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Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

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Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#731

Post by joshuaali »

kylecordes wrote: post #624
iamatworknow wrote: post #588

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>and you usually need a capture card/camlink to convert the output from the camera Early on in the pandemic the major mirrorless camera providers (I believe at least Sony[1], Fujifilm[2], Canon[3], and Nikon[4]) all released software that lets you use any of their relatively recent cameras as webcams with the regular USB transfer/charging cable. A separate capture card is no longer a necessity. [1] https://imagingedg…

As I understand these are all awful in their own way, typically with quality problems and extra latency as well as the extra complexity of the software. The obvious solution is a camera mode in which it presents itself over USB as a webcam… As far as I know no "real" camera at any price does this. I solve the problem with a Camlink, but it really should not be necessary.

> The obvious solution is a camera mode in which it presents itself over USB as a webcam… As far as I know no "real" camera at any price does this.

There are! Fujifilm X-A7, Fujifilm X-T200, and Sigma fp are three mirrorless cameras that support UVC. And if you classify action cameras as "real" cameras too, the Insta360 ONE R also supports this.

Note that you may have to update the firmware and put the camera in webcam mode to get this to work.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#732

Post by dsohn0 »

grenoire wrote: post #96
avian wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then they give the product a hilariously user-hostile product name, like “PQS GRT46782-WT” as an extra f-you to the user. That is also a strategy to prevent product comparisons and unbiased reviews. They quickly cycle through product names and sell a certain product no. only in a limited geographical area. Doesn't matter if a consumer org/magazine/someone on reddit/your friend/etc. does a review. The product will b…

The geo-locking of model numbers is one of the vilest practices I've seen. I don't see it going away for any reason, it'll only be possible to combat by intl. legislation... but how do you even legislate that?

The geo-locking of model numbers is one of the vilest practices I've seen.

Good God do people even read the stupid crap they say

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#733

Post by Godel_unicode »

dbrgn wrote: post #614
Godel_unicode wrote: post #604

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or GoPro, which you don't need a USB interface for. Works all the way back to hero 4 apparently. https://gopro.com/en/us/news/how-to-use-gopro-for-webcam

A GoPro performs horribly in bad light though. And it costs serveral hundred dollars as well. If you already own one, then it might be an option. But buying a GoPro to get a better webcam doesn't really make sense.

Neither of those things is true. You might have to mess with it a little bit in truly dark rooms, but if you can read comfortably you'll be just fine. And far better than any webcam.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#734

Post by m-p-3 »

fomine3 wrote: post #722
m-p-3 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they can't justify the price increase and it doesn't make then a cpear winner against the competition, the manufacturer will cut some corners to stay competitive. At scale, an expense increase of $15 per device is quite significant.

Generally agree but even Apple MacBooks stuck at 720p webcam, why? Apple products should be able to pay additional cost for such parts.

They are able to, but being able to shave a couple of cents on it gives them a massive return while most consumers don't complain, and their competitors aren't offering anything better.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#735

Post by someisaac »

FireBeyond wrote: post #675
the_pwner224 wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These differences are very clearly noticeable. I upgraded many years ago from a 72% sRGB to a 99% sRGB Dell IPS and everything looked much better. I just got the LG 27GN950 which is 95% DCI P3... I was mainly getting it for the 4k/144 with the P3 as a nice bonus (I already had 4k/60 on the Dell). Looking at the Dell, I was thinking that P3 might be nice to have but it wouldn't really matter much aside from photo edit…

Seconded. I have 2 LG 27GN950-B's on my desk, and love the 27" 4K HDR @ 144Hz experience (at least on Catalina. Big Sur has completely broken DSC and will only do HDR @ 60, non-HDR @ 95). I love them for my photo editing.

I can't get 144hz at 4k. Any specific cable you're using?

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#736

Post by wolrah »

Matt3o12_ wrote: post #333
mschuster91 wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> then for the exact same internals you need different models where the power cords are different The IEC 60320 connectors were specified for exactly that reason. Honestly, I don't get why these were not made mandatory for all kinds of appliances. There are even locking variants available if vibration is of concern.

> The IEC 60320 connectors were specified for exactly that reason. Honestly, I don't get why these were not made mandatory for all kinds of appliances. There are even locking variants available if vibration is of concern. I'm not sure what you mean by the second sentence but you can't use most appliances made for Europe in America and vice versa. Most electronic appliances depend on the input voltage and supplying 24…

> I'm not sure what you mean by the second sentence but you can't use most appliances made for Europe in America and vice versa. Most electronic appliances depend on the input voltage and supplying 240V can easily cause a fire.

Here in America "electronic appliances" would imply the tech/gadget category like TVs or computers where "electrical appliances" would be the big household equipment. Just to clarify in case that confuses anyone else like it did me, it kind of reverses the meaning of what you're trying to say.

Anyways, at least with relatively modern gear you can generally assume that anything with batteries or USB ports runs off a switch-mode power supply, and all but the cheapest of those will happily accept pretty much anything resembling residential power.

Anything with a large motor or any kind of resistive element (lighting, heating) on the other hand is almost certainly built for a specific variety of electrical service and will likely require modification to accept anything else without releasing the magic smoke.

The stuff in between those categories, well, RTFLabel. Outside of audio and ham radio gear I'd imagine most DC stuff runs on switch mode power supplies these days.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#737

Post by piranha »

chrismorgan wrote: post #385
riho wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Finally made an account, just to reply to this. With newer Canon DSLR bodies you can use the Canon Webcam Utility[1] to directly get the video feed show up as a webcam, with just a USB cable. I've been using the EOS R as my webcam with the RF 35mm F1.8 lens and it's working pretty great. I just hook it up with the USB-C cable and it shows up as a webcam. The only annoyance that I haven't been able to get around yet i…

What resolution does it produce? My Sony α6100 yields only 1024×576, which is not great, though still better than any laptop webcam at 1920×1080, or mostly even a phone or tablet front-facing camera at 1920×1080. (The Sony α6100 is also quite happy to run on USB power indefinitely, no fancy battery arrangement needed. I’ve used it thus for multi-hour webcam sessions, and plugged into a wall charger for multi-hour rec…

Latency through a cheap chinese capture card is like a 12-17 ms for me.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#738

Post by piranha »

Tepix wrote: post #479
piranha wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can get cheap china-knockoffs for about £12, I don't know how good they are. They are so-so. Well, they are much-much better than any webcam, of course, but 1080p is almost the same as 720p on them. So as a budget thingie it'll work, but Elgato's adapter is much better, of course.

It's converting a digital signal (HDMI) to another digital signal. Why should there be any quality loss even if it's a cheap chinese model?

Well, because they don’t have enough processing power I guess? IDK, it’s hot all the time and image quality is lower than what I can get from a camera SD card.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#739

Post by cactus2093 »

yarcob wrote: post #122
lmilcin wrote: post #41

If you are looking here to improve your webcam because you started to do remote work, don't. First try to improve lighting and audio. Any camera will look bad in bad lighting. It is always better to first improve your lighting before you invest in a new camera. Use high CRI lightbulbs and ensure even source color temperature in your room (ie. all lightbulbs should be emitting same color temperature). Audio is also ve…

Here's a trick how to get beautiful studio-like lighting for less than 50€: - buy two large sheets of white styrofoam (1m x 0.5m or bigger) - buy two cheap bright floodlights (the brighter the better) - get some mounting materials (eg. wood and screws, or cardboard and duct tape) - Place the two styrofoam plates right and left behind your laptop. - point the floodlights at the styrofoam, carefully positioning them so…

This is funny advice. Are we still talking about working from home here? Who wants to stare at huge styrofoam panels all day?

Much better alternative - if you have a window, set up your desk so you face towards it. It’s an automatic soft box and you get to look out the window.

Re: Why can’t you buy a good webcam?

#740

Post by shaklee3 »

heipei wrote: post #140
avian wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then they give the product a hilariously user-hostile product name, like “PQS GRT46782-WT” as an extra f-you to the user. That is also a strategy to prevent product comparisons and unbiased reviews. They quickly cycle through product names and sell a certain product no. only in a limited geographical area. Doesn't matter if a consumer org/magazine/someone on reddit/your friend/etc. does a review. The product will b…

That's exactly what I have been telling folks about Apple vs. other laptops. Apple only has a handful of laptop models for sale and they don't even change that much across generations. Furthermore they seem to exhibit hardly any manufacturing variations within each generation. That means that if there is a problem (and yes, there were a few big ones), everyone is affected the same, everyone is screaming about it, the…

Except what you said is not at all true. Dell, hp, and Lenovo have a whole bunch of different models for different laptops. They're also very customizable, so the model may be slightly different if you want different hardware. But you're arguing for less consumer choice. Dell, hp, and Lenovo do not swap models around to try to fool consumers. Quite the contrary; you can search a very old model number and find exactly what you're looking for on their site.
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