Panasonic has made it clear: the torch has passed from its Lumix Sync app to the Lumix Lab app. If you own one of the company’s modern phase detect autofocus cameras – that’s the S5 II, S5 IIX, G9 II, GH7 and S9 – Lumix Lab can now do pretty much everything that Sync could do, alongside all the new features it brings to the table.

When Lumix Lab originally launched alongside the S9 in May, Panasonic was clear that it wasn’t ready to fully replace Lumix Sync for its older cameras; it didn’t support critical features such as remote shooting, remote shutter control, image transfer, or live streaming.

That’s changed this week, though. Panasonic released firmware updates yesterday, as well as an update to Lumix Lab, which work together to let you fully control and sync your camera from your phone.

Enter the LUT lab

Lumix Lab lets you download LUTS made by creators and gives you a library to manage those LUTs alongside the ones you create yourself.

Beyond the functions that already existed with Lumix Sync, Lumix Lab adds several features around Look Up Tables, or LUTs, which are essentially color presets that you can apply to your photos and videos. It has a section that lets you download ready-made LUTs from creators, and you can even create custom LUTs using the app’s photo editor. You can then use those LUTs in Lumix Lab, applying them to photos you’ve synced over from your camera, or send them to your camera, where you can use them with the Real Time LUT that can automatically apply them to your JPEGs and videos.

Lumix Lab also has fairly robust editing features for both photos and videos. You can use it to adjust colors, exposure, sharpening, and more and to apply effects like grain and vignetting. Continuing the LUT focus of the app, if you like the adjustments you’ve made, you’re able to save them as a LUT for later use. Lumix Lab also lets you apply a variety of pre-set crops to stills and videos, making it easy to share them on platforms with a specific aspect ratio, and you can trim videos if you only want to use a small portion of them. Finally, you can share your edited photos and videos straight from the app.

Lumix Lab has a relatively full-featured set of photo and video editing tools, and lets you save your adjustments as custom LUTs.

The future of Sync

At the moment, it doesn’t seem like the Lumix Sync app is going anywhere – owners of the S1, S1R, the newly released G97, and other older cameras will still need to use it to sync photos to their phones, after all.

However, if you haven’t given Lumix Lab a shot yet, and have one of the cameras it works with, it’s probably worth a try. It can now not only do the things Lumix Sync could, but much more, making the experience of shooting with your camera and sharing with your phone that much nicer. Even if those don’t interest you, it’s also worth noting that the latest updates to the S5 II, S5 IIX, GH7, and G9 II could make it more annoying to use with Panasonic’s older app, as a camera-to-phone Wi-Fi connection will now require password authentication – the ability to use the app without inputting a Wi-Fi password has been removed.

Lumix Lab is a free download from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

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SmallRig has announced it is expanding its lineup with a new cage for the Sony a9 III and a1 II. Like SmallRig’s existing offerings, the new cage aims to add additional protection for the camera. Perhaps more importantly, it also offers expansion options, making it easier to attach additional gear like phone mounts, monitors, microphones and more. It offers what SmallRig calls a “brand-new streamlined design with precision-fit protection and unobstructed button access.” It’s available for purchase now for $99.

Image: SmallRig

SmallRig’s latest full cage features a leather grip that fully wraps around the grip of the camera. The leather design allows it to blend in a bit more to the camera, and results in a more polished look worthy of the flagship cameras.

The cage features a three-point locking installation to keep it securely attached to the camera, but doesn’t require removing the D-rings. It uses an integrated bottom Arca-Swiss quick release plate for seamless use on a wide range of tripods and gimbals. It comes with a magnetic wrench on the bottom of the plate for easier attachment or removal.

Buy now:

Image: SmallRig

Of course, one of the main benefits to a cage is all the extra attachment points for gear, of which this new offering has plenty. It features 1/4″-20 threaded holes, 1/4″-20 locating holes, ARRI 3/8″-16 locating holes, cold shoe mounts, strap slots and QD socket. All of those attachment points make it feasible to add on a long list of handles, microphones, lights, monitors, straps and more. Plus, the HawkLock H21 NATO rail allows you to quickly add or remove handles.

Image: SmallRig

In addition to the full cage, SmallRig also released an L-Shaped Mount Plate for the Sony a1 II and a9 III. The plate is still marked as “coming soon,” and details are sparse in comparison to the full cage. SmallRig did specify that it will offer unobstructed access to switching orientation and feature an integrated bottom Arca-Swiss quick release plate. Perhaps most interesting, though, is the AirTag compartment, helping users keep track of their cameras.

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Canon has developed a 410MP full-frame sensor, which it says is primarily designed for markets such as surveillance, medicine and industrial applications.

Canon doesn’t typically disclose details of sensors it plans to use in its cameras prior to those cameras being announced, which is another strong hint that this won’t be the basis of the next R-series model. Still, it gives and insight into where Canon’s sensor design and technology has got to.

The 410MP chip is a Stacked CMOS design with some signal processing circuitry built into one of the layers of that stack. This design allows it to read all its pixels at a rate of 3,280 megapixels per second. This is sufficient to let it deliver 24K ‘video’ at up to eight frames per second.

Alternatively, Canon says a monochrome version of the chip can bin the output of four neighboring pixels to deliver “100MP” video at up to 24 fps. These numbers suggest the company is talking about full-sensor, ‘open-gate’ 12K footage from the full 3:2 sensor region. Given this is its maximum output rate, it’s reasonable to assume it would have a rolling shutter rate not much quicker than 1/24 sec (ie: around 40ms), which wouldn’t be optimal as the basis of a cinema camera.

Thiose frame rates suggest a sensor that would be well-suited to machine-vision tasks that prioritize resolution over speed, such as checking detailed circuit boards during production, rather than on high-speed production lines where global shutter’s ability to freeze movement might be more valued.

The use of the 3:2, 36x24mm ‘full-frame’ format means the sensor could be used with the vast range of lenses designed for that format, rather than having to specify something custom or very low-volume, by adopting a larger, medium-format size.

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