Harris what camera do you use for your streams? If it’s the Sony A7s III how do you power your camera while streaming? Looking for a more indefinite power solution.
Hardware wise, there are components designed to shoot & store data on onboard devices, channel output to HDMI..... but there is nothing on DSLRs that could compress a video to 1080p60 signal over USB. That's where CamLink plays its role.
Yep, and the camera’s physical wifi system for doing it is limited to a very low bitrate, so it’s either uncompressed OR smooth, you can’t have both. Ideally we’d see in the future, them use WiFi 6 or something else that’s very fast so we can have useable footage without a capture card, but these were all designed before everyone needed a camera for conference calls
Classic case of corporations just trying to be “first to market” without care for quality control. They’re just trying to take away market share away from competitors and have bragging rights to “we did it first” smh they need to grow up.
The Canon and Sony use USB 2, which has a relatively low bandwidth. That bandwidth is equal to 576p at 20-30 FPS uncompressed. So what’s happening isn’t a software issue, but a hardware limit.
I connect my Lumix G7 via Camlink. Never tried a dedicated Panasonic utility honestly. And I too have to go back and refer to some of my own videos to remember how I did something. lol.
I've had the same - I've using an EOS M50 (Mark 1), and I've had no problems with the quality. I'm shocked at the difference in quality Harris is seeing with an EOS R.
How many other people are using actual cameras and not their laptop webcams or some equivalent? The Canon will still look way better in such an instance, it just won't be 1080p 60fps.
I use the canon software with a t7i, the only problem i have had so far if if i peave the camera on after a stream it wony automatically turn back on next time. I have to turn the camera off, then back on. Its only a few seconds, and it is because of a safety feature for the camera. What issues have you hqd with their software?
I use the canon software with my SL2 and works great for my needs. I get really good resolution. Biggest gripe is there’s a slight lag. I can go the capture card route but the SL2 doesn’t have a clean HDMI output so I’d have to manually focus and stay there
That 576p is rough. But I do have to say that the Canon Webcam Utility has been a lifesaver at times when I needed to use my camera unexpectedly and I was somewhere without my CamLink.
I have a Fujifilm X-S10 that I use for videography, and when I have a video conference, as a webcam. First of all, the X-S10 has a Type-C port that can be used for power and also for Fuji's Webcam X software. The quality is about on par with other brand's webcam software at around 576p and 30fps, but the camera gets locked in complete auto mode, kind of frustrating when in any lighting situation that's less than perfect. It's also important to note that although the camera can be run off of USB power, when connected to a computer, it won't stay powered forever. In my testing, the camera averaged around 2.5 hours before running out of juice. When you connect the camera over HDMI however, you are free to use a faster charging wall plug, the tradeoff being that the camera only lasted 45 minutes before overheating with the extra power. The only way to use the camera continuously for extended periods of time is by using a dummy battery. I experienced no overheating or power loss after around 8 hours connected to my computer via HDMI and capture card. Speaking of HDMI, the image is perfectly clean, you can use Fuji's F-Log, face detection autofocus still works and you can set the HDMI output to a different resolution than what the camera is set to. I think that overall, it's a camera worth considering if you are already looking at something like the Sony a6400, as it's basically the a6600 with better IBIS, and dare I say, better color, while being priced closer to the a6400. p.s. new Sony aps-c cameras are closer than people think ;) just wait a bit...
I got better results with my 6D Mark II recently-I’m stuck with the EOS utility because this camera doesn’t have a clean HDMI output and I don’t want to install Magic Lantern. Still preferable to using my iPhone with OBS ninja, which is what I was doing before (not terrible, frankly).
I used both the Canon, and Fuji Apps for quite a long time. I think the major limitation is the bandwidth on USB-2. I think a big thing that can help is making sure you're following the 180 shutter rule when you set the FPS. While the resolution on the canon was just as low (first a 6D Mk1, then an EOS R), My frames didn't look as choppy. At least I don't Remember. Fuji's webcam app (used with an XT-4) was a whole pain in the ass to setup, but it eventually was just plug and play. I chalk that up to largely user error, but then again, the app does not provide a lot of feedback if things are not syncing properly. Big benefit the Fuji has though, is it allows for USB charging while using the utility so you don't necessarily need any dummy batteries in the setup.
the sony zv 1 works well over usb, still looks better over camlink tho but some have argued that they it's still a massive improvement over a traditional webcam
I don't know if this come from the EOS R or whatever , but I can do 50/60fps streaming with my Canon M50 no problem. I just had to make sure to get in manual video mode and dial in a shutter speed that was fitting the framerate (I use 50 frames per second (the grid is 50Hz in my country), so I dial in a 1/100th shutter speed : Shannon law respected, everything's fine and I get my full framerate and resolution). If you leave everyting to auto, the camera will work just like it does in photo mode, and will try to reduce the noise on the image by reducing the ISO, but by doing so, it reduces the shutter speed as well, getting low framerate, even if you set the 1080p60 mode in the quick menu I mean, the video feed I get through my little M50 looks miles better than the one you get out your EOS R, with a lot of lighting (a lot more than me), probably a wider lens as well. Maybe that's a EOS R issue, dunno by the way, Fuji is heavily phushing their cameras for photography and a bit of film making with features like IBIS, grading profiles etc. Their marketing does not show a lot of focus on the streaming market like Canon or Sony showed lately
Canon R5 gives a solid 30fps with the webcam utility. So does the Canon M50, which I also have. None of them will do 60fps. The Canon EOSR doesn't have a fast enough USB transfer to do 60fps. The cable must be USB-C, and your computer must have a high speed USB port as well in order to get the full benefit, so your pc specs matter as well, and connecting it to the right port.
I've been using the Canon Webcam utility with my (now ageing) 5D Mk II as my primary DJ stream camera as I don't have any video-centric cameras to use and it's been pretty great all around. Sometimes it has a weird issue with the aspect ratio going wonky and not staying at 1080p but for the most part it's allowed me to add another camera to my stream with zero additional costs
I bought a Fujifilm X-T200 to start photography and also use it as a webcam because why not. Turned out the Fujifilm X Webcam Software does not support this model, but only the midrange and high-end models. So I started to use the cam with a CamLink and now a Y&H 1080p60 capture card from Amazon. (fun fact: it accepts 4K30 which is necessary as the X-T200 only allows for unlimited recording in 4K or in standby with way lower resolution.) When I was able to get a X-T30 for a good price, I tested it with the Webcam Software. Seems to be the same as with Sony and Canon: Resolution around 576p, framerate below 30fps (I guess around 20) and not all settings can be changed, but it is okay to use. But with constant 4K standby over HDMI from the X-T30 and the CamLink there is no way the Webcam Software could rival this.
Edit after looking into it - I use my Canon RP via the utility at 576p 50 fps and it looks great as OBS will upscale it. Not true 1080p but it's WAY better than what you're showing here for some reason.
seems more there is something wrong with your setup for the utility link. Seen people using a canon 600D with micro USB and the utility software and doesn't have as much lag as you do with the EOS R. of maybe because the 600D is older and less output and thusfor runs smoother?
For sony camera's i think you don't need the webcam utility app, "I think" that they have another app to preview the video of the camera, use that for OBS and crop out the frame should give a better result than the utility app, again, I'm not sure
Yeah I think I saw a video about that a year or two ago. If anyone remembers please drop the link. Is it on elgato's channel? Those guys are pretty good.
Soo I have a Canon 60D using the webcam utility software and I must say, my image quality looks pretty good. I also notice that it REALLY matters what settings you set your camera before connecting it to the USB cable
I have the EOS R and use Camlink 4K. Tried the Canon utility but found the quality to be much lower than with the Camlink. I don’t stream but do a lot of Microsoft Teams meetings. Over the last 15 months I have done more than 400 video meetings so my equipment has changed a lot since the start of the pandemic. Had the Samyang 14 mm AF, but changed my setup so I now use a Canon 35MM. Super happy with the quality and easy of use. I love the EOS R, but really wish I could charge it with USB-C while using the camera. The original Canon “dummy battery” is stupidly expensive. Would love to see you make a video more targeted at “business” use and not streaming, but I really appreciate your content.
I shoot professionally on a Panasonic S1. And it has been a mixed bag for me. For starters, It's great for video, v-log, full frame 4k up to 30fps and APS-C Crop for 4k60 (Which EOS R and A7iii didn't do at the time) has been great. Also Panasonic has been awesome about supporting the camera over time. A few months ago they had a firmware patch that added a bunch of recording options. Cinema 4k (4096x2160), 1080p at up to 180fps, and hell, they even added 6k recording. All from a firmware patch. But there is the elephant in the room, contrast based auto focus. Anything in remotely low lighting makes AF borderline useless, and even when it does work, it can be slow, which makes still shooting really difficult sometimes. I mostly shoot on cine lenses or with no AF for this reason, but I definitely wish I had better AF. I'm on the fence on if I should swap to Canon or Sony, but it's still a really awesome camera. If you are looking to do solely video and you like being on manual focus, definitely a buy imo. But if sometimes you want to turn your brain off for casual shoots or do a lot of photography, I'd say stick to other brands.
As you asked: 1) I am one of the "last mohicans" using Fujifilm... in deed mainly for photography and just for special streams. For my daily video-conferences in my main job the brio is more, than good enough. Fujifilm also came out with a USB-Solution - my X-T3 (not even the latest model) is pretty decent for video and has USB-C - but when I tested the USB-Betadriver found similar issues with
I bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ300 to use for hiking before my son talked about wanting to get into game streaming. I have an Elgato CamLink and other than questionable low-light performance of the camera, it seems to be acceptable. The 4K Capture Utility detects the incoming signal as 1080p59. Within that application, I do see some motion tearing, but when recording video with OBS and playing it back, it looks fine. I've not put great effort to get video to output over USB. I have my doubts as to whether it's even possible. Neither I, nor he, will be presenting full-frame video with the camera, but will will be using it for a PIP overlay, so it's debatable whether 1080p would even be necessary, unless we're publishing 4K content.
I have a GoPro Hero7 as my main camera, Kinect 2.0 for super wide angle shots in my room, and 2 Logitech C920s for different angles. Biggest downfall of the GoPro is how dark it comes out. You can only adjust so much in software until adding more lighting makes the shot better. Then when I add more lighting, all the other cameras I’m using get washed out… working on a button on my stream deck that automatically adjust my lighting depending on which camera I’m using.
I use a canon 250d and I genuinely get a good quality feed with the EOS utility? 50fps 1080p completely fine, I don't see how you're having the issues you are!
That's interesting you're having issues with the A7S3. I use the A5100 (and Sigma 16 1.4) and get a SOLID 720p/24 or 720p/30 feed through the Imaging Edge webcam utility into OBS - and it's using Micro USB and USB 2.0 lol. I have full control over manual ISO, aperture, and shutter speed when hooked up through USB as well. No limitations for my purposes while streaming. My face cam isn't usually covering the entire stream canvas anyway.
My EOS R6 has a USB-C (3.1) which makes the webcam application pretty successful for the moments I chose to stream/vid call with it. The EOS R is limited by its own hardware but a capture card clearly fixes that. I'd be interested in your thoughts on it but also know that if someone is aiming to be a streamer only a professional level photography camera is probably not the route they would want to go until income from it can justify the thousands for the body and lens(es) for it. $50 for a simple cam and $50 for clever lighting would work just as well to get the ball rolling.
Meanwhile Insta360 pulled the webcam thing during the pandemic without any additional software on the One R with crisp ultrawide 1080p30 with the 4k lens. You should check that camera, it even has some fun uses with the 360 where it outputs the front and back in a super stretched format.
I just set my Fujifilm X-T200 to webcam mode in settings (rather than mass storage mode) and it just pops up as any normal webcam would when you plug in the USB cable. Some of their older cameras require a driver install though
The USB port is not fit to transmit the high bitrate I suppose. If I want a decent video signal out of my Nikon Z6, I use the HDMI port. Just checked on the Nikon homepage - streaming via the HDMI port is indeed possible using a third party capture device. Probably the same for Sony and Canon.
I use an elgato streamlink with a Lumix GH4, metabones speed adaptor, and sigma 10-35 lens. Image quality is phenomenal. Truly. 10/10. Auto focus? Problems. Despite having the speed adaptor and the lens is powered, so it can automatically move the lens, the auto focus will lock onto any mic in frame, and occasionally just something in the background as well. Not sure how to fix that, but I'm happy "enough" with it, it's an annoyance say, once every 3 streams when it REALLY tries to focus on something crazy, but I can turn off zoom and add more light, get a better depth of field, I'm just an amateur though so like.... requires some tweaking. Not gonna lie, it does make a strong argument for sony with their much better autofocus for amateur streaming, I haven't tried one, but I hear good things. I would bet the lumix has better picture quality in this setup than almost anything, but if it's blurry, well that doesn't mean much. It would be interesting to see a stand off between canon / sony / panasonic / fuji film in this regard, and just borrow people's setups to do it.
I started with Canon M50 last year, and upgraded to Lumix GH5 this year. I'm a hobbyist that's just starting. No real plans to make it big. But I am working on moving from streaming to making actual content.
Lemme add here real quick for the Fuji gang, I use the XT-30 on occasion as a webcam and I get the full 1080p60 using just my USB cable. The software automatically starts when it recognizes the camera plugged in, but I've to dial in the settings on the camera first to get the exposure right. Other than that, no gripes!
I’m using a Sony A5100 with stock lenses off Craigslist for 200 then a 20 dollar Amazon capture card (1080 at 60fps) and works straight buttery. Adjust exposure, white balance and ISO and you got a crissssp picture.
What’s crazy is i was using the sony imaging one back during the holidays and got WAY more frame rate. I took a few months off and when i came back to streaming a week or two ago i noticed the frame rate was SO BAD. Consistent with the 13fps you show. I am using that $30 cheap card you talked about in an old video and its buttery smooth now. So weird that the software got so much worse
That's interesting. I've been using it consistently on my Mac with a Sony a5100 and have had no issues the entire time. I haven't updated it since I downloaded, though, which was back in April. Maybe an update messed something up?
I use the A5100 for my streams and the quality is actually not that bad considering I'm using a usb cable and a $400 camera, the worst part about the Imaging Edge software is the latency, its pretty much unusable.
honestly any camera is good for streaming. I say that because when you're streaming your stream is compressed so the resolution and quality goes down. so it's not like you're going to see the quality if a 2000$ camera, or even a 1000$ camera. In my opinion i think the canon m50 is amazing for streaming. it has everything you want and it's a great camera for non stream use. so the money you put in it is actually useful. but if it's just streaming i think any camera should be good. webcams usually are bad....but actual cameras should be fine regardless of what you use. not only that but cameras like m50 has face tracking. if a camera has face tracking that's pretty much all you need for streaming. you can get the canon m50 for about 500$ on ebay sometimes
I agree with @VoidBoi I just bought the a6400 myself (I stream univ. courses and will be filming videos to pre-post on RUclips for my classes, and didn't have a webcam at all, so dove deep and got the a6400 and took the time to learn about photography + recording/editing/etc. and am SUPER happy with the purchase, I'm currently using the software solution and will get camlink in near future)
Depends on what kind of Smartphone you have. There's apps out there that'll turn your smartphone into a high def webcam. Easy to set up and control. Will also keep you under $10 cost-wise.
I use an Olympus OM-D E-m10 MkII; Unlike the MkIII which has USB-C charging and I believe is compatible with Olympus' webcam software, the OM-D cameras have an interesting feature where they can actually go clean feed even though the cameras are not listed as clean feed capable cameras. If you hold the info button when plugged in via microHDMI it kills the feed for half a second then outputs a full clean feed over HDMI, keeping the display on the camera's mirrorless display. Definitely a slept on cheaper mirrorless camera.
Hey Harris, happy you made a video on this 😊 i dont know if u remember me tweeting @ you about the GoPro Software. I dont know if its the fact you havnt played around with the GoPro Settings Correctly or not, but my Go Pro Hero8 look 100x better than the GoPro Hero 9 example your showing here 😅
I was planning to pick up a GoPro Hero9 to use as my stream camera via the USB utility. Based on this video, I’m looking at other options now. Thank you for putting this together Harris!
I use a Nikon D5300 that I got for actual pictures as my main stream cam. I spent ages trying to get it working (thankfully there was finally a firmware put out to fix the timeout). I ended up getting a Live Gamer DUO before Nikon released their software. I am half tempted to give it a try, but at this point I'm not sure why I'd bother. The other thing to note about Nikon is the super small list of supported cameras. I'm honestly surprised mine is on that list.
I use the EOS Webcam Utility with my Canon 6D Mark II and it looks pretty good. I did get a BlueAVS capture card for like $20 and it's much better. 1080p 60 FPS vs 576p 30 fps.
Also that lower resolution is just standard PAL SD quality. PAL is 720x576 at 50 fields per second. And for the quality, it won’t get any better. That for sure is a hardware limitation, no encoder available in the USB data path.
I run a Canon M200 with a $20 hdmi capture card (...so no you don't need to spend heaps on a capture card) and comes up looking super crisp. I ended going down this route as the EOS software had compatibility issues with MS teams (issues Canon even stated on their website) which we use for work.
Since it came out last year, I've been using my Canon 80D with the EOS Webcam Utility: - Every work day on macOS for meetings on Google Meet - Weekly on my Windows machine for virtual hangouts on Facebook or Discord - Anytime I'm Twitch streaming (which is very rare, unfortunately, but not because of any Canon issues) The only upgrades I've seen since Beta are stability and compatibility basically everywhere.
I use a nikon d3300 myself. She's old but does look quite nice imo, I currently use it with the avermedia duo cap card. I did try a gopro hero 7 black but the noise due to low light in my set up made it absolutely terrible!
I use a Nikon D610 with a Camlink. It is perfect, runs great, and the HDMI out is 720/60, which is more than enough for an actual 480x270 window on top of the stream.
6:50 - im so confused as to why harris is expecting so much from these webcam utilities. he already said in the beginning that they were probably usb 2 speeds, he already has his answer for why the resolution is 576p, why they drop frames and have bad framerates... the usb 2 bandwidth isnt wide enough to be able to handle a 720p resolution at a constant 30 fps, and the signal from the camera cannot send a continuous stream of 30 or 60 fps because the maximum bandwidth isn't constant, it's peak throughput...
I use a GoPro Hero 3 and it looked lightyears better than the Hero 9 for some reason. I use some cheap capture card (But it actually looks really good?) and I’ve had no problems except when my gopro overheats. The quality is 1080p and looks super good, not sure what was going on with the quality with yours though
I use a Nikon d5200 with a Camlink and its been great way better than my c920. I had the d5200 just laying around for years and now I finally had enough money to get the Camlink. I could not use the d5200 with a software because there were none at the time. So I had to wait for a camlink. FYI I would like nikon to make a software.
I use a Lumix G7 (stock lense, Elgato Cam Link) for my for my videos and streams. I picked it in 2017 because it records 4k/30fps, which I like to use for video recording because I can punch in without loosing resolution (I upload in 1080p).
I stream with Black Magic Design Cameras. I've used all the modern models (Ursa 4k, 4.6k G2, pocket 4k, pocket 6kpro). There is no better camera to stream with than a Black Magic Camera, in my humble opinion. Plus in many cases they are more affordable than the popular Sony and Canon options. Could you talk about them on your channel?
My a5100 shows 41-42 fps on fps checker, but definitely not more than 20. Just to give you guys an idea. Also, my experience with a pi zero + hq camera has been much better (and cheaper) than using imaging edge. HQ camera from pi foundation has a sensor equal to that of gopro. The lenses and image processing do let the overall quality down, but not too bad, even in very low light. showmewebcam project has done wonders, and pi zero + hq camera is definitely worth the money, provided you live in colder regions. Here in India, where I live, you definitely need to have a active cooling for pi zero, since ambient temps are 35+.
I use the Canon EOS M50 Mark ii. I don't use it as a webcam because I don't stream. I do podcasts and it works great if the lighting is setup correctly. The whole important thing to remember is lighting. If you can get the lighting correct, you can enhance the picture. I also use a $30 cam link that works perfect for what I'm trying to do.
I'm interested in the comparison of the Sony ZV-1 as it has on board capability to be read as a usb camera without going through the Imaging Edge software.
One of the reasons "it can't output native" is that most of the USB ports are in 2.0, only recently, camera manufacturers are starting to move to 3.1. With USB 2.0 (~57MB/s at most), the video needs to be compressed, and the processors in the camera just aren't designed for this type of applications. If you take a relatively modern android phone with USB3.0 or above, enable debug over USB, you will be able to output next to native quality from the phone's camera. Most of the phones have the necessary encoding feature and computing power for acting as a webcam. (given they don't overheat)
Great reviews. I use an OLD NIKON D5100 and works like a beast... I had to hack it thou because it goes off after 20min if not, and is not possible to clear the screen when connected to the Camlink, but after hacking, BOOM, works beautiful.
I know I'm a little late here but you should check the local camera shops in your area to see if they do equipment rentals if you ever want to test out other brands of cameras without shelling out hundreds to thousands of dollars for them. There is a shop near me that allows people to rent cameras or lenses for a period of time. Just thought that could be helpful for any future content you plan to make. And thank you for the helpful video. I was considering using my hero 8 black as a streaming webcam but after watching this I'm debating on whether I should get a capture card or invest in an actual webcam
I used a Nikon d5300 with a cheap hdmi-usb card. it was amazing quality, but I couldn't get pass the 30min limit. Also when summer came, it was overheating. So I reverted to my c270 webcam... not great, but it's plug and play, no mess.
I use an XBOX Kinect V2 for Xbox One, with a USB connector. 1080p 60 FPS wide angle side to side and top to bottom, because I am broke and I had one laying around. It is 10X better than the Logitech C920 that I was using previously. So if anyone out there can't afford a high end camera but has an Xbox One Kinect sensor laying around, buy the USB converter and use it for streaming. You are welcome. Also "Thanks Harris" I too turn to your old videos when I forget stuff lol
I'm using a nikon z6 gen 1. Which doesn't support image out via USB, that was new for gen 2. I'm using a hd60s to capture the camera though, works great. And I bought the camera to use as a camera - I just park it on my screen instead of in a bag when I'm not using it.
Also, one thing to note is that GoPro uses network for the transmission. Tried using it as a webcam on my work PC to have better quality, bit it was not friendly with the company VPN! Not an issue for most people, but for some it just wont be able so send the image! :)
i use a cannon rebel t100, run through usb brought up on the cannon webcam utility and then i tirn off the focus square in the middle. put the utility full screen and then capture that woth usb and then crop it down. works kinda decent. definitely some choppy frames at time and the utility tur s off like every 30 minutes so i have to keep turning it back on. and yes i have a camlink but i cant use it for this camera because in camera i cant turn off all of the display stuff. so i have to use the utility thing because on there it gives me the choice to turn of all off but only in the utility.
I have an old camera the Nikon D5000. I was hoping I could use it with a cam link since I do not have any web cam, but it is unfortunately not supported. I’m just getting into stuff like this as a hobby, so I did not want to spend too much in the beginning.
Using a Olympus OM-D E-M5 II with the OM-D Webcam Beta software. I belive it supports up to 1280x720. There is a short delay and the framerate isn't great either but it does the job so i can't complain.
I've used my Nikon D7100 on stream with a capture card and it actually works pretty well. I've done some close up work with a macro lens along with a 17-50mm zoom lens and the quality is really nice. Only thing is the camera can overheat every now and again since it's not built for long-form content but for short reviews or little segments it works well.
It’s like you’re in my head lol I’ve been trying to get my canon M50 running this week as one of my alternate angles and it is unusable without capture card since my content is 1080 and 60. Broke down and got a DisplayPort cable for my monitor so I could free up my HDMI port
I use a Nikon D3400 and it can not do the USB-Webcam-Thing, but it has a clear hdmi (i use it with a cheap capture stick and it looks well). It can record intern for 10 minutes only and it has no Microphone jack
I use my GoPro HEro 8 as webcam with the app and i have some issues (a lot because of my setup), but i think for a year of release they can at least make something that we can use more power from the camera, i can't use more tham 720p for example. BUT still a huge difference if you think i don't have the money for a capture card yet.
because I bought my camera with the intent of using it with a capture card, companies like nikon and fujifilm weren't even looked at. They never thought about my use case, and I never thought about them.
I could not get the Canon software to work with my 6d or 5d on my Mac, my friend coudln't get it to work on his Canon and Mac setup either. Worked fine on Windows though. Also I couldn't get the Elgato CamLink to work on my Mac either. tough times :(
I feel like cameras are similar to pcs where the hdmi on a “graphics card” meant to output video. While the usb is a separate thing meant to transfer data rather than a video signal. I feel like they would need to make a camera with a usb connection paired with the hdmi “graphics card” to be able to output 1080p60 or whatever your camera is rated for hdmi output.
There are a lot more than 3 of us now. Also, probably super obvious, but would love to see some Fujifilm reviews, namely the X-T20, X-A7 (which has a built-in webcam feature, doesn't require software), X-T30, X-T3, and X-E4, and potentially X-E3.
Canon user. There seems to be other Canon users on here saying they use the Canon EOS Utility Original Software that comes with the Canon for Web Cam stuff and are getting better results (I didn’t even know it could do that) Or the Canon EOS Web Cam Utility Pro Software that was recently released specifically for Live Streaming and that I heard had a $5 monthly subscription to unlock more features. WHICH ONE ARE YOU PEOPLE USING???
I use 3 G7s for our live improv streaming when we can, but I got through an ATEM Mini Pro. I own an HD60 Pro PCI-E card, a Camlink 4k, and a "can't"-link. The Panasonic works fine with all of them.
I use an Ubuntu Linux operating system with my Canon. I don't use a capture card. I do have to use a code-set in the Terminal, in order to engaged the camera. I'm thinking it's about 30FPS, based on this video you've done. it's not perfect, but it will do.
I use the FX-3000 Sony without a problem. I just order ed a cam link 4k; so after I get that & hook it up; I'll see how that & or if that improves anything.
I use a Canon EOS 70D as my webcam but I have been using a software called SparkoCam paired with a Micro HDMI to USB cable. What's nice is that SparkoCam allows me to change the actual settings of my camera within the software. But I've always wondered if pairing my DSLR with a Cam Link would provide a better quality video.
Omg, exactly! I wanted to upgrade my Logitech C922, and everyone was saying that Canon M50 Mark II is the best choice. I was so disappointed! First of all, C922 was crispy clear with using just a table lamp light (my viewers were saying that they could see my pores). Canon M5O requires a more or less professional lighting, otherwise the quality is poop. Second of all, just using USB is not an option - you can clearly see it from this video! The frame rate is awful; the picture is blurry. The kit lens is also poop; I need to invest into another one! So, that means, I spent 600$ on a camera. And now I have to spend this exact amount of money on another lens, capture card, and lighting! SMH 🤦🏼♀️
I was using a Canon M200 when lockdown started, with their beta software, as a webcam. It works and looks good from my experience, but ultimately I just gave up and defaulted to getting a Logitech streamcam instead. I just got tired of using a dummy battery to power it, installing beta software onto a work or personal laptop, or using a capture card (which needs drivers). The webcam is plug-and-play and simply works on every device I have with no hassle. Especially if a work laptop is locked down to installing software.
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My camera I haven't upgraded from yet is a Nikon D3100, maybe this holiday season I'll get something newer.
Hey Harris, what camera did you film this on?
Harris what camera do you use for your streams? If it’s the Sony A7s III how do you power your camera while streaming? Looking for a more indefinite power solution.
They can't really improve it from the software side. They're using the photo tethering preview, which was never meant for smooth video streaming
I still think the canon software needs a little bit of improvement, but it's good for what its worth
They can't really improve it from the software side. They're using the photo tethering preview, which was never meant for smooth video streaming
Epos, that makes sense, thank you.
Hardware wise, there are components designed to shoot & store data on onboard devices, channel output to HDMI..... but there is nothing on DSLRs that could compress a video to 1080p60 signal over USB. That's where CamLink plays its role.
Before any of these utilities were a thing, I used to screen cap my canon 6D photo preview to use it as my stream camera.
Yep, and the camera’s physical wifi system for doing it is limited to a very low bitrate, so it’s either uncompressed OR smooth, you can’t have both.
Ideally we’d see in the future, them use WiFi 6 or something else that’s very fast so we can have useable footage without a capture card, but these were all designed before everyone needed a camera for conference calls
Classic case of corporations just trying to be “first to market” without care for quality control. They’re just trying to take away market share away from competitors and have bragging rights to “we did it first” smh they need to grow up.
The GoPro delay is due to the fact that you have “hyper smooth stabilization” on. If you were to turn it off, then there would be no delay.
Omg ty been try to figure that out
can second this
Does this work with all gopros? Hero 8 black?
pin this
I figured this out on my own and felt super dumb xD
The Canon and Sony use USB 2, which has a relatively low bandwidth. That bandwidth is equal to 576p at 20-30 FPS uncompressed. So what’s happening isn’t a software issue, but a hardware limit.
And 576p is also the resolution of regular PAL SD video.
That's what I suspected. They need USB3
This is false as I'm able to get 1080p 60 out of my Canon EOS M50 over micro USB using Sparkocam.
@@adamthompson2098 I use SparkoCam with my Nikon D5100 and get 1080@30. Looks pretty good.
@@adamthompson2098 ok but how am i supposed to stream with such a limited software... I wish i could do the same with obs
I connect my Lumix G7 via Camlink. Never tried a dedicated Panasonic utility honestly.
And I too have to go back and refer to some of my own videos to remember how I did something. lol.
The G7 isn't compatible with their utility for streaming the image to the PC anyways. Just the higher model numbers
The Canon utility works great for me. I have a never ending series of compliments about my video quality on Zoom...
Same! I think this may be because of OBS specifically.
I've had the same - I've using an EOS M50 (Mark 1), and I've had no problems with the quality. I'm shocked at the difference in quality Harris is seeing with an EOS R.
@@cynicaloutlook same here. Got mine in early June when i couldn't find a webcam anywhere not marked up at least double...
How many other people are using actual cameras and not their laptop webcams or some equivalent? The Canon will still look way better in such an instance, it just won't be 1080p 60fps.
I got a Z Cam cinema camera & you can livestream right over ethernet! Far better than dealing with the Canon Webcam utility! I highly recommend.
"It was your fault"
"I pay you" 👀
LOL 😂
Thats really weird, I never had any of those issues with my Canon and EOS webcam utility. Makes me wonder if it's the EOS R.
Canon EOS t7. Same thing, smooth with app.
Canon EOS 6D. Smooth with great quality but a bit of lag so my voice is not in sync.
@@rayderrich Same here but I have the Mark II. No noticable delay though.
Same!!
@@thesqueaze6509 do you find that your camera dies quickly tho using it?
I still think the canon software needs a little bit of improvement, but it's good for what its worth
I use the canon software with a t7i, the only problem i have had so far if if i peave the camera on after a stream it wony automatically turn back on next time. I have to turn the camera off, then back on. Its only a few seconds, and it is because of a safety feature for the camera.
What issues have you hqd with their software?
I use the canon software with my SL2 and works great for my needs. I get really good resolution. Biggest gripe is there’s a slight lag. I can go the capture card route but the SL2 doesn’t have a clean HDMI output so I’d have to manually focus and stay there
I wonder how the Sony ZV-1 is with direct connection to PC is. That was a big feature Sony talked about shortly after the ZV-1 released.
It works great and quality is still very nice. I have a Delgato cam link but haven't tried that yet
The difference from using a camlink w/ a ZV-1 and using their USB is actually not that different. I was surprised.
@@barndogsax5290 isn't the ZV-1 pushing out 720p over USB vs the camlink can do 1080P 60?
That 576p is rough. But I do have to say that the Canon Webcam Utility has been a lifesaver at times when I needed to use my camera unexpectedly and I was somewhere without my CamLink.
I have a Fujifilm X-S10 that I use for videography, and when I have a video conference, as a webcam. First of all, the X-S10 has a Type-C port that can be used for power and also for Fuji's Webcam X software. The quality is about on par with other brand's webcam software at around 576p and 30fps, but the camera gets locked in complete auto mode, kind of frustrating when in any lighting situation that's less than perfect. It's also important to note that although the camera can be run off of USB power, when connected to a computer, it won't stay powered forever. In my testing, the camera averaged around 2.5 hours before running out of juice. When you connect the camera over HDMI however, you are free to use a faster charging wall plug, the tradeoff being that the camera only lasted 45 minutes before overheating with the extra power. The only way to use the camera continuously for extended periods of time is by using a dummy battery. I experienced no overheating or power loss after around 8 hours connected to my computer via HDMI and capture card. Speaking of HDMI, the image is perfectly clean, you can use Fuji's F-Log, face detection autofocus still works and you can set the HDMI output to a different resolution than what the camera is set to. I think that overall, it's a camera worth considering if you are already looking at something like the Sony a6400, as it's basically the a6600 with better IBIS, and dare I say, better color, while being priced closer to the a6400.
p.s.
new Sony aps-c cameras are closer than people think ;)
just wait a bit...
I had no idea that EOS Webcam Utility was so rough. My 80D honestly looks pretty slick through the webcam utility. The upgrade path is no joke though
It work well with my t7i for short time ,when it's longer than an hour,the software connection became unstable
I got better results with my 6D Mark II recently-I’m stuck with the EOS utility because this camera doesn’t have a clean HDMI output and I don’t want to install Magic Lantern. Still preferable to using my iPhone with OBS ninja, which is what I was doing before (not terrible, frankly).
Same here! You can actually get Clean HDMI though, but only if you turn off auto focus. I use it with a BlueAVS capture card and it works great.
I used both the Canon, and Fuji Apps for quite a long time. I think the major limitation is the bandwidth on USB-2. I think a big thing that can help is making sure you're following the 180 shutter rule when you set the FPS. While the resolution on the canon was just as low (first a 6D Mk1, then an EOS R), My frames didn't look as choppy. At least I don't Remember.
Fuji's webcam app (used with an XT-4) was a whole pain in the ass to setup, but it eventually was just plug and play. I chalk that up to largely user error, but then again, the app does not provide a lot of feedback if things are not syncing properly. Big benefit the Fuji has though, is it allows for USB charging while using the utility so you don't necessarily need any dummy batteries in the setup.
Im using the Sony EyeToy camera from Ps2. No kidding, its better than most integrated webcams over there
I use the ps3 eye lol
the sony zv 1 works well over usb, still looks better over camlink tho but some have argued that they it's still a massive improvement over a traditional webcam
This video actually had an old harris and old alpha gaming feel to it.
Might be the audio
Because of the ring lights :)
I thought they repeated the sponsor owned dot tv
All it needed was hello my name is Harris and I'll be your stream doctor for an intro. Lol
I don't know if this come from the EOS R or whatever , but I can do 50/60fps streaming with my Canon M50 no problem.
I just had to make sure to get in manual video mode and dial in a shutter speed that was fitting the framerate (I use 50 frames per second (the grid is 50Hz in my country), so I dial in a 1/100th shutter speed : Shannon law respected, everything's fine and I get my full framerate and resolution). If you leave everyting to auto, the camera will work just like it does in photo mode, and will try to reduce the noise on the image by reducing the ISO, but by doing so, it reduces the shutter speed as well, getting low framerate, even if you set the 1080p60 mode in the quick menu
I mean, the video feed I get through my little M50 looks miles better than the one you get out your EOS R, with a lot of lighting (a lot more than me), probably a wider lens as well. Maybe that's a EOS R issue, dunno
by the way, Fuji is heavily phushing their cameras for photography and a bit of film making with features like IBIS, grading profiles etc. Their marketing does not show a lot of focus on the streaming market like Canon or Sony showed lately
Canon R5 gives a solid 30fps with the webcam utility. So does the Canon M50, which I also have. None of them will do 60fps. The Canon EOSR doesn't have a fast enough USB transfer to do 60fps. The cable must be USB-C, and your computer must have a high speed USB port as well in order to get the full benefit, so your pc specs matter as well, and connecting it to the right port.
checkout Sparkocam. you'll get 1080 60p over your USB to your PC. and it has full camera controls over the software.
I've been using the Canon Webcam utility with my (now ageing) 5D Mk II as my primary DJ stream camera as I don't have any video-centric cameras to use and it's been pretty great all around. Sometimes it has a weird issue with the aspect ratio going wonky and not staying at 1080p but for the most part it's allowed me to add another camera to my stream with zero additional costs
I bought a Fujifilm X-T200 to start photography and also use it as a webcam because why not. Turned out the Fujifilm X Webcam Software does not support this model, but only the midrange and high-end models. So I started to use the cam with a CamLink and now a Y&H 1080p60 capture card from Amazon. (fun fact: it accepts 4K30 which is necessary as the X-T200 only allows for unlimited recording in 4K or in standby with way lower resolution.)
When I was able to get a X-T30 for a good price, I tested it with the Webcam Software. Seems to be the same as with Sony and Canon: Resolution around 576p, framerate below 30fps (I guess around 20) and not all settings can be changed, but it is okay to use.
But with constant 4K standby over HDMI from the X-T30 and the CamLink there is no way the Webcam Software could rival this.
I use EOS webcam utility and the biggest issue I have is when the camera goes to sleep, it almost rarely wakes back up and gives you an image again
luckily it doesn't do that while using the camera such as mid stream!
The 576p isn't just a random resolution, it's the standard for standard definition PAL TV (TV in most places outside of America).
Edit after looking into it - I use my Canon RP via the utility at 576p 50 fps and it looks great as OBS will upscale it. Not true 1080p but it's WAY better than what you're showing here for some reason.
I use EOS utility and mine does fantastic I don't know if alpha's was weird but don't freak out if you see this
Facts mine does 4K .. he probably didn't have the settings up
Agreed. My Canon is amazing for streaming.
@@TheChampCave yessir .. and you have some pretty cool videos 💯🔥
@@iamJosephGarcia thank you, much appreciated! 🙏
@@TheChampCave 🙌🏻🙌🏻
seems more there is something wrong with your setup for the utility link. Seen people using a canon 600D with micro USB and the utility software and doesn't have as much lag as you do with the EOS R.
of maybe because the 600D is older and less output and thusfor runs smoother?
I still use the canon webcam utility cause I got an EOS M50 and didn’t know it didn’t have clean HDMI out
For sony camera's i think you don't need the webcam utility app, "I think" that they have another app to preview the video of the camera, use that for OBS and crop out the frame should give a better result than the utility app, again, I'm not sure
Yeah I think I saw a video about that a year or two ago. If anyone remembers please drop the link. Is it on elgato's channel? Those guys are pretty good.
na its the same just without the camera controls :D
Guys named Aaron after seeing their name pop up in a ad about passwords: Real shit? *nervous sweating*
Thank god for a new Alpha Gaming video. I've literally been watching all the old ones over again
I do the same. Watch them all... wait a month or so and start over lol
Soo I have a Canon 60D using the webcam utility software and I must say, my image quality looks pretty good. I also notice that it REALLY matters what settings you set your camera before connecting it to the USB cable
I have the EOS R and use Camlink 4K. Tried the Canon utility but found the quality to be much lower than with the Camlink. I don’t stream but do a lot of Microsoft Teams meetings. Over the last 15 months I have done more than 400 video meetings so my equipment has changed a lot since the start of the pandemic. Had the Samyang 14 mm AF, but changed my setup so I now use a Canon 35MM. Super happy with the quality and easy of use.
I love the EOS R, but really wish I could charge it with USB-C while using the camera. The original Canon “dummy battery” is stupidly expensive.
Would love to see you make a video more targeted at “business” use and not streaming, but I really appreciate your content.
I use a canon rp with no cam link and I get 1080 60 easily
Love your avatar.
💪🏻😃😃😃😃👍🏻
Same
I shoot professionally on a Panasonic S1. And it has been a mixed bag for me. For starters, It's great for video, v-log, full frame 4k up to 30fps and APS-C Crop for 4k60 (Which EOS R and A7iii didn't do at the time) has been great. Also Panasonic has been awesome about supporting the camera over time. A few months ago they had a firmware patch that added a bunch of recording options. Cinema 4k (4096x2160), 1080p at up to 180fps, and hell, they even added 6k recording. All from a firmware patch. But there is the elephant in the room, contrast based auto focus. Anything in remotely low lighting makes AF borderline useless, and even when it does work, it can be slow, which makes still shooting really difficult sometimes. I mostly shoot on cine lenses or with no AF for this reason, but I definitely wish I had better AF. I'm on the fence on if I should swap to Canon or Sony, but it's still a really awesome camera. If you are looking to do solely video and you like being on manual focus, definitely a buy imo. But if sometimes you want to turn your brain off for casual shoots or do a lot of photography, I'd say stick to other brands.
As you asked:
1) I am one of the "last mohicans" using Fujifilm... in deed mainly for photography and just for special streams. For my daily video-conferences in my main job the brio is more, than good enough. Fujifilm also came out with a USB-Solution - my X-T3 (not even the latest model) is pretty decent for video and has USB-C - but when I tested the USB-Betadriver found similar issues with
I bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ300 to use for hiking before my son talked about wanting to get into game streaming. I have an Elgato CamLink and other than questionable low-light performance of the camera, it seems to be acceptable. The 4K Capture Utility detects the incoming signal as 1080p59. Within that application, I do see some motion tearing, but when recording video with OBS and playing it back, it looks fine. I've not put great effort to get video to output over USB. I have my doubts as to whether it's even possible. Neither I, nor he, will be presenting full-frame video with the camera, but will will be using it for a PIP overlay, so it's debatable whether 1080p would even be necessary, unless we're publishing 4K content.
I have a GoPro Hero7 as my main camera, Kinect 2.0 for super wide angle shots in my room, and 2 Logitech C920s for different angles. Biggest downfall of the GoPro is how dark it comes out. You can only adjust so much in software until adding more lighting makes the shot better. Then when I add more lighting, all the other cameras I’m using get washed out… working on a button on my stream deck that automatically adjust my lighting depending on which camera I’m using.
Hey @alphagaming I had the same issue with eos app straight plug in but on the camera if you select 1080p 50fps it works great!
I have the canon m50 mk II
I use a canon 250d and I genuinely get a good quality feed with the EOS utility? 50fps 1080p completely fine, I don't see how you're having the issues you are!
That's interesting you're having issues with the A7S3. I use the A5100 (and Sigma 16 1.4) and get a SOLID 720p/24 or 720p/30 feed through the Imaging Edge webcam utility into OBS - and it's using Micro USB and USB 2.0 lol.
I have full control over manual ISO, aperture, and shutter speed when hooked up through USB as well. No limitations for my purposes while streaming. My face cam isn't usually covering the entire stream canvas anyway.
My EOS R6 has a USB-C (3.1) which makes the webcam application pretty successful for the moments I chose to stream/vid call with it. The EOS R is limited by its own hardware but a capture card clearly fixes that. I'd be interested in your thoughts on it but also know that if someone is aiming to be a streamer only a professional level photography camera is probably not the route they would want to go until income from it can justify the thousands for the body and lens(es) for it. $50 for a simple cam and $50 for clever lighting would work just as well to get the ball rolling.
Meanwhile Insta360 pulled the webcam thing during the pandemic without any additional software on the One R with crisp ultrawide 1080p30 with the 4k lens. You should check that camera, it even has some fun uses with the 360 where it outputs the front and back in a super stretched format.
I just set my Fujifilm X-T200 to webcam mode in settings (rather than mass storage mode) and it just pops up as any normal webcam would when you plug in the USB cable. Some of their older cameras require a driver install though
The USB port is not fit to transmit the high bitrate I suppose. If I want a decent video signal out of my Nikon Z6, I use the HDMI port. Just checked on the Nikon homepage - streaming via the HDMI port is indeed possible using a third party capture device. Probably the same for Sony and Canon.
I use an elgato streamlink with a Lumix GH4, metabones speed adaptor, and sigma 10-35 lens.
Image quality is phenomenal. Truly. 10/10.
Auto focus?
Problems. Despite having the speed adaptor and the lens is powered, so it can automatically move the lens, the auto focus will lock onto any mic in frame, and occasionally just something in the background as well. Not sure how to fix that, but I'm happy "enough" with it, it's an annoyance say, once every 3 streams when it REALLY tries to focus on something crazy, but I can turn off zoom and add more light, get a better depth of field, I'm just an amateur though so like.... requires some tweaking.
Not gonna lie, it does make a strong argument for sony with their much better autofocus for amateur streaming, I haven't tried one, but I hear good things. I would bet the lumix has better picture quality in this setup than almost anything, but if it's blurry, well that doesn't mean much.
It would be interesting to see a stand off between canon / sony / panasonic / fuji film in this regard, and just borrow people's setups to do it.
I started with Canon M50 last year, and upgraded to Lumix GH5 this year. I'm a hobbyist that's just starting. No real plans to make it big. But I am working on moving from streaming to making actual content.
Lemme add here real quick for the Fuji gang, I use the XT-30 on occasion as a webcam and I get the full 1080p60 using just my USB cable. The software automatically starts when it recognizes the camera plugged in, but I've to dial in the settings on the camera first to get the exposure right. Other than that, no gripes!
I’m using a Sony A5100 with stock lenses off Craigslist for 200 then a 20 dollar Amazon capture card (1080 at 60fps) and works straight buttery. Adjust exposure, white balance and ISO and you got a crissssp picture.
What’s crazy is i was using the sony imaging one back during the holidays and got WAY more frame rate. I took a few months off and when i came back to streaming a week or two ago i noticed the frame rate was SO BAD. Consistent with the 13fps you show. I am using that $30 cheap card you talked about in an old video and its buttery smooth now. So weird that the software got so much worse
That's interesting. I've been using it consistently on my Mac with a Sony a5100 and have had no issues the entire time. I haven't updated it since I downloaded, though, which was back in April. Maybe an update messed something up?
I use the A5100 for my streams and the quality is actually not that bad considering I'm using a usb cable and a $400 camera, the worst part about the Imaging Edge software is the latency, its pretty much unusable.
What camera is the best in your opinion for streaming?
Check out the Sony a6400 or one in that seires. Has clean HDMI. Flip up screen. Shouldn't overheat and doesn't have a shut off timer.
Oh also great face tracking.
honestly any camera is good for streaming. I say that because when you're streaming your stream is compressed so the resolution and quality goes down. so it's not like you're going to see the quality if a 2000$ camera, or even a 1000$ camera. In my opinion i think the canon m50 is amazing for streaming. it has everything you want and it's a great camera for non stream use. so the money you put in it is actually useful. but if it's just streaming i think any camera should be good. webcams usually are bad....but actual cameras should be fine regardless of what you use. not only that but cameras like m50 has face tracking. if a camera has face tracking that's pretty much all you need for streaming. you can get the canon m50 for about 500$ on ebay sometimes
I agree with @VoidBoi I just bought the a6400 myself (I stream univ. courses and will be filming videos to pre-post on RUclips for my classes, and didn't have a webcam at all, so dove deep and got the a6400 and took the time to learn about photography + recording/editing/etc. and am SUPER happy with the purchase, I'm currently using the software solution and will get camlink in near future)
Depends on what kind of Smartphone you have. There's apps out there that'll turn your smartphone into a high def webcam. Easy to set up and control. Will also keep you under $10 cost-wise.
I use an Olympus OM-D E-m10 MkII; Unlike the MkIII which has USB-C charging and I believe is compatible with Olympus' webcam software, the OM-D cameras have an interesting feature where they can actually go clean feed even though the cameras are not listed as clean feed capable cameras. If you hold the info button when plugged in via microHDMI it kills the feed for half a second then outputs a full clean feed over HDMI, keeping the display on the camera's mirrorless display. Definitely a slept on cheaper mirrorless camera.
Hey Harris, happy you made a video on this 😊 i dont know if u remember me tweeting @ you about the GoPro Software.
I dont know if its the fact you havnt played around with the GoPro Settings Correctly or not, but my Go Pro Hero8 look 100x better than the GoPro Hero 9 example your showing here 😅
I use a lumix g9, but it's plugged directly into a 4K aver media pro capture card.
I was planning to pick up a GoPro Hero9 to use as my stream camera via the USB utility. Based on this video, I’m looking at other options now. Thank you for putting this together Harris!
I use a Nikon D5300 that I got for actual pictures as my main stream cam. I spent ages trying to get it working (thankfully there was finally a firmware put out to fix the timeout). I ended up getting a Live Gamer DUO before Nikon released their software. I am half tempted to give it a try, but at this point I'm not sure why I'd bother.
The other thing to note about Nikon is the super small list of supported cameras. I'm honestly surprised mine is on that list.
I use the EOS Webcam Utility with my Canon 6D Mark II and it looks pretty good. I did get a BlueAVS capture card for like $20 and it's much better. 1080p 60 FPS vs 576p 30 fps.
Also that lower resolution is just standard PAL SD quality. PAL is 720x576 at 50 fields per second.
And for the quality, it won’t get any better. That for sure is a hardware limitation, no encoder available in the USB data path.
I run a Canon M200 with a $20 hdmi capture card (...so no you don't need to spend heaps on a capture card) and comes up looking super crisp. I ended going down this route as the EOS software had compatibility issues with MS teams (issues Canon even stated on their website) which we use for work.
I have an EOS R and my canon app looks identical to my Camlink, has to be something with your in camera settings.
I'm in the same boat, great quality, no need to upgrade!
Since it came out last year, I've been using my Canon 80D with the EOS Webcam Utility:
- Every work day on macOS for meetings on Google Meet
- Weekly on my Windows machine for virtual hangouts on Facebook or Discord
- Anytime I'm Twitch streaming (which is very rare, unfortunately, but not because of any Canon issues)
The only upgrades I've seen since Beta are stability and compatibility basically everywhere.
I love when past me does something that helps future me. "Thanks past me"
I use a nikon d3300 myself. She's old but does look quite nice imo, I currently use it with the avermedia duo cap card. I did try a gopro hero 7 black but the noise due to low light in my set up made it absolutely terrible!
I use a Nikon D610 with a Camlink. It is perfect, runs great, and the HDMI out is 720/60, which is more than enough for an actual 480x270 window on top of the stream.
6:50 - im so confused as to why harris is expecting so much from these webcam utilities. he already said in the beginning that they were probably usb 2 speeds, he already has his answer for why the resolution is 576p, why they drop frames and have bad framerates...
the usb 2 bandwidth isnt wide enough to be able to handle a 720p resolution at a constant 30 fps, and the signal from the camera cannot send a continuous stream of 30 or 60 fps because the maximum bandwidth isn't constant, it's peak throughput...
I use a GoPro Hero 3 and it looked lightyears better than the Hero 9 for some reason. I use some cheap capture card (But it actually looks really good?) and I’ve had no problems except when my gopro overheats. The quality is 1080p and looks super good, not sure what was going on with the quality with yours though
I use a Nikon d5200 with a Camlink and its been great way better than my c920. I had the d5200 just laying around for years and now I finally had enough money to get the Camlink. I could not use the d5200 with a software because there were none at the time. So I had to wait for a camlink. FYI I would like nikon to make a software.
I use a Lumix G7 (stock lense, Elgato Cam Link) for my for my videos and streams. I picked it in 2017 because it records 4k/30fps, which I like to use for video recording because I can punch in without loosing resolution (I upload in 1080p).
I stream with Black Magic Design Cameras. I've used all the modern models (Ursa 4k, 4.6k G2, pocket 4k, pocket 6kpro). There is no better camera to stream with than a Black Magic Camera, in my humble opinion. Plus in many cases they are more affordable than the popular Sony and Canon options. Could you talk about them on your channel?
My a5100 shows 41-42 fps on fps checker, but definitely not more than 20. Just to give you guys an idea. Also, my experience with a pi zero + hq camera has been much better (and cheaper) than using imaging edge. HQ camera from pi foundation has a sensor equal to that of gopro. The lenses and image processing do let the overall quality down, but not too bad, even in very low light. showmewebcam project has done wonders, and pi zero + hq camera is definitely worth the money, provided you live in colder regions. Here in India, where I live, you definitely need to have a active cooling for pi zero, since ambient temps are 35+.
I use the Canon EOS M50 Mark ii. I don't use it as a webcam because I don't stream. I do podcasts and it works great if the lighting is setup correctly. The whole important thing to remember is lighting. If you can get the lighting correct, you can enhance the picture. I also use a $30 cam link that works perfect for what I'm trying to do.
I'm interested in the comparison of the Sony ZV-1 as it has on board capability to be read as a usb camera without going through the Imaging Edge software.
One of the reasons "it can't output native" is that most of the USB ports are in 2.0, only recently, camera manufacturers are starting to move to 3.1. With USB 2.0 (~57MB/s at most), the video needs to be compressed, and the processors in the camera just aren't designed for this type of applications. If you take a relatively modern android phone with USB3.0 or above, enable debug over USB, you will be able to output next to native quality from the phone's camera. Most of the phones have the necessary encoding feature and computing power for acting as a webcam. (given they don't overheat)
Great reviews. I use an OLD NIKON D5100 and works like a beast... I had to hack it thou because it goes off after 20min if not, and is not possible to clear the screen when connected to the Camlink, but after hacking, BOOM, works beautiful.
I know I'm a little late here but you should check the local camera shops in your area to see if they do equipment rentals if you ever want to test out other brands of cameras without shelling out hundreds to thousands of dollars for them. There is a shop near me that allows people to rent cameras or lenses for a period of time. Just thought that could be helpful for any future content you plan to make. And thank you for the helpful video. I was considering using my hero 8 black as a streaming webcam but after watching this I'm debating on whether I should get a capture card or invest in an actual webcam
I used a Nikon d5300 with a cheap hdmi-usb card. it was amazing quality, but I couldn't get pass the 30min limit.
Also when summer came, it was overheating.
So I reverted to my c270 webcam... not great, but it's plug and play, no mess.
I use an XBOX Kinect V2 for Xbox One, with a USB connector. 1080p 60 FPS wide angle side to side and top to bottom, because I am broke and I had one laying around. It is 10X better than the Logitech C920 that I was using previously.
So if anyone out there can't afford a high end camera but has an Xbox One Kinect sensor laying around, buy the USB converter and use it for streaming. You are welcome.
Also "Thanks Harris" I too turn to your old videos when I forget stuff lol
I'm using a nikon z6 gen 1. Which doesn't support image out via USB, that was new for gen 2. I'm using a hd60s to capture the camera though, works great. And I bought the camera to use as a camera - I just park it on my screen instead of in a bag when I'm not using it.
Also, one thing to note is that GoPro uses network for the transmission. Tried using it as a webcam on my work PC to have better quality, bit it was not friendly with the company VPN!
Not an issue for most people, but for some it just wont be able so send the image! :)
i use a cannon rebel t100, run through usb brought up on the cannon webcam utility and then i tirn off the focus square in the middle. put the utility full screen and then capture that woth usb and then crop it down. works kinda decent.
definitely some choppy frames at time and the utility tur s off like every 30 minutes so i have to keep turning it back on. and yes i have a camlink but i cant use it for this camera because in camera i cant turn off all of the display stuff.
so i have to use the utility thing because on there it gives me the choice to turn of all off but only in the utility.
I have an old camera the Nikon D5000. I was hoping I could use it with a cam link since I do not have any web cam, but it is unfortunately not supported. I’m just getting into stuff like this as a hobby, so I did not want to spend too much in the beginning.
Using a Olympus OM-D E-M5 II with the OM-D Webcam Beta software. I belive it supports up to 1280x720. There is a short delay and the framerate isn't great either but it does the job so i can't complain.
I've used my Nikon D7100 on stream with a capture card and it actually works pretty well. I've done some close up work with a macro lens along with a 17-50mm zoom lens and the quality is really nice. Only thing is the camera can overheat every now and again since it's not built for long-form content but for short reviews or little segments it works well.
It’s like you’re in my head lol I’ve been trying to get my canon M50 running this week as one of my alternate angles and it is unusable without capture card since my content is 1080 and 60. Broke down and got a DisplayPort cable for my monitor so I could free up my HDMI port
I use a Nikon D3400 and it can not do the USB-Webcam-Thing, but it has a clear hdmi (i use it with a cheap capture stick and it looks well). It can record intern for 10 minutes only and it has no Microphone jack
I use my GoPro HEro 8 as webcam with the app and i have some issues (a lot because of my setup), but i think for a year of release they can at least make something that we can use more power from the camera, i can't use more tham 720p for example. BUT still a huge difference if you think i don't have the money for a capture card yet.
because I bought my camera with the intent of using it with a capture card, companies like nikon and fujifilm weren't even looked at. They never thought about my use case, and I never thought about them.
I just did my first planned live stream for RUclips but the VOD quality is really bad what do you think someone like me should do??
I could not get the Canon software to work with my 6d or 5d on my Mac, my friend coudln't get it to work on his Canon and Mac setup either. Worked fine on Windows though.
Also I couldn't get the Elgato CamLink to work on my Mac either. tough times :(
I picked up a Canon m200, but have been using a Panasonic HC-WXF1K Digital Camcorder as a stream cam with a CamLink 4k. It's been phenomenal!
I feel like cameras are similar to pcs where the hdmi on a “graphics card” meant to output video. While the usb is a separate thing meant to transfer data rather than a video signal. I feel like they would need to make a camera with a usb connection paired with the hdmi “graphics card” to be able to output 1080p60 or whatever your camera is rated for hdmi output.
There are a lot more than 3 of us now.
Also, probably super obvious, but would love to see some Fujifilm reviews, namely the X-T20, X-A7 (which has a built-in webcam feature, doesn't require software), X-T30, X-T3, and X-E4, and potentially X-E3.
Canon user. There seems to be other Canon users on here saying they use the Canon EOS Utility Original Software that comes with the Canon for Web Cam stuff and are getting better results (I didn’t even know it could do that)
Or the Canon EOS Web Cam Utility Pro Software that was recently released specifically for Live Streaming and that I heard had a $5 monthly subscription to unlock more features.
WHICH ONE ARE YOU PEOPLE USING???
I use 3 G7s for our live improv streaming when we can, but I got through an ATEM Mini Pro.
I own an HD60 Pro PCI-E card, a Camlink 4k, and a "can't"-link.
The Panasonic works fine with all of them.
I use an Ubuntu Linux operating system with my Canon. I don't use a capture card. I do have to use a code-set in the Terminal, in order to engaged the camera. I'm thinking it's about 30FPS, based on this video you've done. it's not perfect, but it will do.
I use the FX-3000 Sony without a problem. I just order ed a cam link 4k; so after I get that & hook it up; I'll see how that & or if that improves anything.
I use a Canon EOS 70D as my webcam but I have been using a software called SparkoCam paired with a Micro HDMI to USB cable. What's nice is that SparkoCam allows me to change the actual settings of my camera within the software. But I've always wondered if pairing my DSLR with a Cam Link would provide a better quality video.
Omg, exactly! I wanted to upgrade my Logitech C922, and everyone was saying that Canon M50 Mark II is the best choice. I was so disappointed!
First of all, C922 was crispy clear with using just a table lamp light (my viewers were saying that they could see my pores). Canon M5O requires a more or less professional lighting, otherwise the quality is poop.
Second of all, just using USB is not an option - you can clearly see it from this video! The frame rate is awful; the picture is blurry.
The kit lens is also poop; I need to invest into another one!
So, that means, I spent 600$ on a camera. And now I have to spend this exact amount of money on another lens, capture card, and lighting! SMH 🤦🏼♀️
I was using a Canon M200 when lockdown started, with their beta software, as a webcam. It works and looks good from my experience, but ultimately I just gave up and defaulted to getting a Logitech streamcam instead. I just got tired of using a dummy battery to power it, installing beta software onto a work or personal laptop, or using a capture card (which needs drivers). The webcam is plug-and-play and simply works on every device I have with no hassle. Especially if a work laptop is locked down to installing software.