Panasonic Mirrorless Cameras Can Now Work as Webcams

As many of us are working from home and connecting with our colleagues, teams, and clients through video conferences due to the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for high-quality webcams has increased significantly. But as computer peripheral makers and laptop companies are yet to make notable improvements at their end, Panasonic has brought a solution called the Lumix Tether for Streaming that lets you use your mirrorless camera as a webcam. The new app is based on the original Lumix Tether that was meant to allow tethered shooting for professional photographers. Canon and Fujifilm also attempted to offer a similar experience for their cameras in the recent past.

The Lumix Tether for Streaming is essentially a tweaked version of the Lumix Tether version 1.7 that included GUI elements such as a focus area mark and control panels alongside a live view. The new software has removed all those items from the screen to provide you with a clear camera view on your monitor — just like how you get a view from your webcam. However, in case you still need those items, you can make them visible on your screen as well.

Panasonic has initially launched Lumix Tether for Streaming in beta for Windows 10 users. This means that if you have a Mac machine, you won't be able to use the new solution. Also, it is important to note that the new offering is limited to six mirrorless cameras, namely the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5, Lumix DC-G9, Lumix DC-GH5S, DC-S1, DC-S1R, and DC-S1H.

If you have any of the supported cameras and a Windows PC, you can go ahead and try the Lumix Tether for Streaming after connecting your camera using a USB-3 cable. The software is 37.8MB in size and is available for free download via the Panasonic site.

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