After our First Impression article on the BZBGear BG-BSHA upgrade, adding NDI|HX capability to a staple of their live streaming cameras, we’ve been waiting eagerly to get our hands on the company’s BG-BSHAN box camera, and to give you an idea of what we learned—this camera does too much in a great way, offering almost unbeatable value for churches building out livestream setups.
This is a fantastic little camera and a commendable price…
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Looks and Connections
The BSHAN is understated. This camera will not stand out, and that’s perfect for church production applications where distraction-less production is paramount. Like I said in the First Impression article, it looks like a miniature broadcast box camera, and the matted aluminum chassis gives the unit a sort of protected weight that just feels good.
It’s also completely silent, just like its brother the Adamo-JR; you can’t hear the inner workings of the camera whatsoever. Add that factor to the size of the camera, and it can be hidden just about anywhere on a church stage for crisp images without a distracting presence.
On the back, your in/out options are laid out simply with no frills–an HDMI port, an SDI port, and the LAN connection for NDI|HX and PoE. A 3.5mm audio sits just above the HDMI port, topped by the terminal pin interface for the included power supply. On the top right, you’ll see a simple four-way toggle to manually operate focus and zoom, and that’s it. It’s a study in utilitarian simplicity.
User Experience
After connecting first over LAN, the web UI for the BSHAN made immediate sense. The menu layout is straightforward and allows the user complete control over every aspect of the camera. The preview screen comes up first with a recognizable PTZ control as well as zoom and focus controls along with 99 presets ready for programming. From there, you can access the config tab and dig into the guts of the camera software to make changes as needed.
The 20x zoom over-performs, so we can only assume the 30x is all the better.
The 20x optical zoom (the unit we received for review) is downright remarkable. We’re all used to digital zoom and losing image fidelity on longer shots, but the BSHAN delivers on the close-up. Just for kicks and giggles, I pushed in real tight on a subject’s jacket from about 12 feet away and was able to discern the weave of the fabric in crystal clear 1080p. It looked more like a macro lens than a miniature box camera. The optical zoom is the real deal, and the 1/2.8″ Sony Exmor CMOS Sensor delivers despite its size.
And, somewhat surprisingly, the wide-angle image fully zoomed out covers a wide area, making space for wide static shots if required.
Just as remarkable is the response of the camera controls—the lag is nearly indiscernible, as tight over IP as the 4-way toggle on the back of the camera. Impressive doesn’t quite say it.
Overall Impression and Recommendation
This is a fantastic little camera, and a commendable purchase price ($1099-$1299) for any church looking to produce high-quality streaming, especially since the BG-BSHAN will encode all on its own. It’s perfect for podcast recordings or talking-head monologues as well as a static shot added to any multi-cam setup. The 20x zoom over-performs, so we can only assume the 30x is all the better.
We can say with full confidence that this is a good camera and you should buy it.
