DISCLOSURE: AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES.
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING, AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU, I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES. AFFILIATE LINKS ARE MARKED WITH #ad.
"I" IN THIS CASE MEANS THE OWNER OF FILMDAFT.COM. PLEASE READ THE FULL DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.
In a live event today, Panasonic released the Lumix BGH1 4k cinema camera.
The BGH1 is a small box-shaped camera with micro-four thirds mount, a 10.2MP 4K sensor, with Dual Native ISO sensitivity, similar to what we know from the Panasonic GH5S.
In fact, I find that the BGH1 reminds me of the Panasonic Lumix GH5S in several ways in terms of specifications.
And a lot of the features are the same, e.g. the dual SD-card slots, the support for anamorphic lenses, and the included Log-profile.
There are also 3.5mm minijack audio inputs and outputs, but you can also use the XLR1 XLR adapter, which is cool if you already own this for your GH5 or S1 cameras.
However, the BGH1 doesn’t have an EVF or LCD-screen, and it is clearly designed for live streaming and broadcasting in mind.
Connections, connections, connections for multicam setups
This becomes obvious from the small footprint (it measures 3.66 x 3.66 x 3.07″/93.0 x 93.0 x 78.0mm and weighs 19.2 oz/545g) and modular design, which includes multiple attachment points on each side of the camera and both HDMI, SDI (3G), and Ethernet/PoE+ outputs.
You also get GenLock and Time Code support over BNC and the camera is designed for multiple camera setups that can be remotely controlled.
Keep in mind also, that Panasonic recently released their tethering software, so this camera fits nicely in that pipeline.
It also has Wi-Fi (802.11n – 2.4GHz) and BlueTooth.
Internally, you can record in C4K 4:2:0 10-bit (H.265/HEVC) up to 60 fps. With HDMI you can record C4K 60p 4:2:2 10-bit, RAW.
It has 13 stops of dynamic range when shooting V-log L, which comes pre-installed.
Another cool feature is that you can record C4K/4K 60p/50p 4:2:0 10-bit internally, and C4K/4K 60p/50p 4:2:2 10-bit HDMI externally simultaneously.
Summary
The box shape of this camera makes it ideal as a tool for multi-cam setups, but you can also easily use it as a modular camera that you can expand to your likings, like the RED Komodo, Zcam e2, or Blackmagic Micro Studio camera.
Read more and check the current price on Adorama.
About the author:
Jan Sørup is a videographer and photographer from Denmark. He owns filmdaft.com and the Danish company Apertura, which produces video content for big companies in Denmark and Scandinavia. Jan has a background in music, has drawn webcomics, and is a former lecturer at the University of Copenhagen.