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Webcams aren't good enough

reincubate.com

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Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#141

Post by wyager »

bufferoverflow wrote: post #55
pintxo wrote: post #15

As I had a Canon DSLR lying around during Covid, I have repurposed it to a webcam using Canons webcam driver: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/se... Image quality is top notch and the ability to Zoom in/out using the zoom lense is nice. You also get some nice background blur, depending on your used lens. For power there are modified "batteries" allowing to plug the camera into AC for power.

The problem is auto focus. Only modern mirrorless (and a few DSLRs) cameras have eye detection, and are actually good at keeping the focus. Hopefully in a few years we will have cheap versions with excellent AF.

The lack of AF is a feature, not a bug. I replaced my AF lens with eye AF with a manual focus lens on my work webcam. The DoF zone indicates to other viewers if I should be conceptually "in focus" at that point in the meeting (i.e. I am speaking or directly engaging with the speaker). Otherwise I recline and go slightly out of focus.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#142

Post by skybrian »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #29

This made me laugh. > Using an iPhone as a webcam is easily the best option without dropping an excess of $1,000 for professional camera gear. Using the iPhone you already own, or a recent hand-me-down, a moderate investment in lighting, and Reincubate Camo, you can get excellent results and none of the frustration and hassle that accompanies standalone webcams. I don't have an iPhone. So if I want to buy one that is…

Some of the Android phones are probably pretty decent too? He didn't review them, though.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#143

Post by [deleted] »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #29

This made me laugh. > Using an iPhone as a webcam is easily the best option without dropping an excess of $1,000 for professional camera gear. Using the iPhone you already own, or a recent hand-me-down, a moderate investment in lighting, and Reincubate Camo, you can get excellent results and none of the frustration and hassle that accompanies standalone webcams. I don't have an iPhone. So if I want to buy one that is…

[deleted]

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#145

Post by PragmaticPulp »

Lighting and audio are more important than raw image quality.

Getting an expensive camera to send heavily compressed 320p low bandwidth video doesn’t really improve a whole lot.

Honestly the #1 improvement most people need to work on is speaking clearly and loud enough. #2 would be having literally any light source in front of them rather than being purely backlit.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#146

Post by wyager »

nextos wrote: post #27
pintxo wrote: post #15

As I had a Canon DSLR lying around during Covid, I have repurposed it to a webcam using Canons webcam driver: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/se... Image quality is top notch and the ability to Zoom in/out using the zoom lense is nice. You also get some nice background blur, depending on your used lens. For power there are modified "batteries" allowing to plug the camera into AC for power.

Would it not overheat after some time?

Sony A6 series - yes.

Sony A7 series - no.

Fujifilm, any version - no.

Based on my (sparse) experience.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#147

Post by wintermutestwin »

jacquesm wrote: post #76
davidmurdoch wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a curious take. They just need to put bigger cameras in the laptop. There is like 100x more space for such things.

Laptop screens are much thinner than phones are thick so a phone actually has more space for the camera in the dimension that is most restricted.

Simple - camera bump on top edge, corresponding indent on bottom edge. My MacBookPro could accommodate a larger camera than my iphone.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#148

Post by 55555 »

You can download the app "iriun webcam" and then run your iPhone or Android phone on the same wifi network and it will feed your phone camera in as webcam input. No tech setup needed, just download the app and you're done.

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#149

Post by BugsJustFindMe »

nickjj wrote: post #123
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I use a Logitech C920. Many people have told me how good my webcam feed is. What's your secret for overcoming the C920's shitty color reproduction where the auto white balance makes everything extremely blue? I hate mine and am thinking about returning it as defective.

> What's your secret for overcoming the C920's shitty color reproduction where the auto white balance makes everything extremely blue? You can disable all automatic settings and then you can manually configure things however you want based on your environment. The only issue is every time you reboot it tends to get reset.

Not only do the manual settings get unset constantly, but also they need to be adjusted throughout the day. :(

Re: Webcams aren't good enough

#150

Post by wyager »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #29

This made me laugh. > Using an iPhone as a webcam is easily the best option without dropping an excess of $1,000 for professional camera gear. Using the iPhone you already own, or a recent hand-me-down, a moderate investment in lighting, and Reincubate Camo, you can get excellent results and none of the frustration and hassle that accompanies standalone webcams. I don't have an iPhone. So if I want to buy one that is…

Don't use a sony A6**; they overheat. Use a fujifilm or an A7 series.
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