Blackmagic Forum

Hello all,

I just bought a studio camera 4k pro and the Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 45-175mm lens (from the list of lenses that worked with both zoom and focus demands). The problem is that lenses doesn't have the range of zoom I need and am looking at other options. I need a lenses that can zoom out way further (thinking around 20mm) and zoom in a bit more (about 200mm). Obviously the list of lenses for zoom and focus demands is very short, but I don't need remote control from an ATEM, I just need control from a set of demands on the tripod.

Does anyone have any other lens control options I can use to control focus and zoom on a lens that are also MFT mount?

Thanks!

Where do you find the list of lenses that work with the focus and zoom demands and can be controlled from an ATEM Switcher.

Thank you.

Mike

Any native Micro 4/3 lenses that have electrical contacts and can be controlled by the camera through the lens mount should work with the zoom and focus demands and could also be controlled remotely from an ATEM Switcher.

The problem is that there are only 4 native Micro 4/3 lenses that have been designed with internal zoom motors to enable power zoom capability (sometimes called servo zoom or electronic zoom). Here is the list:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/faq/59009

There are lots of Micro 4/3 lenses with electronic control of focus, but the vast majority of these have a manual zoom ring that needs to be operated by hand as they were primarily intended for photography rather than video.

This situation has been the same for several years now (I think the last Micro 4/3 power zoom lens release was the Olympus 14-42mm EZ back in 2014). Perhaps someone can convince Panasonic or Olympus or Sigma or some other lens manufacturer to design a new power zoom lens, but so far there hasn't seemed to be much interest in producing such lenses.

You can find threads on this topic going back to the original versions of the Studio Cameras back in 2014:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=95317
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=41495
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21016

jojoguy10 wrote:Hello all,

I just bought a studio camera 4k pro and the Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 45-175mm lens (from the list of lenses that worked with both zoom and focus demands). The problem is that lenses doesn't have the range of zoom I need and am looking at other options. I need a lenses that can zoom out way further (thinking around 20mm) and zoom in a bit more (about 200mm). Obviously the list of lenses for zoom and focus demands is very short, but I don't need remote control from an ATEM, I just need control from a set of demands on the tripod.

Does anyone have any other lens control options I can use to control focus and zoom on a lens that are also MFT mount?

Thanks!

I can see this happening a lot!

If you need power zoom to use with the new zoom demand, then you are out of luck. No lenses exist for this system with a range anywhere near that.

Let's just hope that Panasonic make one in the near future. Wouldn't hold your breath though.

Hi

Very new here, very new to BlackMagic Design. Enthused by the Studio 4k Pro cameras and the entire Blackmagic Lineup and solutions.
This is a very strange and odd design decision. Zooming in a studio manually is at the very least cumbersome. Designing a solution for only 4 lenses is even stranger. MFT is a valid solution but only 4 lenses with powerzoom????
Any update... People at BlackmagicDesign?

Keep on desiging great products but this is not a winner...

Peace

Any update on the lenses?

We've all dreamt about being able to use pretty much any glass with any BMD camera through adapters at some point; however often neither physics nor the wildly differing histories of the various lens mount standards play in our favor here, which must be frustrating for both the users and the manufacturers.

So in the meantime BMD have essentially sectioned their live production cameras into three distinct ranges:

- Entry level/Desktop streaming: BMPCC 4K, BMPCC 4k Micro, Studio Camera 4K. MFT mount. While the selection of fully motorized lenses is still limited to 4 they are all really inexpensive and work well enough if you limit your shooting area to the dimensions typical of these setups. Adapting these to parfocal TV Zoom lenses or larger 35mm still photography lenses with B4 oder EF mount is theoretically possible but often not really practical due to the small physical size and flimsy construction of the MFT bayonet.


- Mid-Tier/Advanced Streaming/Events: BMPCC 6K, Studio Camera 6K. EF mount/L-Mount. Theoretically these provide a better platform with a wide range of available lenses, but the long back focus distance of EF makes it pretty much impossible to adapt PL or B4 lenses. Plus Canon are being stupid about opening their RF standard, having effectively forced BMD to start switching to L-Mount here. There is no L-Mount version of the Studio Camera 6K yet though. And the selection of parfocal powered lenses in this standard is very limited to non existent atm. It's a lot easier to adapt L-mount to other standards like PL though, but the costs quickly add up.

If you need the specific features of the Studio Camera like intercom, tally, large shaded screen and so on but can't quite spring the dough for a URSA setup the Studio Camera 6K in EF with one of the Canon CN-E Cine Servos will give you an "almost like real TV" setup. The zoom range of these lenses is rather limited though.


- Professional/Small TV Station: URSA Broadcast. Modular mount, B4 as standard, EF included, options for others like PL available directly from BMD instead of having to rely on adapters. This is what you will need to use if you want proper TV studio style handling with full parfocality and a wide zoom range.