panasonic says it will release an SDK to allow users to develop their own software to fully control the camera, though it only refers to USB control, since the same SDK will also cover many of the company’s existing cameras.
The BGH1 will be able to output over HDMI, SDI and USB simultaneously, if you so require it.
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If you’re not using Ethernet or the camera’s 12V DC input (shown above) to power the camera, the BGH1 can use Panasonic’s large VW-VB video camera batteries.
These are available in capacities of 43, 65 and 86 Wh (7.28V 11,800 mAh), which will provide battery life way beyond anything we’re used to in the stills sphere. For reference, a Sony NP-FZ100, which is one of the most powerful batteries we usually encounter, is rated at 16.4Wh.
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In order to allow drone use, the BGH1 has been designed to be as light as possible. Rather than the 730g of the stabilized GH5, the BGH1 weighs just 545g without a battery.
The use of 7.2V batteries allowed a higher voltage, lower current design, which reduces heat built-up, and the camera also features a fan much like the one in Panasonic’s full-frame S1H, since this adds less weight than adding additional metal to act as a heatsink.
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The Panasonic Lumix DC-BGH1 doesn’t look like most of the cameras we review and its sheer flexibility, as much as its physical shape, makes it a little hard to get a handle on. To a degree, it feels like Panasonic hasn’t so much tried to design a camera to do a particular job, they’ve tried to design a camera that can lend itself to a vast range of different jobs, probably beyond the expectations of the company itself.
To an extent, we won’t know what the BGH1 is really for until videographers and production companies start using it and pushing to explore its potential.
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The YouTube channel ColdFusion published an in-depth look at the history of Adobe. In the photo and video industry, Adobe is a giant. While some people may not be in favor of the company’s more recent push toward a subscription model, nearly everyone can agree that Adobe and its software has had a massive influence.
Tracing Adobe’s history requires going back all the way to 1982 when John Warnock and Charles Geschke founded the company in Warnock’s garage. How did the pair decide on the name Adobe? There was a creek behind the Warnock home called Adobe. And the company’s first logo? It was designed by John Warnock’s wife, Marva Warnock, a graphic designer and illustrator.
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| Adobe co-founders John Warnock and Charles Geschke |
Warnock and Geschke had worked together at Xerox Parc and developed a printing code, PostScript. The duo had pitched their development to Xerox but the higher-ups weren’t interested. After being rebuked, Warnock and Geschke left the company to found Adobe. It wasn’t long before others took notice of Adobe, including Steve Jobs, who the very same year Adobe was founded tried to buy the company for $ 5M USD. Warnock and Geschke refused to sell outright but did eventually sell Jobs a 19% share of the company at five times its valuation, making Adobe the first company in the history of Silicon Valley to turn a profit in its first year.
With a license in hand for PostScript, Apple’s foray into laser printing changed publishing forever, allowing people and businesses to print and publish content without the use of expensive photo typesetters. As Dagogo Altraide states in his video below, the idea that you could purchase a Macintosh computer and Apple LaserWriter printer, underpinned by Adobe’s PostScript coding, and be able to publish completely changed the industry.
Adobe’s first few years went very well, and the company became publicly traded on the NASDAQ index in 1986. The Adobe more familiar to us today started to take shape in 1987 with the launch of the vector-based drawing program, Adobe Illustrator, which is still used today. Adobe Photoshop, on the other hand, was not developed in-house at Adobe. Thomas Knoll began working on a grayscale image editor while a PhD student in Michigan. Upon advice from his brother, John, Thomas took a sabbatical from his post-graduate studies to turn his project into a fully-fledged image editing program.
As Thomas continued his work on the program, John gave demonstrations in Silicon Valley, including to Adobe and Apple. Adobe purchased the license to distribute the software in late 1988. Adobe Photoshop was released exclusively on the Macintosh in January of 1990 with a lifetime license and price of $ 895. This price may seem steep, but digital photo retouching services cost upwards of $ 300 an hour at the time.
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| Thomas Knoll showing off Adobe Photoshop on a Macintosh computer |
In the video above, Altraide recaps an incident in 1992 in which Charles Geschke was held at gunpoint and kidnapped as he exited his vehicle in Adobe’s parking lot. The pair of kidnappers held Geschke for a $ 650,000 ransom and told his wife, Nan, that Charles would be killed and dismembered if she didn’t follow their instructions. After four days in captivity and with the help of the FBI, Charles was rescued, and his captors were arrested and eventually sentenced to life sentences.
Adobe’s business moved forward and the next year, Photoshop was ported to Microsoft Windows, beginning a rapid expansion in Adobe’s software offerings and influence. To learn what happened next and find out more about Adobe’s torrid pace of acquisitions and developments in the decades since watch ColdFusion’s full video above. For more from ColdFusion, click here.
(Via Fstoppers)
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To inspire users before a shoot, or to help them unwind after one, Canon Japan has launched a range of traditional ‘Edo Kiriko’ cut glass tumblers with designs based on photography themes. The company has employed the Mitsuwa Glass Crafts studio in Tokyo that uses traditional Edo Kiriko cutting techniques to shape light as it passes through the glass. The studio has come up with a series of designs that either look like a lens, feel like the dials on an EOS camera, actually have a lens designed into the base or which are decorated with the visual expression of the sound of a shutter.
There are two basic shapes of glasses to choose from, each with variations in the design of the cuts and patterns. One has the ribbed pattern of a lens focusing ring cut into the sides and is made from a mixture of black and clear glass, while others have an aperture iris pattern in the base and come in red or blue glass.
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The designer said that the idea was to capture the things we can’t see in the lines cut into the glass such as the sound of a shutter tripping, as well as the shapes and patterns of light.
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Edo Kiriko is a particular way of cutting glass in Japan and is considered a highly skilled craft. All glasses have to be cut by hand and have to use specific materials, and when colored a very thin layer has to be used – which made creating the jet black especially difficult.
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The glasses will be available to order from December but may take up to three months for delivery as they are all handmade. Prices will be from ¥13000 (approx. $ 125). While these glasses are made for Canon users they can be enjoyed by owners of all camera brands without adapters. For more information see the Canon Japan website.
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The Leica M10 Monochrom takes the M10 body but includes a newly-developed 40MP full-frame sensor, with no color filter array. Like previous Monochrom variants, this makes the M10 M capable of producing stunning ‘true’ black and white images. We’ve been shooting with the new Monochrom for a few days with a mixture of old and new glass. Take a look!
See our Leica M10 Monochrom sample gallery
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Back in February 2019, Nikon announced it was working to develop a firmware update for its D5, D850 and D500 DSLR cameras that would bring support for using CFExpress Type B memory cards. Since then, we haven’t heard a word about these development from Nikon, but Nikon Rumors says it ‘can confirm’ the much-anticipated firmware update will arrive before the end of the year.
According to Nikon Rumors’ report, the firmware update will arrive ‘before the end of 2020.’ Nikon Rumors says Nikon ‘may say something about [these updates]’ this coming week when it launches its Z6 II and Z7 II mirrorless cameras.
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Image credit: B&H Photo |
Despite promising a firmware update, Nikon never confirmed the details of what kind of performance we can expect from CFExpress Type B cards when used with its D5, D850 and D500 DSLR cameras. While CFExpress Type B support will make it easier to use the open and more popular format — not to mentioned larger maximum capacities, since XQD cards top out at 240GB compared to the current 1TB maximum capacity of CFExpress cards — it doesn’t necessarily we’ll expect improved speeds over using XQD cards when using them inside the camera. However, you will see improved speeds over XQD cards when importing the cards to your computer if you’re using a CFExpress Type B memory card reader.
We contacted Nikon for a comment on the updates on Friday October 9, but haven’t received a response. We will update this article if we get any further information from Nikon.
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| Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II changed the camera industry forever. In more ways than one. |
Looking back, I can’t honestly say I recognized the long-term impact of Canon’s big announcement at Photokina 2008. It’s only with hindsight I can see the significance of the unveiling of the EOS 5D Mark II.
It ushered in the era of Full HD video in DSLRs: that was obviously a big deal. But it was also the herald of an insidious trend in consumer cameras whose enormity is only now becoming clear.
At the time it seemed innocent enough. After all, the ‘Mark II’ was an iteration on an existing design. Sure the whole video thing meant that the second-gen model was arguably even more significant than the original ‘first-sub-$ 4000 full frame digital’ EOS 5D, but that ‘Mark II’ branding seemed logical, given how much it appeared to have been developed from its forebear.
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II was the herald of an insidious trend whose enormity is only now becoming clear
Hemmed-in by the 30D, 40D, 50D APS-C series on one side and the flagship 1D series on the other, it made sense that Canon wouldn’t want to squander the remaining seven single-digit options available to it on a like-for-like replacement (a decision justified with the arrival of the 6D, five years later). So Mark II it was. And, without any fanfare, an uncontrollable naming phenomenon had begun.
In isolation, it might have been fine, Canon had already had Mark II models in its professional EOS-1D range, so where was the harm in releasing it into the consumer market? Meanwhile, though, another insidious trend in nomenclature was developing: the quasi-algebraic insistence on adding ‘X’ to everything.
Again, it started harmlessly enough: Nikon used it to signify its high-resolution pro DSLRs and later-on, Sony would use it to denote the presence of a CMOS sensor its compacts. But it rapidly expanded, to the point of near ubiquity. Panasonic dubbed its rangefinder-ish enthusiast G-series mirrorless cameras ‘GX’ and Canon decided ‘G X’ was a good way to style the large-sensor successors to its own G-series of compacts. To add to the fun, Fujifilm decided to use ‘X-series’ as the branding both for its mirrorless cameras, which use the ‘X’ mount and a diverse range of fixed lens cameras, which don’t.
But the perniciousness of both of these creeping trends came when they started to cross-breed.
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| It’s not just a circle, but it’s interesting to see that every brand has used the letter ‘x’ in its model names at one time or another. |
Canon, having already produced models called G1 X, G3 X, G5 X, G7 X and G9 X, decided to adopt ‘Mark’ designations for its compacts, giving us three G1 Xs, two iterations of the G5 X and three of the G7 X. Thankfully Panasonic thankfully kept the GX7 Mark II and Mark III nomenclature to the Japanese market, instead confusing the rest of the world with a GX8 that wasn’t considered part of the GX7 series, before following on with the GX9, which was.
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| The Canon G7 X Mark II, not to be confused with the Panasonic GX7 Mark II (GX85). Likewise the G7 X III and GX7 III (GX9). |
But, as ever, it’s Sony that’s really exhausted all possible permutations. Probably not helped by a period where it seemed determined to address every possible industry niche and replace each model before the previous generation had arrived in the shops, its naming system has got properly out-of-hand. So, we now have multiple ‘Marks’ of the very, very different RX0, RX1, RX10 and RX100 ranges. This system has become so unwieldy that the RX100 series has apparently divided into parallel short- (Mark 1-5) and long-zoom variants (Marks 6 and 7) necessitating the creation of the RX100 Mark 5A. Surely that’s a sign that this all needs to stop?
It just causes problems. As well as me not being able to remember any camera’s names anymore, it also means that some once-useful terminology has been squandered: I feel Olympus’s latest E-M1 model, for example, might have been better received if its had been pitched as ‘Mark II’ version of its predecessor. But I’ll acknowledge that calling it the E-M1 Mark II – Mark II was probably wasn’t an option.
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| Loath as I am to draw automotive parallels, it’s worth nothing that, with a few exceptions such as Toyota’s defunct US-only Scion brand, most motor manufacturers manage to avoid the obsession with the letter ‘x’ or calling things Mark II. This allows simple names that can’t be confused, such as Solara, Nova, Alpine or Bonneville. |
Between pitching this article and finding the time to write it, Nikon has announced it’s joining the far-from exclusive club with its Z6 and Z7 replacements. Hoo – and I can’t emphasize this enough – ray.
I’m sorry: I know none of this matters. Camera naming schemes make not the blindest bit of difference to the pictures any of these models take, or how enjoyable the photographic experience they give is. But, possibly because I have to remember and write about them all, and perhaps because my brain is becoming less agile with age, I’m finding it all too much. Is it really too much to ask that camera companies stop calling all their cameras the same bloody thing?
Think you know what the world looks like? Think again! DPReview TV host and mad scientist Don Komarechka shows us what the world looks like when seen through ultraviolet light.
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Tether Tools has introduced a new version of its Smart Shooter application that adds a plug-in for Sony cameras so they can tether directly into Adobe’s Lightroom Classic. The standalone software is also compatible with Nikon and Canon cameras and allows users to control their camera settings and import images from the camera as they are being shot.
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While Nikon and Canon users can also use Lightroom Classic they need to do so via hot folders from the standalone software, but with the new plug-in Sony cameras can be seen in the Lightroom Tethering Bar. Images shot on Sony cameras will be pulled in to Lightroom automatically, collecting presets on the way to give users finished pictures directly in their catalogs.
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Users can also elect to save pictures to the computer and the memory card at the same time, while the on-screen live view allows multiple loupe positions for simultaneously checking focus in more than one area. The company says Smart Shooter 4 offers more camera controls than before and that import scripts can be automated.
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A ‘Pro’ version of the software gives photographers the ability to toggle between up to eight connected cameras, and to trigger them all at the same time. It also allows barcode and QR code scanning via the tethered camera.
Tether Tools Smart Shooter 4 is available now and costs $ 69.95 for the standard version and $ 195.95 for the Pro version. Tether Tools says it is working on a plug-in for Canon cameras that it hopes to release next year. For more information see the Tether Tools website.
Press release
Photographers can now enhance their tethering experience in Lightroom through this direct integration from Tether Tools.
Tether Tools is pleased to announce the release of an integrated Smart Shooter 4 plug-in for Lightroom Classic. As the industry leader in solutions for tethered capture, Tether Tools developed the plug-in with the goal of expanding Lightroom Classic’s native tethering capabilities. The result is a smooth, stable tethered connection with added Sony compatibility and valuable features for Nikon users. The Smart Shooter plug-in for Lightroom will provide users with efficiency, enhanced workflow quality, and delivering a more unified tethered experience.
“Tether Tools is always assessing how we can create compatibility between gear and systems within the tethered workflow. Among other great features, we’re really excited for Sony photographers to be able to tether directly into Lightroom,” says Josh Simons, Tether Tools’ President & CEO.
Smart Shooter 4 is a digital photography workflow application that allows users to fully control a camera from a computer, giving the freedom to explore and experiment to help take the perfect picture. Automatic download and display provide the ability to fully evaluate photos in seconds, and real time live view output will help focus and compose the image. Scripting language lets users have control of their camera, allowing them to take multiple photos with varying settings just by clicking a single button.
This integration with the Smart Shooter Plug-In adds onto native Lightroom Classic functionality to provide:
Compatibility with Sony Cameras: Users will be able to see their Sony camera in the Lightroom Classic tethering bar and ingest images directly into Lightroom Classic without any additional configuration or set-up.
Automatically Apply Lightroom Presets: Using the plug-in, images are immediately imported into Lightroom Classic catalogs so that users will be able to apply presets in real-time. This saves time compared to alternative solutions that require use of watch folders.
Save to card and computer simultaneously: Smart Shooter provides the ability to capture and save images to both their computer and camera memory card for backup.
Advanced Tethering Features: Direct your tethered session from Smart Shooter to take advantage of its advanced tethering features including multi-loupe view, Live View, automated scripts, increased camera controls and more while still instantly transferring images to Lightroom.
Barcode Scanning: Automatically scan barcodes or QR codes, through the camera lens, to automate workflow, improve organization and save time in post-production.
Multi-camera connectivity: Seamlessly toggle between up to 8 cameras in Lightroom or simultaneously control and trigger up to 8 cameras from the Smart Shooter interface.
Long-time Lightroom user and photographer Bryan Welsh stated, “As a working portrait photographer, I rely on tools that enhance my ability to work without adding stress. The new plug-in for Smart Shooter 4 and Adobe Lightroom [Classic] performs seamlessly to deliver on that. This combination allows me to see my best work realized.”
Smart Shooter comes in two versions, both for a single user, but with different options and prices. Smart Shooter 4, which costs $ 69.95, can be used with one camera and offers tethered shooting, remote control, live view and prepackaged scripts. Smart Shooter 4 PRO has the functions from the base version, but offers multi-camera control, Through the Lens Barcode and QR code scanning, external API integration and custom scripting. Priced at $ 195.95, it also allows users to shoot simultaneously with up to 8 cameras.
For Sony and Nikon users, the Smart Shooter Plug-In for Adobe Lightroom is available on TetherTools.com and through Tether Tools retailers globally. Each purchase grants a fully licensed version of Smart Shooter 4 or Smart Shooter 4 PRO which includes the Lightroom plug-in. Tether Tools is also working to make the plug-in available through the Adobe Exchange. Tether Tools is working with Adobe to enable full plug-in support for Canon next year.
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To any collector/enjoyer of old cameras, the idea of stumbling upon on enormous stash of mint-condition gear, from a long-gone era, is the ultimate dream. And that dream recently became a reality for one lucky gentlemen in Kazakhstan, who discovered hundreds of “brand-new” Soviet-era cameras – including the Smena 8M (shown above) – packed inside wooden crates and stored in a warehouse, untouched likely since the early 1990’s. Read on…
Read: A secret stash of hundreds of Soviet cameras found in a Kazakh warehouse
About Film Fridays: We recently launched an analog forum and in a continuing effort to promote the fun of the medium, we’ll be sharing film-related content on Fridays, including articles from our friends at KosmoFoto and 35mmc.