GH5 Is a properly remote zoom lens a thing?

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pmcdonald

Active member
I'm attempting to build a remote video studio as fully featured as possible. In a previous build I used a PTZ camera but the aim here is to bump the IQ up a wrung to cine camera level using a GH5S or the new BGH1. The studio is a number of kilometres away and every aspect of the room A/V needs to be remotely controlled by our team from our control room (that's my glorified term for a computer and a monitor): framing, exposure, record operation, file transfer, teleprompter, lighting, etc.

I've solved all of these except for zoom. Anything that requires local input isn't going to cut it, so that rules out bluetooth, wired remotes, mobile apps and the like. Is there a genuinely remote zoom lens or zoom motor solution that could work over a network? I'm drawing a blank but what we're asking - remote control a bump above the PTZ level - surely isn't unheard of. Any solutions come to mind? Thanks for reading.
 
There are definitely zoom lenses that can be controlled remotely, including over a network. Broadcasters have had such remote-controlled lenses for decades, but the problem is that none of them fit a micro 4/3 camera. Most of them use the standard broadcast camera 2/3-inch mount. And such lenses can be expensive, often costing much more than the camera they are mounted on. Here is an example of one of the lower-cost Canon broadcast lenses -- it is a 15x zoom and has a nice smooth servo control for the zoom. You would need to add a focus motor to control the focus, but it is almost certainly available: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/lenses/broadcast/4k-uhdxs-portable-lenses/cj15ex4-3b-iase-s

There are quite possibly some lower-cost options out there, but I don't know if there is any that fit a micro 4/3 camera.
 
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