Visuals

This year, IBC 2016 was not short on new lens announcements, that's for sure. However, one of the most anticipated and hottest announcements from the show came from Japanese lens maker SIGMA, who up until now have been manufacturing primarily photographic lenses. At IBC 2016 in Amsterdam, Sigma announced they will release a new lineup of cine lenses including primes and zoom lenses in early 2017.

Blackmagic Camera 4.0 Update is a major overhaul of the URSA Mini 4K and 4.6K interface and it also adds new features. With the 2nd Public Beta of the firmware users get access to new support for image stabilization on EF lenses, better lens control for Cabrio PL lenses, improved focus assist, reduced startup time and more.

After months of rumors, anticipation and some delays, GoPro finally announced their first foray into the world of consumer drones by announcing the company's first drone - GoPro Karma. In addition, the most popular camera maker in the world unveiled a brand new flagship camera - the GoPro Hero5 Black and an even more compact Hero5 Session.

Earlier today at the Photokina 2016 trade show in Germany, Panasonic announced the development of their most advanced 4K mirrorless camera to date - the much anticipated Panasonic LUMIX GH5. The successor to the very popular GH4 features some eyebrow raising features such as 6K photo capture, 4K video at 60 frames per second, and internal recording in 10bit 422 colour sub-sampling - a feat that no other stills camera has to date.

With the release of the latest firmware version 4.0, the Panasonic Varicam LT can now output 4K Raw up to 30p via a single SDI, or 4K/60p via Dual-link SDI to a compatible external recorder. At the moment those are the Convergent Design Odyssey7Q+ and the Atomos Shogun Inferno. The firmware update is free of charge for Varicam LT owners.