How to use your DSLR from 2008 as a webcam in 2022 (NixOS)

Post by AndreasTheDead » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 8:28 PM UTC

w_for_wumbo wrote: post #48

julianlam wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with buying a webcam proper is that the industry has reached a "good enough" point where manufacturers will re-release essentially the same camera with no real improvements in resolution, hardware, or software. I bought a Logitech webcam during the pandemic. Imagine my surprise when the webcam resolution was worse than the one built into my XPS 13.

This is frustrating, I thought that the pandemic was going to create a demand for high quality webcams. I'd settle for a 4K phone quality. I bought the Logitech Brio thinking I'd get better picture than my phone (since it's a dedicated camera), which was a bit of a disappointment. I don't think it's terrible, but I had higher expectations of it.

Post by Markoff » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 9:28 PM UTC

seabea wrote: post #18

Markoff wrote: post #16

whole guide about using some gphoto software, yet not a single link in article btw it's only for Linux, so don't even bother reading the linked web, if you are in windows http://www.gphoto.org/ Correct title: How to use your DSLR from 2008 as a webcam IN LINUX in 2022 (NixOS) I wished people would not omiss such important information in title when writing articles or linking them wasting everyone's time including ser…

NixOS is Linux

Post by l0b0 » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 10:45 PM UTC

evgpbfhnr wrote: post #4

Note if the author reads this (perfect is the enemy of good, feel free to ignore): You can make udev run systemd services directly, replacing RUN=... by e.g. TAG+="systemd", ENV{SYSTEMD_WANTS}+="foo.service" That might require you also remove the 'enabled = true' for the service, and make sure gphoto2 dies when the camera is unplugged? Anyway, it was a nice read :)

  services.udev.extraRules = ''
    ACTION=="add", \
    ATTR{idVendor}=="04a9", \
    ATTR{idProduct}=="319a", \
    ENV{SYSTEMD_WANTS}+="external_webcam.service", \
    SUBSYSTEM=="usb", \
    TAG+="systemd"
  '';

  systemd.services.external_webcam = {
    enable = true;
    script = ''
      ${pkgs.gphoto2}/bin/gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie |
        ${pkgs.ffmpeg}/bin/ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -f v4l2  /dev/video0
    '';
    wantedBy = ["multi-user.target"];
  };

Post by quixoticelixer- » Mon, Nov 14, 2022, 12:39 AM UTC

nottorp wrote: post #49

Hmm but what's so wrong with a DSLR from 2008 that he wants to throw it away? Recent cameras may have a lot more pixels but the optics should still be just as good.

Post by fomine3 » Mon, Nov 14, 2022, 1:05 AM UTC

w_for_wumbo wrote: post #48

julianlam wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with buying a webcam proper is that the industry has reached a "good enough" point where manufacturers will re-release essentially the same camera with no real improvements in resolution, hardware, or software. I bought a Logitech webcam during the pandemic. Imagine my surprise when the webcam resolution was worse than the one built into my XPS 13.

This is frustrating, I thought that the pandemic was going to create a demand for high quality webcams. I'd settle for a 4K phone quality. I bought the Logitech Brio thinking I'd get better picture than my phone (since it's a dedicated camera), which was a bit of a disappointment. I don't think it's terrible, but I had higher expectations of it.