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V002 Camera Live – Zoom with Your DSLR as a Webcam via USB
- jammmety 6y agoWhy not use Canon's own EOS Webcam Utility? https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/about/newsroom/press-releases/press-release-details/2020/20200428-Webcam/20200428-Webcam https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/about/news...
- s09dfhks 6y agoIt looks like they only support newer DSLRs
- jeffmcjunkin 6y agoDespite that list, it actually works against much older devices. I've ran it with a T2i, for example, which is like three generations older than they officially support.
- luckydata 6y agoHow do you download the app? They require a serial number.
- post_break 6y agoThat’s great because I have a T2i with magic lantern. Will have to give it a try.
- ISL 6y agoThanks -- I've been really bummed that they left 6D Mk. 1 owners out in the cold on this one. Does anyone know of a similar linux app that works over USB rather than HDMI?
- kennethko 6y agoI've been using a 6D mk.1 with the Windows version of the Canon Webcam Utility Beta for a couple weeks now. No issues with running it, so far.
- reid 6y ago6D Mk 1 works great with Canon Webcam Utility Beta on macOS! I'm using it now.
- idratherbike 6y agoI've been using gphoto2 and ffmpeg on linux to use my 6D MkII as a webcam. I did test it with my old old rebel XSI and it did work as well here is the command sudo modprobe v4l2loopback exclusive_caps=1 max_buffers=2 gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -an -threads 0 -r 24 -f v4l2 /dev/video2 I did wrap in a shell script to test if the module is already loaded.
- ISL 6y agoAwesome -- I'll have to give it a try :)!
- ISL 6y agoWorks on the 6D. Thank you! I'm only getting ~4 fps, with substantial latency. Is that your experience? Image quality on the first lens I had at hand (40mm f/2.8) blows my Logitech 920 away. Field of view on the 920 is equivalent to a ~26mm on full-frame. Super excited to see if my slightly-broken EOS M will do the trick, too.
- vr46 6y agoAha, nice tip. I have a 1DX I was hoping to try it out on, has stacks of ports but I didn’t understand why it was too old. I’ll give it a shot.
- robbyt 6y agoCanon's app only supports Windows
- wlesieutre 6y agoThere’s a beta for Mac released about a week ago
- ianburrell 6y agoThey just released the Mac version of EOS Webcam Utility. https://petapixel.com/2020/05/27/canon-unveils-free-webcam-software-for-mac-users/ https://petapixel.com/2020/05/27/canon-unveils-free-webcam-s...
- sand500 6y agoIn my experience Canon's app is way better, both on Windows and Mac
- cactus2093 6y agoCamera Live works with non-canon models as well, there is at least partial support for some Fuji and nikon in the alpha releases and it looks like the maintainer intends to increase support even further. The heavy lifting appears to be done in libgphoto2 which supports a ton of different models. In terms of “why don’t you just use ____”, I have scoured the web for any way to use a Nikon as a webcam on macOS (over usb, so without dropping $120 on a camlink which is sold out everywhere now anyway), and the only other thing that exists is an app called ecamm live which costs $20/month forever. For windows and even Linux there are other more affordable or open source options.
- philsnow 6y ago> I have scoured the web for any way to use a Nikon as a webcam on macOS (over usb, so without dropping $120 on a camlink which is sold out everywhere now anyway) check out https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23409540 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23409540 I misplaced the usb cable that came with my nikon d5000 but I was able to find a replacement on amazon yesterday that should arrive later today.
- ldayley 6y agoFujifilm has also released their own native webcam utility for X and G series cameras. I think it only happened a week or two ago. https://fujifilm-x.com/en-us/webcam-support/ https://fujifilm-x.com/en-us/webcam-support/
- stigi 6y agoWhen I read this I ran to get my camera and my computer! First downer: My X-T20 is not supported :( Second downer: Windows only? So sad right now :(
- dvcrn 6y agoThis is a recent release, eh? I bought a elgato camlink 4K just recently because I wasn’t so happy with Camera Live but now I wish I hadn’t.
- dgorges 6y ago> The camera sends the image used for Live View - the dimensions will not match the camera's movie recording settings. This sounds like a bummer. I want to try this anyways to give my old Powershot a new purpose. Did anybody check this out yet?
- tomatocracy 6y agoThe Elgato Cam Link is worth checking out if you're serious about this - it's an HDMI video capture device which presents itself on the computer end as a UVC compatible USB webcam and will accept the HDMI streams DSLRs usually send. They're expensive though. There are other similar devices on the market too but not sure how good they are for this situation.
- atonse 6y agoThey're all bought out by price gougers. I've been trying to get one for two months but won't pay $400 for one.
- localhost 6y agoIf you’re using a PC, I bought the PCIe version of the camlink from Best Buy a few weeks ago without any problems (they even have it in stock).
- tomatocracy 6y agoEven before that they weren't cheap though. The RRP for the camlink 4k is USD129 I think - more expensive than a typical 1080p webcam.
- atonse 6y ago$129 is fine with me. The quality you get out of a DSLR is really good. I’ve entered that phase in my cycle where I’d rather buy separate pieces that are good quality and put them together.
- kbouck 6y ago
- franga2000 6y agoAm I the only one with strong objections to using Zoom as a verb? Putting aside the fact that it's already a verb, which courses plenty of confusion, I can go along with using Photoshop as a verb, because it is objectively the most powerful and widely used tool with a very long legacy. But Zoom is a clunky insecure mess with impressive, but not nearly leading market share. Is this really who we want to be gifting the recognition (and money) that comes with generic verb for all videoconferencing? At least Adobe did something to earn their verb... P.S.: I see no mention of Zoom in the page. Does this fall under the "don't mess with titles too much" rule of HN?
- m463 6y agoCan you facetime with it? or skype? :)
- Max-q 6y agoZoom is a verb.
- franga2000 6y agoOh really? I was not aware! Thank you... /s > Putting aside the fact that it's already a verb, which courses plenty of confusion
- Max-q 6y agoHaha, sorry, just had to. Actually, I totally agree with you. To Photoshop can't be that much misunderstood, but I think a lot of us read the heading as it used zoom in it's original meaning.
- pocket 6y agoIt works(ish) but worked better before most of the major players locked virtual cameras out with updates. Issues with unsigned code, so then some folks started unsigning apps smh. Still works with Chrome based version of several tools, and it’s cool when it works, but definitely a bit on the fragile side. The Canon software has the same limitations and just lets you use software from a perhaps more trusted source depending on your perspective…
- reedlaw 6y agoThis is possible in Linux using v4l2loopback and gphoto2.
- dllu 6y agoIndeed. I use my Sony a7r II as a webcam on Linux using gphoto2 with v4l2loopback: https://daniel.lawrence.lu/blog/y2020m03d31/ https://daniel.lawrence.lu/blog/y2020m03d31/ sudo modprobe v4l2loopback devices=1 exclusive_caps=1 card_label="pupcam" gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -f v4l2 /dev/video0
- reedlaw 6y agoNice! I have a Canon 70D for which I simply use: sudo modprobe v4l2loopback And then the identical invocation of gphoto2 as yours. Seems gphoto2 includes a wide range of camera support.
- ofrzeta 6y agoI just discovered this some days ago through a blog (https://www.crackedthecode.co/how-to-use-your-dslr-as-a-webcam-in-linux/ https://www.crackedthecode.co/how-to-use-your-dslr-as-a-webc...) and it worked out quite well. However I did not yet find a way to control the depth of field through aperture in live view because it's always fully open.
- tincholio 6y agoNot to mention that the gphoto2 solution works with a whole lot more cameras than this.
- whoisjuan 6y agoIs there something like this but for GoPros?
- jpalomaki 6y agoCamlink adapter converts a camera with HDMI output to webcam. According to following works also on certain GoPro models: https://www.knowhero.com/guides/goprowebcam https://www.knowhero.com/guides/goprowebcam
- boromi 6y agowith your Canon* DSLR....
- rayshan 6y agoIt does work with other cameras. Nikon is coming in the next release. See github issues.
- mikece 6y agoFor folks with Nikon DSLRs and Windows, there's an app called SparkoCam which uses the your camera as a video feed source and appears to the host operating system as though it were a webcam. Works for Canon as well though Canon and at resolutions higher than are currently supported by Canon's "use your camera as a webcam" software. The best results require the use of an HDMI capture device... and all of the good ones sold out almost immediately when the quarantine started.
- evan_ 6y agoFor non-Canon cameras I've been having luck using Cascable Pro Webcam: https://cascable.se/pro-webcam/ https://cascable.se/pro-webcam/
- rayshan 6y agoI tried Cascable with my Fuji X-T30. Works well for wireless connection but not for wired. Another option is Ecamm Live: https://www.ecamm.com/ https://www.ecamm.com/ Camera Live does work with other cameras. Nikon is coming in the next release. See github issues.
- Ductapemaster 6y agoPlease take care when using your DSLRs for video. Often the sensors are not adequately cooled for long term usage as a video camera (>30m). You have the potential to damage the sensor if it is not designed for continuous use and doesn't have proper thermal protection. Newer cameras will shut down if they get too hot, or have limits to how long you can run in video mode. Stackoverflow discussion: https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/21932/can-continuous-video-capture-damage-my-dslr#:~:text=It%20depends%20on%20the%20camera,heat%20as%20they%20capture%20images.&text=Most%20modern%20cameras%20have%20temperature,as%20you'd%20like%20to https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/21932/can-continuo....
- docuru 6y agoThat’s the first thing comes in my mind. I guess this post wasn’t created by someone loves their DSLRs
- rayshan 6y agoDid not consider this, thanks so much! I need mine for photography so need to source another cam just as a webcam.
- paulgerhardt 6y agoOld wives tale. Even the stackoverflow answers say as much. Most of the thermal ramping occurs in the first five minutes and then stabilizes after cache is exhausted. As all these dslr’s allow you to record 29m50s videos back to back all day long it’s also indicative that it’s not a big enough issue in returns to warrant addressing in their firmware. As you’re not writing to the SD card, hdmi passthrough should yield an overall lower operating temperature after an hour than writing to the SD card when recording video after even 10 minutes. I tried getting to the source of this rumor. Didn’t find one particular origin, just speculation amongst Redditors and Twitch users about the 30 minute limit and bypassing it with the Nikon or Canon firmware mods will void your warranty. It will however introduce more noise. Particularly at higher ISO’s. Astronomy photographers (a major driver of the firmware hacks in the first place - see “Nikon stareater bypass”) have cooling solutions available there too.
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- sqs 6y agoI listed the gear I use for high-resolution video calls at https://slack.org/high-resolution-video-calls https://slack.org/high-resolution-video-calls, along with links to other people who’ve done the same.
- BobVawter 6y agoSwitching to a "real" camera has been such a huge, huge improvement for me on video calls all day, I machined a custom vesa mounting arm to hold my camera in just the right spot. https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/088254b7439745b982784c0a4ca7a9e2 https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/088254b7439745b982784c0a4...
- ComputerGuru 6y agoThanks for documenting that; 'twas a real joy to go through.
- biswaroop 6y agoCould you elaborate on how it's been an improvement? I always thought it'd be overkill for regular business calls.
- BobVawter 6y agoIn a word: bokeh. I'm running a 50mm f/1.8 lens on a full-frame sensor. My job requires me to interact with external customers, sometimes in a pre-sales role. Appearances shouldn't matter, but they do. Anything I can use to present a more professional and "expert" image is a win for me.
- wellthisisgreat 6y agoIs there action camera or mirrorless camera that has webcam feature natively?