Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

tratt.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 499 posts

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#221

Post by interestica »

zwily wrote: post #175
ekrebs wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a super neat idea! I have a feeling the inevitable solution to this need will be a combo of a tech like Apple’s Center Stage and some sort of eye-focusing alteration to the image, like a live deep fake of yourself (just the eyes). Software-only means widespread adoption.

FaceTime actually did the eye adjustment thing for a bit, but they disabled it. Not sure why, it seemed to work okay. Maybe it freaked people out though.

Whoa really?? The future is probably a 'digital self' being transmitted + movements rather than actual video.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#222

Post by renewiltord »

kmike84 wrote: post #196
renewiltord wrote: post #2

Does anyone have a comprehensive guide for Canon DSLRs on MacOS on M1? The Canon drivers to use as a webcam are nightmarish and my friends had a hell of a time trying to get it to work.

As I understand, the drivers (webcam utility? not sure) are built for x86. For some reason they don't work in apps which are built for M1, so the camera only works if an app which needs a video is running in emulation mode. So, if you want to use Canon DSLR on M1 in a web browser (e.g. google meet), get a browser built for x86. I'm using Chromium, it can be downloaded for x86. The issue is that Chromium doesn't have…

Haha thank you! That’s certainly an interesting approach.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#223

Post by Geonode »

lkxijlewlf wrote: post #212

I don't understand what's wrong with the Logitech C920's output there. He has plenty of light, so it's a decent image. He talks about video calls and not video production (YouTube, etc...). How great do the video calls need to be? And I get it, to each their own, but it just seems overly complicated. I think as long as you have good lighting, something like the c920 is good. I have a Razer Kiyo Pro and it's good too.…

My C920 will suddenly drop focus and constantly tries to compensate lighting. And I cannot get it to stop. I'm definitely in the market for the right clean HDMI camera.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#224

Post by themacguffinman »

nunez wrote: post #177

Agreed. Using an SLR with a capture card and proper three-point lighting makes you look amazing in online meetings. Very easy to set up as well. Will cost about $700 to get going with, but it's a one-time cost that will work on any computer for a long time. Not every camera has clean HDMI output, though. It's hard to find a single list of cameras that have this feature, so you have to Google around. Cameras without c…

Elgato maintains a camera compatibility list for their Cam Link product, it notes which cameras have clean HDMI: https://www.elgato.com/en/cam-link/camera-check

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#225

Post by PragmaticPulp »

nunez wrote: post #173
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #137

If you go this route, please make sure your system is robust and ready to go before meetings. We had to ask one employee to go back to his reliable built-in webcam because every other meeting started with 2 minutes of him getting his camera turned on, messing with audio inputs, getting his microphone boom in place, and fighting other quirks. He also had a tendency to drop out of long meetings when his camera overheat…

He was probably using software, like Canon's Webcam Utility, to stream his camera's HDMI OUT to his computer instead of using a capture card. He likely did this because of his camera not having "clean" HDMI output (i.e. you'd see icons if he were to capture what was on his camera's screen). Software like this is extremely unreliable by comparison and consumes CPU cycles like crazy, both on the camera and on your comp…

> He was probably using software, like Canon's Webcam Utility, to stream his camera's HDMI OUT to his computer instead of using a capture card.

No, he was using an HDMI capture card and trying to do things with OBS.

> Startup takes me, like, 30 seconds: turn key and fill lights on, turn camera on, press hotkey to start OBS, Krisp and Zoom, turn on video.

Which is all great and fine if you've got it perfected and you're the type of person to handle all of this before the meeting starts.

But when someone shows up late to a meeting or forgets to prepare, it's far easier for everyone involve if they can just open their laptop and join the meeting with the built-in webcam instead of turning on their camera, turning on lights, starting OBS, confirming all the settings, etc.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#226

Post by lkxijlewlf »

Geonode wrote: post #223
lkxijlewlf wrote: post #212

I don't understand what's wrong with the Logitech C920's output there. He has plenty of light, so it's a decent image. He talks about video calls and not video production (YouTube, etc...). How great do the video calls need to be? And I get it, to each their own, but it just seems overly complicated. I think as long as you have good lighting, something like the c920 is good. I have a Razer Kiyo Pro and it's good too.…

My C920 will suddenly drop focus and constantly tries to compensate lighting. And I cannot get it to stop. I'm definitely in the market for the right clean HDMI camera.

Sounds like a defective camera.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#227

Post by deanc »

Does using a professional camera (DSLR/Mirrorless) damage the sensor over time and lower the lifetime of your camera? Usually shutter count is a good indicator of health of a used camera - would this not have a similarly huge impact?

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#228

Post by mwarkentin »

andix wrote: post #219

I would like to have the ease of use of a webcam (plug it in via usb and it works), and the quality of a dedicated camera. And a possibility to make some presets (focus, zoom, crop, white balance), that are on by default and can be switched easily. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just better than a standard Logitech Webcam. If it would be in the quality range of an iPhone camera, I would be super happy. Any ideas what…

These look neat but not widely available yet: https://opalcamera.com

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#229

Post by aenis »

Did this out of boredom (and inability to use my photo equipment as intended in the travel restriction years). My setup was a Nikon Z6II with a 50mm f/1.8 glass, plugged via a capture card. It can do a 10hr meeting marathon without overheating while charging via the usb-c. Never crashed but surely a bit of a hassle and costs me a usb c port, since its not reliable when plugged to the dock (go figure).

Agree with the others, it makes no difference. The only people likely to notice are other geeks. I look like a freshly excavated potato when shot with the webcam, and a slightly more favourably lit potato with the Z6Ii, good glass and diffused lighting.

But hey, people have stupid hobbies, thats ok as long as it reliably works.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#230

Post by jd3 »

awoodbeck wrote: post #12

Some camera manufacturers offer software that uses your mirrorless camera to emulate a webcam without requiring a capture card. For example, Fujifilm's X Webcam software[1] would allow the author to connect his X-S10 to his PC using a USB-C cable, and use it as a webcam. The downside is X Webcam lacks support for Linux. [1] https://fujifilm-x.com/global/products/software/x-webcam/

It looks like Nikon supports this functionality[0] through their "Nikon Webcam Utility"[1].

Z 9, Z 7II, Z 7, Z 6II, Z 6, Z 5, Z fc, Z 50, D6, D5, D850, D810, D780, D750, D500, D7500, D7200, D5600, D5500, D5300 and D3500.

I think the Z 50 (and updated, but cheaper construction Z fc) are the cheapest options here out of the mirrorless cameras.

[0]: https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/webcam-utility...

[1]: https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/548/Webca...

Post reply on HN