Is that a fidget cube or Panasonic’s new Lumix BGH1 video camera?

Who doesn’t love a piece of tech that looks nothing like it’s supposed to? Like that Nintendo Power Glove from the 80’s. What was meant to be some kind of alternate controller for the Nintendo Entertainment System was designed to look like the goofiest piece of clothing you’ll ever own. That kind of tech sings to us because it shows that companies aren’t afraid of taking risks and going all out on wacky designs. It’s why we at Stuff are drawn to the Panasonic Lumix BGH1, the company’s newly announced video camera that looks like a… cube?

GoPro has its rectangular design down and that’s just an elongated cube, right? Sure, but the Lumix BGH1 isn’t rectangular (and that’s also such a common shape for cameras, read a book) it’s a straight up cube and that’s super cool!  Panasonic, which has a history with compact 4K cameras, has described the camera as a “box-style mirrorless cinema and live event camera” so the company is definitely hoping to compete with the likes of GoPro’s catalogue with its own action camera.

To reinforce that design intention, Panasonic told The Verge that they envision the Lumix BGH1 as being used in several situations that may include, “drones, live streaming and more complex situations”. So what kind of hardware is this bad boy packing? Well, let’s take a look under the hood.

Panasonic Lumix BGH1 Specs

Panasonic’s action camera offers a 10.2 MP sensor and is capable of capturing 4K footage and shooting at 4:2:0 10-bit C4K/4K 60p or 4:2:2 10-bit All-I C4k/4K 30p. Which, we’ll be honest, is all a little complicated but they must be pretty cool features for Panasonic to be punting them as hard as it is.

The Lumix BGH1 also sports two UHS-II SD card slots, and HDMI output, USB-C 3.1, a 3.5mm audio jack and obviously comes with Wi-Fi support and Bluetooth. Oh, and a really cool feature Power over Ethernet+ which essentially allows the camera to charge itself using the cable you’re using to connect it to the internet. It’s a little thing, but it’s a really neat little trick nonetheless.

The Panasonic Lumix BGH1 launches in December this year for $2,000, or a staggering R33, 000 or so. There’s no word yet on whether the camera is coming to South Africa but if it does, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.