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Now you can video chat with your Panasonic mirrorless over USB but it’s a hacky workaround

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As seems to be the trend, Panasonic has jumped on the bandwagon of letting you use your mirrorless camera as a webcam over USB. Sort of. Whereas most manufacturers like Canon, Sigma and Fuji let your computer detect your camera as an actual USB webcam device, Panasonic’s solution… Well, it works, but it’s pretty clunky.

Instead of simply showing up as a capture device, like the others, Panasonic’s solution basically sends a live view stream to their desktop app (for Windows only). From here, you need to capture that app using something like OBS and then use an OBS plugin to fake a capture device that can be seen by Skype, Messenger, Zoom, etc.. Yeah, like I said, it’s pretty clunky.

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DEAL ALERT: LITRA LitraTorch 2.0 Light is selling for almost 50% off

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If you’ve been following the blog, you know we are big fans of the Litra Torch, so we are happy to share that you can now get it for almost 50% off.

If you are unfamiliar with the light, it’s a tiny light (think GoPro session size), which has a very long throw and an incredibly bright beam. You can think about it as a mini flashlight. The cool thing though, is that it is daylight balanced and has a CRI of 90 (not as good as the “standard 95, but good enough for most still and video uses). You can check a short review we did at the bottom of the post.

This light usually sells for $89.95, but right now, B&H is selling it for $49.95; this is almost a two for one deal.

The only caveat is that this is not the “standard” version, but a drone version, so the magnet on the back of the light has been removed, so to not interfere with the GPS. It is still a great bargain if you are looking for this type of action light.

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How to shoot water splash product photography using a DIY catapult

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Water splashes often seem to go hand in hand with product photography, although it’s not always easy to capture. Often it requires several pairs of hands to man the camera while simultaneously throwing water at your subject. But it’s possible to shoot it on your own quite easily using a DIY catapult, built from mostly standard gear you already have in your studio.

You’ll need a few bits of wood, screws, a bungee cord and a length of rope as well, but as this video from Matt Huber demonstrates, it’s a really simple design that’s easy to build. But the results it allows you to produce are very effective.

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Nikon lays off 700 workers in Thailand and Laos as part of “structural reform”

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Nikon Corporation has announced that they’ve reduced the number of employees in their Imaging business by 700 at its factories in Thailand and Laos – around 10% of their workforce in each of those locations. Nikkei reports that Nikon has been laying off the staff under “early retirement” since last Autumn.

Nikon is now looking towards the future, stating that they will “optimise according to the production scale” (downsize) depending on the influence the coronavirus pandemic has on their business going forward.

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The DJI Mavic Air 2 is actually super easy to fix

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The folks at iFixit have been working hard during the lockdown, including building a massive repository of repair information for ventilators and other devices to help those who need to repair life-saving equipment. But they’re also managing to keep up with their regular YouTube duties, too, still regularly posting teardowns and instructional videos to repair your personal devices.

Most recently, their latest video is the new DJI Mavic Air 2 drone; DJI’s follow-up to 2018’s popular Mavic Air. iFixit’s video takes the Mavic Air 2 apart to show how all of the major components fit together, and how easily they dismantle to provide access to pretty much every component contained within.

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Samyang updates its popular MF 14mm f/2.8 and 85mm f/1.4 DSLR lenses with new Mk2 versions

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Samyang has announced updates to two of its most popular manual focus lenses for DSLRs with the new MF 14mm f/2.8 Mk2 and MF 85mm f/1.4 Mk2 lenses. Although they are designed primarily for DSLRs, coming in Nikon F and Canon EF mounts, they’re also available in some mirrorless mounts, too, including Sony E, Fuji X, Canon EF-M and Micro Four Thirds.

The new Mark II updates come with focus lock and a “de-clicked” aperture to ensure you hit your absolute sweet spot with fine analogue adjustments and once you’re there you can lock it off. They both have 9 aperture blades for better bokeh and they’re both weather-sealed to help prevent dust and moisture from entering the lens.

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How to make your own DIY Arri Trinity for 1/100th of the price

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For those who’ve never come across it before, the Arri Trinity is an insane $50,000+ (and the camera) gimbal/steadicam hybrid type device that lets you make some really cool and unique shots. We featured it here recently when Potato Jet got to see and try it out for himself and it offers many obvious advantages over other filming techniques.

But most of us don’t have $50k lying around. So, what can we do? Well, we can just make our own. Sort of. In this video, filmmaker James Matthews combines his Zhiyun Weebill S with an old Flycam HD-3000 to produce the “Minity”, letting you get similar shots. Ok, so, it’s not quite the Arri Trinity, but for a hundredth of the budget, what can you really expect?

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Six cheap DIY rigs to raise your smartphone shots to a ninja level

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Smartphone cameras are now advanced enough to give us many possibilities for shooting photos and videos. But with some tricks and DIY magic, you can make your work much, much better without spending lots of money. In this video, COOPH brings you a selection of their six best DIY rigs for smartphone photography and video. They’re affordable, easy to make, and they’ll help you add a new dimension to your smartphone shots.

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Japan’s mirrorless camera sales slashed by 75% in April

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The coronavirus pandemic has affected the camera sales, which, to be honest, was quite expected. However, it’s surprising just how massive the drop is. According to the latest report, the mirrorless camera sales in Japan was slashed by whopping 75% this April compared to the same period last year.

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The SMOOTH-X is a sub $60, foldable smartphone Gimbal

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Zhiyun just announced a smartphone gimbal that is cheaper than a cup of soup in some restaurants – the Smooth X. I am actually kinda surprised by the number of features you can cram into a gadget that costs so little.

The biggest highlight of this gimbal is the fact that it folds down to pocket size. Ideally, that would make it easier to have the gimbal ready whenever you want it. In a world that may soon rid of smartphone gimbals (See Huawei P40), this is a big move in the direction of reducing the overhead of carrying another gadget.

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