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Sony cameras can now be used as webcams for Mac

106 points by asimpletune 6y ago

scoot 6y ago
*Some Sony cameras
BasicObject 6y ago
Anyone know if an A7III can be used as a webcam on gnu/linux?
- thisisben 6y ago
  I documented the process for using a DSLR as a webcam in Linux, and it does look like the A7III _should_ be supported: 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...
mdorazio 6y ago
Serious question - do Mac users just not use HDMI to USB capture devices? I got mine for $10 off eBay [1] and it works great with my Sony camera (RX100 IV) with zero new drivers required on PC[2]. [1] https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-USB-2-0-Video-Capture-Card-1080P-HD-Recorder-Game-Video-Live-Streaming/184350601059 https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-USB-2-0-Video-Capture-Card-... [2] It's limited to 1080p, which is more than I need from a webcam.
- detaro 6y ago
  This is not only for Mac. Also, you really don't see a value in a camera supporting that without buying extra hardware, even if its cheap?
  - mdorazio 6y ago
    I see the value, but 1) this is a solution for a problem that's been cheaply solvable for years via brand-independent options, and 2) I find it kind of funny that people who strongly care about buying extra hardware/dongles would use Apple products...
- fakename 6y ago
  My camera (the a6000) isn't supported by this software, so I've been very happy with my $12 hdmi capture card, weird proprietary HDMI cable and dummy battery.
  - novok 6y ago
    micro-hdmi is about as proprietary as micro-usb The dummy battery is what annoys me the most, since it means you have to swap out a battery every time you want to use the camera, vs just pull out 2 cables.
  - baldeagle 6y ago
    I hate having to press the ‘play’ button every time. Is there a solve for that?
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
  Isn't there really bad lag inherent in that process though? (My only source is personal experience with a HDMI-to-USB3 capture device with ~200ms+ lag - about 6-7 years ago) If you want a good quality camera for Zoom/Facetime/etc anything over ~32ms would be grating - especially if you're using an external microphone attached directly to the computer.
- ornel 6y ago
  I got one of those capture devices and connected a Lumix G7. Plug and play in Linux. Now I'm using OBS with v4l2loopback to have greater control, crop, etc. Nobody cares or notices the nearly half second delay. And nobody notices the bokeh and nice colors either :(
m463 6y ago
I've plugged lots of webcams into a mac and they just work. I think apple must use a standard protocol. chances are they work on mac, they'll work on linux too.
- Bishonen88 6y ago
  This is a software for DSLR's/mirrorless and other 'Full-fledged' cameras, not webcams. Macbooks do not have an hdmi in, and passing video through usb wasn't a standard for those cameras until lately (and still isn't). So macbook or windows didn't matter in this case.
- floatingatoll 6y ago
  It's a custom driver for Mac, so it will not just work without additional driver support of some sort. There is a standard USB webcam protocol, which the cameras' firmware does not implement, in favor of this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24793187 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24793187
fudged71 6y ago
Seems like a very limited selection of A-mounts, sadly
- Ambroos 6y ago
  The A mount is practically dead, it's been surpassed by the full frame E-mount. Only somewhat recent Sony cameras are supported by the webcam driver, and there simply aren't many recent A-mount cameras.
fossuser 6y ago
It's kind of wild to me how there's such a product vacuum for this stuff. I've dug around and the only real option is an HDMI capture card paired with a decent camera (I read this Sony software option is lower quality, but at least it's progress). LG camera setups target businesses and are generally overpriced crap (I have one - the LG meetup) with proprietary connections and mediocre cameras, and crappy mics/software. The Facebook Portal is a magnitude better and 10% of the price, but it's FB - they do support zoom now though so that's a decent option. Computer webcams top out at not very good logitech USB devices. You'd think there would be a high-end market targeting streamers with computer cameras focused just on that in-between the mirrorless/DSLRs for photography. I'd love to see better products in this space: - High quality camera for videochat that can be connected to a computer. - High quality camera/mic that can be attached to a TV. - Dumb TV, high quality panel, that starts up fast, has a lot of ports, no internet connection, with a remote designed by someone who thought for 5min about what buttons are required this century. A dumb TV with a high quality camera mic setup might be interesting - plug in a mac mini and be good to go.
- ValentineC 6y ago
  This might be for different uses, but I'd rather Apple bring their iPhone front camera to the MacBooks. It's crazy that MacBook cameras still top out at 720p.
  - dylan604 6y ago
    That still misses the point. People want the look of a larger sensor that the tiny ones in a phone's camera. Shallow depth of field, different lenses, filters, etc that a fixed lens fixed aperture lens on a small sensor does not allow.
    - rektide 6y ago
      I'd cite portrait mode as counter-example. The optics are irrelevant if the software can emulate the look. And thus far, from what I understand, portrait mode systems have not had to use the depth sensors/lidar that's available!!! I would be very wary of assuming the larger format optics are necessary or helpful! The look can be done. There are some advantages retained by the larger sensor but it's a category that will shrink.
floatingatoll 6y ago
Mac support is implemented using a CoreMediaIO plugin, hinting that they are not updating the camera firmware to speak USB webcam, which prevents driverless use of the device: /Library/CoreMediaIO/Plug-Ins/DAL/ImagingEdgeWebcam.plugin Could someone with a Sony camera please verify on macOS 10.15 (with ASR enabled) whether this webcam support is usable from within Apple's desktop FaceTime app? What protocol version and speed of USB does it negotiate with the computer, assuming you're using a modern USB cable and not the one it shipped with? That plugin contains `LjAdapter`, the same name used on both Mac and Win, and specifically `Lja_PTP_USB.dylib/dll` — hinting that they've written a convertor that takes in USB Picture-to-Picture protocol and writes out USB Web Camera protocol. I get the distinct impression that this is a list of USB device IDs. Those of you who know how to spoof USB manufacturer and device IDs may want to try spoofing any random off-the-shelf USB PTP webcam with one of these and see if you can use this library to speak to it. [Dev:%lx] 0x0CCC, 0x0C43, 0x0D2B, 0x0D18, 0x0D1C, 0xD9F, 0x0DA3
- asimpletune 6y ago
  I tried it and I haven’t been able to use it for literally anything.
  - floatingatoll 6y ago
    Thank you for confirming that.
  - seltzered_ 6y ago
    I just tried it as well and haven't had luck. Tried doing this: - installing the linked 'imaging edge webcam' software. - restarting - hooking up my sony camera (it's compatible per the list) over usb - opening Quicktime Player, going to "new movie recording", selecting "Sony Camera (Imaging Edge)" - Instead see a logo for the software (instead of the camera output) but no connection. Tried futzing with opening camera in Movie mode, AUTO, with/without SD card, etc. Dear Sony, if you're reading this please take your time and do the approach the parent commenter suggested of updating the camera firmware so it can act as a true USB webcam. I expect the experience to be more along the lines of: - Plug in USB - See mode selection screen on camera (you already have this). - Select 'Webcam' - Things just work.
jseliger 6y ago
It's fascinating to watch the camera companies slowly catch up to where Elgato was years ago; their failure to "think beyond the box" may help explains why camera sales peaked around 2012 and have been falling ever since. Don't get me wrong: I still have a standalone Fuji camera, but I'm unusually interested in photo aesthetics. For most people, ease of use and convenience wins, and that it took this long for Sony to release software to enable this pretty obvious functionality explains what's wrong with most of the big camera companies.
- novok 6y ago
  Camera companies are stuck in some sort of car company stagnation loop it feels like, limiting themselves as pro tools. The only one approaching innovations was samsung, and they peaced out years ago. * No touch-id in the shutter button * No cell phone connectivity / android app support to instantly share your photos to insta, fb, etc & to sync as you go. * No ordering prints right in the camera * No google pixel / iOS quality level HDR & night sight modes * No GPS * No braindead obvious webcam mode * Most can't run off a usb cable indefinitely, unlike smartphones * etc
  - synackrst 6y ago
    This is slowly changing, at least with some of the high-end consumer/prosumer Sony cameras. I'd like to see some of the other features in your list added, but Sony's past slowness to add features doesn't inspire much hope that they will be added any time soon. All of the recent (4+ years) cameras have a "share to mobile" feature, where the camera acts as an AP, and your phone connects to pull photos from it. You can either pick the photos to transfer on the camera or on the phone, and it works pretty well for posting to social media, or instantly sharing. I've run the RX100M3/M5 and a7iii off of USB power forever (a full day's worth of being a webcam via HDMI capture). You can get a battery eliminator for the older a7 models -- while it does require additional hardware and hassle, they do work, and can run off of USB. The a7iii _finally_ supports some level of geotagging by using the GPS in your phone, and using a BLE connection to get location. It's not as good as a built in GPS, but it's better than recording a track log and syncing later.
rado 6y ago
RX100 VII on macOS 11 doesn't work with the recommended settings, quelle surprise from Sony software. The €9 capture card I read about here works perfectly and at higher res.
- vitorbaptistaa 6y ago
  Which capture card are you using? I couldn't find mentions to it in this thread.
  - rado 6y ago
    Not sure it has a name, but it looks like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-USB-Video-Capture-Card-1080P-For-Game-Live-Streaming-Portable-UK-Stock/363032735512 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-USB-Video-Capture-Card-10... It's fantastic, works anytime with no issues.
    - hbogert 6y ago
      I have a similar one [1] (they probably all use the same chip). Can't go wrong for the money. Just don't believe it's USB3 and can do 60fps output. [1]: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-USB-3-0-Video-Capture-Card-1080P-60fps-for-Live-Streaming-Broadcast/184348532350?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160323102634%26meid%3D9a14b17a27d845fc85fc8fa056117050%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D363032735512%26itm%3D184348532350%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-USB-3-0-Video-Capture-Car...
- terramex 6y ago
  a5100 on macOS 10.14.6 does not work too. Skype and Photo Booth do not detect camera at all, Google Meet sees video source but it contains only test pattern. I also tried to make it work on Windows VM with USB passthrough but no luck and in the end, just like you, I went with cheap capture card and that works great.
samatman 6y ago
Oh neat! I was just posting here[0] about my kind of clunky setup to run a Sony mirrorless as a webcam. I was teetering on the brink of buying a capture card, guess I'll delay that for awhile and kick the tires on the official app. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24743842 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24743842
threeseed 6y ago
This was stated in one of the pages: The resolution is 1,024 × 576 pixels. Which is not that impressive to say the least.
- samatman 6y ago
  Can Zoom &c even push higher resolutions? Serious question, I have no idea.
  - novok 6y ago
    Yes you can do 720p
heavymark 6y ago
When they originally announced the Windows version there was a lot of fine print such as the resolution being horribly low. I don't see that listed this time at least on this page, so was wondering if that was resolved, or just more hidden now? I use the 4K Cam Usb stick and get full resolution and works great with Sony A7Riv though ideally of course always nicer to have one less thing to plugin but sounds like this isn't meant to come close to competing with those options but rather just better than nothing?
- Eduard 6y ago
  They just hid the resolution constraint disclaimer one click away at the end of the [usage instructino / "how to use" guide](https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/webcam/en/instruction/index.php https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/webcam/en/instructi...): The resolution is 1,024 × 576 pixels.
atombender 6y ago
Is there a way to use this with MacBook Pro without having to invest in an expensive HDMI capture card? The cheapest (reputable) HDMI cards I can find are around $100, many are much more expensive, and they often have features I don't need. I just want a straight HDMI to USB-C.
- fakename 6y ago
  these cheapo hdmi capture cards work great: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-USB2-0-Video-Capture-Card-1080P-Recorder-Phone-Game-Video-Live-Streaming/402357649262 https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-USB2-0-Video-Capture-Card-1...
  - atombender 6y ago
    Thanks — but I'd need a USB-A to USB-C adapter to use that. Is there one for USB-C?
    - novok 6y ago
      At that price, it would be cheaper to just buy a $5 adapter and leave it on permanently
      - atombender 6y ago
        I just prefer to live adapter-free when possible. But I guess I may have to accept that I will have to use on here.
  - bschwindHN 6y ago
    Do those work at 1080p 60 FPS? It claims to support 4K 30 at least.
    - chrismorgan 6y ago
      Be careful as you read: that whole listing is dubious. The listing is actually covering three completely different products: firstly, an HDMI-to-USB-2.0 capture card (HDMI female, USB-A male). And secondly and thirdly, red USB-C– and Lightning-to-HDMI cables (USB-C/Lightning male, HDMI male, plus USB-A male for a power source), which I will call broadcast cards for the rest of this comment, for want of a better name. Leastways, I’m pretty sure they’re broadcast cards, though the text doesn’t mention anything at all about them (except possibly for one line, discussed below), and the images and single line description in the “Item” dropdown are hardly conclusive. The listing conveniently blurs the lines about what it’s talking about. The capture card claims to support 4K 30fps input. Not output. In the text, it says “Video Output Resolution: Max output can be 1080p (lightning cable)/ 4K (Type C cable)”. The mentions of Lightning and USB-C imply that this line is talking about the broadcast card… even though everything else in the listing is talking about the capture card (I think). I know the saying, “never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence”, but I can’t explain this with incompetence. I’ve got to attribute this to malice, >99% they’re flat-out lying to make the product sound better. Adding a USB-to-Lightning or USB-A–to–USB-C adapter can’t improve a product that’s limited to USB 2.0. There is certainly no 4K output on the capture card. So by this point, we know nothing about its output, save that they lied. 1080p seems the most likely reconstruction and reconciliation of the lie. One of the images (probably talking about the capture card) says “1920x 1080@30Hz”, but frankly I don’t believe this represents reality—even if it is mostly true, it’s certainly lying by omission. USB 2.0 simply isn’t capable of channelling full-quality video at that level (1920×1080, 3×8-bit channels, 30fps), so the only way they could hit that frame rate is by compression, meaning lowering the quality of the signal markedly. From my research, many report USB 2.0 HDMI capture cards having terrible image quality and not even hitting 30fps consistently. I have not actually purchased any myself to verify this one way or another, but I have found quite a few reports of these sorts of thing, some in reasonable technical depth, whereas I have not found a single technically-detailed review that looks favourably upon these units. So I say avoid USB 2.0 ones like the plague, because there’s simply not enough bandwidth for them to be good products. You’ll have better luck with USB 3.0 ones, and make sure that they explicitly say 1080p/60fps output. (There are 1080p/30fps USB 3.0 ones, but they seem to be commonly associated with complaints as well, so that I imagine they’ve been cutting corners severely; so even if 30fps is all you want, I suggest getting one that advertises 60fps output—that’s what I’ll be doing when I get one.)
pingec 6y ago
I wish ILCE-6000 was supported as well :-(
dmckinno 6y ago
It is possible to use any camera that can display its FOV on a computer screen as we webcam with OBS and OBS-VirtualCam. I've been using a Sony a6300 as a webcam for a few months now and it works great without any hardware beyond the USB cable between camera and computer.
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ekvintroj 6y ago
It's sad that the a6000 isn't there.
- hbogert 6y ago
  Just go the usb-capture-card route. Way better quality anyway for 10-15 €/$
mjsweet 6y ago
I have a Sony ZV-1. It took a bit to get it going but I'm now seeing the crispest image in OBS on a webcam that I have ever personally used. Coupled with the shallow depth of field with the ZV-1's fast(ish) lens it's a huge step up from my 2016 MBP 720p webcam.
- mjsweet 6y ago
  So far I have tested the following: Skype: "No device found" (laptop closed) Zoom: Only FaceTime HD Camera detected Quicktime: Captures only the Imaging Edge Webcam logo screen OBS: Works great - added a "Sony Camera" perfectly first time If anyone wants me to try something else, let me know.
  - ihuman 6y ago
    Here's the compatibility list for the mac obs webcam plugin. I wonder if Sony's driver has the same issues. https://github.com/johnboiles/obs-mac-virtualcam/wiki/Compatibility https://github.com/johnboiles/obs-mac-virtualcam/wiki/Compat...
    - mjsweet 6y ago
      OBS is the only app I have been able to get working so far.
    - mjsweet 6y ago
      I will definitely to this soon though... but it would be good to do quick Zoom meetings without using OBS.
herpderperator 6y ago
We should also look at addressing the issue of conferencing tools not actually being able to handle true high quality streams like you might get on Twitch or YouTube Live. My Canon EOS R and L lens may look great in 60fps through an HDMI capture card, but what point is there when it's still going to be a 24fps 360p[0] video stream on Zoom even if I choose the HD option? Sure, the pandemic is somewhat to blame[1], but I'm just using Zoom as an example. Google Meet goes up to 720p maximum.[2] Google Duo doesn't do 1080p unless you're on a Samsung S20. Not even Pixels suppoprt it.[3] WhatsApp does great 1080p video calls on your phone (I think? I haven't verified this), but you can't make video calls on desktop clients. Skype seems to be the only consumer-facing free cloud video conferencing tool that will do 1080p and look good, but I haven't tried in years -- the redesign and general clunkiness drove me (and everyone else, seemingly) away from it. I can't believe support for 1080p video calls in 2020 is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I stumbled upon TrueConf[4], and might give them a go with my setup to see if I can get an actual 2020-esque video call going between my family. TrueConf appears to be self-hosted, which I guess is why there's no restriction on quality (takes bandwidth and transcoding out of the picture for the service provider, so zero cost per call.) Although this may be great for me, it's certainly not for the average joe, so the aforementioned industry-wide issues still need to be addressed and quite frankly I find it embarrassing that we have such low quality video calls in 2020. [0] https://www.dropbox.com/s/h88yrdu2gu9kh59/zoom.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/h88yrdu2gu9kh59/zoom.png?dl=0 [1] https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207347086-Group-HD https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207347086-Group-HD [2] https://www.dropbox.com/s/u74x9g89mtts6ho/meet.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/u74x9g89mtts6ho/meet.png?dl=0 [3] https://www.gsmarena.com/google_duo_will_be_integrated_into_the_galaxy_s20s_dialer_supporting_1080p_video_calls-news-41490.php https://www.gsmarena.com/google_duo_will_be_integrated_into_... [4] https://trueconf.com/ https://trueconf.com/
- morsch 6y ago
  I think a self hosted Jitsi Meet can do 1080p, if configured right.
villgax 6y ago
Android & iOS also need this sorely!
alphachloride 6y ago
If you have Windows (or linux), you can use DroidCam[1] to turn your Android (or iPhone) into a web cam. It can be over Wifi or USB. Very convenient. Also integrates with OBS for streaming etc. [1]: https://www.dev47apps.com/ https://www.dev47apps.com/
chrismorgan 6y ago
I heard about this last week and tried it with my Sony α6100 on Windows. All of these sorts operate over PTP, roughly saying: “camera, please take a photo of what you see (but don’t save it to the SD card)” followed by “camera, please hand me that temporary file you just created”—30 times a second, and then serves the JPEGs in succession as an MJPEG. I know this is how it works because I was figuring out how this stuff worked a month or two back (Wireshark and all) with a view to creating a way of using it as a webcam. My camera only captures at 1024×576 this way. This is disappointing. I suspect that this resolution may have been chosen so that it could still serve 30fps over USB 2 (480Mbps, and 1024 width × 576 height × 24 bits × 30 frames = 405Mbps, though in practice JPEG compression is used so it’ll never be anywhere near this). I’m not sure how fast it actually does transfer over USB, but the one time I imported my photos to my computer over USB, it was vastly slower than just taking the SD card out and putting it in the Surface Book’s reader, which let me copy multi-gigabyte video files off at 2Gbps. (I’m still marvelling at that speed every time I do it.) Despite that low resolution, it will still look better than almost all laptop webcams at 1280×720 or even those at 1920×1080, because of superior optics. Another thing to be aware of is much higher latency—I observed a delay of 150–200ms, which is extremely not great. So my conclusion all up is that, at least for the α6100, this is not suitable for serious use. I guided someone last week to using https://ptpwebcam.org/ https://ptpwebcam.org/ on their Mac last week (having come across it in my earlier research), and he reported getting a much better resolution with his Nikon camera than with his Sony camera. Not sure about latency, I didn’t ask. The alternative in all this is HDMI capture cards. Unfortunately, decent ones are moderately expensive—but then, you bought a DSLR or mirrorless camera, so you’re clearly not afraid of spending money, even if it is a pity that you have to spend more when USB really should be quite capable. I haven’t acquired one yet (I’m in India at present, and the options available are extremely limited, though curiously far wider today than they were two months ago, when there basically weren’t any below US$200), but from my research I say this: do not get one of the cheapest ones that advertise USB 2.0 operation, 1080p and maybe mention 30fps. It’s genuinely impossible for them to actually achieve this as they should: 1080p of 24-bit colour at 30fps is 1400Mbps, which is treble the theoretical limit of USB 2.0, and I’m not sure what the practical speed limit of USB 2.0 is, but it’s typically quite a bit lower than that. So in short they must be lying and sacrificing image quality and/or frame rate. Reviews of such capture cards are pretty consistently a mixed bunch with some saying “sure, it works fine” and others saying “no, this is terrible and unusable, don’t buy it, it was a waste of money”, sometimes with proper technical detail of where it fell short. Instead, seek as a minimum one that advertises USB 3.0, 1080p and 30fps (and make sure it actually says all three of these things, it’s muddy ground where there seem to be some that don’t say or consistently achieve 30fps). There are still various options a lot cheaper than popular known-reliable units like the Elgato Cam Link. I’m not sure what latency is like if you use an HDMI capture card, but I’m guessing it’ll still be enough (2–4 frames at 30fps) that you might want to fiddle with latency compensation if you’re using something like OBS Studio, to align your audio and video sources.
iamben 6y ago
Anyone know whether the original RX100 is supported? It doesn't look like it from the list.
- dddw 6y ago
  >rx100m3 i have a m2 No dice it seems

106 points by asimpletune 6y ago

scoot 6y ago

*Some Sony cameras

BasicObject 6y ago

Anyone know if an A7III can be used as a webcam on gnu/linux?

thisisben 6y ago
I documented the process for using a DSLR as a webcam in Linux, and it does look like the A7III _should_ be supported: 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...

mdorazio 6y ago

Serious question - do Mac users just not use HDMI to USB capture devices? I got mine for $10 off eBay [1] and it works great with my Sony camera (RX100 IV) with zero new drivers required on PC[2]. [1] https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-USB-2-0-Video-Capture-Card-1080P-HD-Recorder-Game-Video-Live-Streaming/184350601059 https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-USB-2-0-Video-Capture-Card-... [2] It's limited to 1080p, which is more than I need from a webcam.

detaro 6y ago
This is not only for Mac. Also, you really don't see a value in a camera supporting that without buying extra hardware, even if its cheap?
- mdorazio 6y ago
  I see the value, but 1) this is a solution for a problem that's been cheaply solvable for years via brand-independent options, and 2) I find it kind of funny that people who strongly care about buying extra hardware/dongles would use Apple products...
fakename 6y ago
My camera (the a6000) isn't supported by this software, so I've been very happy with my $12 hdmi capture card, weird proprietary HDMI cable and dummy battery.
- novok 6y ago
  micro-hdmi is about as proprietary as micro-usb The dummy battery is what annoys me the most, since it means you have to swap out a battery every time you want to use the camera, vs just pull out 2 cables.
- baldeagle 6y ago
  I hate having to press the ‘play’ button every time. Is there a solve for that?
DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
Isn't there really bad lag inherent in that process though? (My only source is personal experience with a HDMI-to-USB3 capture device with ~200ms+ lag - about 6-7 years ago) If you want a good quality camera for Zoom/Facetime/etc anything over ~32ms would be grating - especially if you're using an external microphone attached directly to the computer.
ornel 6y ago
I got one of those capture devices and connected a Lumix G7. Plug and play in Linux. Now I'm using OBS with v4l2loopback to have greater control, crop, etc. Nobody cares or notices the nearly half second delay. And nobody notices the bokeh and nice colors either :(

m463 6y ago

I've plugged lots of webcams into a mac and they just work. I think apple must use a standard protocol. chances are they work on mac, they'll work on linux too.

Bishonen88 6y ago
This is a software for DSLR's/mirrorless and other 'Full-fledged' cameras, not webcams. Macbooks do not have an hdmi in, and passing video through usb wasn't a standard for those cameras until lately (and still isn't). So macbook or windows didn't matter in this case.
floatingatoll 6y ago
It's a custom driver for Mac, so it will not just work without additional driver support of some sort. There is a standard USB webcam protocol, which the cameras' firmware does not implement, in favor of this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24793187 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24793187

fudged71 6y ago

Seems like a very limited selection of A-mounts, sadly

Ambroos 6y ago
The A mount is practically dead, it's been surpassed by the full frame E-mount. Only somewhat recent Sony cameras are supported by the webcam driver, and there simply aren't many recent A-mount cameras.

fossuser 6y ago

It's kind of wild to me how there's such a product vacuum for this stuff. I've dug around and the only real option is an HDMI capture card paired with a decent camera (I read this Sony software option is lower quality, but at least it's progress). LG camera setups target businesses and are generally overpriced crap (I have one - the LG meetup) with proprietary connections and mediocre cameras, and crappy mics/software. The Facebook Portal is a magnitude better and 10% of the price, but it's FB - they do support zoom now though so that's a decent option. Computer webcams top out at not very good logitech USB devices. You'd think there would be a high-end market targeting streamers with computer cameras focused just on that in-between the mirrorless/DSLRs for photography. I'd love to see better products in this space: - High quality camera for videochat that can be connected to a computer. - High quality camera/mic that can be attached to a TV. - Dumb TV, high quality panel, that starts up fast, has a lot of ports, no internet connection, with a remote designed by someone who thought for 5min about what buttons are required this century. A dumb TV with a high quality camera mic setup might be interesting - plug in a mac mini and be good to go.

ValentineC 6y ago
This might be for different uses, but I'd rather Apple bring their iPhone front camera to the MacBooks. It's crazy that MacBook cameras still top out at 720p.
- dylan604 6y ago
  That still misses the point. People want the look of a larger sensor that the tiny ones in a phone's camera. Shallow depth of field, different lenses, filters, etc that a fixed lens fixed aperture lens on a small sensor does not allow.
  - rektide 6y ago
    I'd cite portrait mode as counter-example. The optics are irrelevant if the software can emulate the look. And thus far, from what I understand, portrait mode systems have not had to use the depth sensors/lidar that's available!!! I would be very wary of assuming the larger format optics are necessary or helpful! The look can be done. There are some advantages retained by the larger sensor but it's a category that will shrink.

floatingatoll 6y ago

Mac support is implemented using a CoreMediaIO plugin, hinting that they are not updating the camera firmware to speak USB webcam, which prevents driverless use of the device: /Library/CoreMediaIO/Plug-Ins/DAL/ImagingEdgeWebcam.plugin Could someone with a Sony camera please verify on macOS 10.15 (with ASR enabled) whether this webcam support is usable from within Apple's desktop FaceTime app? What protocol version and speed of USB does it negotiate with the computer, assuming you're using a modern USB cable and not the one it shipped with? That plugin contains `LjAdapter`, the same name used on both Mac and Win, and specifically `Lja_PTP_USB.dylib/dll` — hinting that they've written a convertor that takes in USB Picture-to-Picture protocol and writes out USB Web Camera protocol. I get the distinct impression that this is a list of USB device IDs. Those of you who know how to spoof USB manufacturer and device IDs may want to try spoofing any random off-the-shelf USB PTP webcam with one of these and see if you can use this library to speak to it. [Dev:%lx] 0x0CCC, 0x0C43, 0x0D2B, 0x0D18, 0x0D1C, 0xD9F, 0x0DA3

asimpletune 6y ago
I tried it and I haven’t been able to use it for literally anything.
- floatingatoll 6y ago
  Thank you for confirming that.
- seltzered_ 6y ago
  I just tried it as well and haven't had luck. Tried doing this: - installing the linked 'imaging edge webcam' software. - restarting - hooking up my sony camera (it's compatible per the list) over usb - opening Quicktime Player, going to "new movie recording", selecting "Sony Camera (Imaging Edge)" - Instead see a logo for the software (instead of the camera output) but no connection. Tried futzing with opening camera in Movie mode, AUTO, with/without SD card, etc. Dear Sony, if you're reading this please take your time and do the approach the parent commenter suggested of updating the camera firmware so it can act as a true USB webcam. I expect the experience to be more along the lines of: - Plug in USB - See mode selection screen on camera (you already have this). - Select 'Webcam' - Things just work.

jseliger 6y ago

It's fascinating to watch the camera companies slowly catch up to where Elgato was years ago; their failure to "think beyond the box" may help explains why camera sales peaked around 2012 and have been falling ever since. Don't get me wrong: I still have a standalone Fuji camera, but I'm unusually interested in photo aesthetics. For most people, ease of use and convenience wins, and that it took this long for Sony to release software to enable this pretty obvious functionality explains what's wrong with most of the big camera companies.

novok 6y ago
Camera companies are stuck in some sort of car company stagnation loop it feels like, limiting themselves as pro tools. The only one approaching innovations was samsung, and they peaced out years ago. * No touch-id in the shutter button * No cell phone connectivity / android app support to instantly share your photos to insta, fb, etc & to sync as you go. * No ordering prints right in the camera * No google pixel / iOS quality level HDR & night sight modes * No GPS * No braindead obvious webcam mode * Most can't run off a usb cable indefinitely, unlike smartphones * etc
- synackrst 6y ago
  This is slowly changing, at least with some of the high-end consumer/prosumer Sony cameras. I'd like to see some of the other features in your list added, but Sony's past slowness to add features doesn't inspire much hope that they will be added any time soon. All of the recent (4+ years) cameras have a "share to mobile" feature, where the camera acts as an AP, and your phone connects to pull photos from it. You can either pick the photos to transfer on the camera or on the phone, and it works pretty well for posting to social media, or instantly sharing. I've run the RX100M3/M5 and a7iii off of USB power forever (a full day's worth of being a webcam via HDMI capture). You can get a battery eliminator for the older a7 models -- while it does require additional hardware and hassle, they do work, and can run off of USB. The a7iii _finally_ supports some level of geotagging by using the GPS in your phone, and using a BLE connection to get location. It's not as good as a built in GPS, but it's better than recording a track log and syncing later.

rado 6y ago

RX100 VII on macOS 11 doesn't work with the recommended settings, quelle surprise from Sony software. The €9 capture card I read about here works perfectly and at higher res.

vitorbaptistaa 6y ago
Which capture card are you using? I couldn't find mentions to it in this thread.
- rado 6y ago
  Not sure it has a name, but it looks like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-USB-Video-Capture-Card-1080P-For-Game-Live-Streaming-Portable-UK-Stock/363032735512 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-USB-Video-Capture-Card-10... It's fantastic, works anytime with no issues.
  - hbogert 6y ago
    I have a similar one [1] (they probably all use the same chip). Can't go wrong for the money. Just don't believe it's USB3 and can do 60fps output. [1]: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-USB-3-0-Video-Capture-Card-1080P-60fps-for-Live-Streaming-Broadcast/184348532350?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160323102634%26meid%3D9a14b17a27d845fc85fc8fa056117050%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D363032735512%26itm%3D184348532350%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-USB-3-0-Video-Capture-Car...
terramex 6y ago
a5100 on macOS 10.14.6 does not work too. Skype and Photo Booth do not detect camera at all, Google Meet sees video source but it contains only test pattern. I also tried to make it work on Windows VM with USB passthrough but no luck and in the end, just like you, I went with cheap capture card and that works great.

samatman 6y ago

Oh neat! I was just posting here[0] about my kind of clunky setup to run a Sony mirrorless as a webcam. I was teetering on the brink of buying a capture card, guess I'll delay that for awhile and kick the tires on the official app. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24743842 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24743842

threeseed 6y ago

This was stated in one of the pages: The resolution is 1,024 × 576 pixels. Which is not that impressive to say the least.

samatman 6y ago
Can Zoom &c even push higher resolutions? Serious question, I have no idea.
- novok 6y ago
  Yes you can do 720p

heavymark 6y ago

When they originally announced the Windows version there was a lot of fine print such as the resolution being horribly low. I don't see that listed this time at least on this page, so was wondering if that was resolved, or just more hidden now? I use the 4K Cam Usb stick and get full resolution and works great with Sony A7Riv though ideally of course always nicer to have one less thing to plugin but sounds like this isn't meant to come close to competing with those options but rather just better than nothing?

Eduard 6y ago
They just hid the resolution constraint disclaimer one click away at the end of the [usage instructino / "how to use" guide](https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/webcam/en/instruction/index.php https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/webcam/en/instructi...): The resolution is 1,024 × 576 pixels.

atombender 6y ago

Is there a way to use this with MacBook Pro without having to invest in an expensive HDMI capture card? The cheapest (reputable) HDMI cards I can find are around $100, many are much more expensive, and they often have features I don't need. I just want a straight HDMI to USB-C.

fakename 6y ago
these cheapo hdmi capture cards work great: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-USB2-0-Video-Capture-Card-1080P-Recorder-Phone-Game-Video-Live-Streaming/402357649262 https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-USB2-0-Video-Capture-Card-1...
- atombender 6y ago
  Thanks — but I'd need a USB-A to USB-C adapter to use that. Is there one for USB-C?
  - novok 6y ago
    At that price, it would be cheaper to just buy a $5 adapter and leave it on permanently
    - atombender 6y ago
      I just prefer to live adapter-free when possible. But I guess I may have to accept that I will have to use on here.
- bschwindHN 6y ago
  Do those work at 1080p 60 FPS? It claims to support 4K 30 at least.
  - chrismorgan 6y ago
    Be careful as you read: that whole listing is dubious. The listing is actually covering three completely different products: firstly, an HDMI-to-USB-2.0 capture card (HDMI female, USB-A male). And secondly and thirdly, red USB-C– and Lightning-to-HDMI cables (USB-C/Lightning male, HDMI male, plus USB-A male for a power source), which I will call broadcast cards for the rest of this comment, for want of a better name. Leastways, I’m pretty sure they’re broadcast cards, though the text doesn’t mention anything at all about them (except possibly for one line, discussed below), and the images and single line description in the “Item” dropdown are hardly conclusive. The listing conveniently blurs the lines about what it’s talking about. The capture card claims to support 4K 30fps input. Not output. In the text, it says “Video Output Resolution: Max output can be 1080p (lightning cable)/ 4K (Type C cable)”. The mentions of Lightning and USB-C imply that this line is talking about the broadcast card… even though everything else in the listing is talking about the capture card (I think). I know the saying, “never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence”, but I can’t explain this with incompetence. I’ve got to attribute this to malice, >99% they’re flat-out lying to make the product sound better. Adding a USB-to-Lightning or USB-A–to–USB-C adapter can’t improve a product that’s limited to USB 2.0. There is certainly no 4K output on the capture card. So by this point, we know nothing about its output, save that they lied. 1080p seems the most likely reconstruction and reconciliation of the lie. One of the images (probably talking about the capture card) says “1920x 1080@30Hz”, but frankly I don’t believe this represents reality—even if it is mostly true, it’s certainly lying by omission. USB 2.0 simply isn’t capable of channelling full-quality video at that level (1920×1080, 3×8-bit channels, 30fps), so the only way they could hit that frame rate is by compression, meaning lowering the quality of the signal markedly. From my research, many report USB 2.0 HDMI capture cards having terrible image quality and not even hitting 30fps consistently. I have not actually purchased any myself to verify this one way or another, but I have found quite a few reports of these sorts of thing, some in reasonable technical depth, whereas I have not found a single technically-detailed review that looks favourably upon these units. So I say avoid USB 2.0 ones like the plague, because there’s simply not enough bandwidth for them to be good products. You’ll have better luck with USB 3.0 ones, and make sure that they explicitly say 1080p/60fps output. (There are 1080p/30fps USB 3.0 ones, but they seem to be commonly associated with complaints as well, so that I imagine they’ve been cutting corners severely; so even if 30fps is all you want, I suggest getting one that advertises 60fps output—that’s what I’ll be doing when I get one.)

pingec 6y ago

I wish ILCE-6000 was supported as well :-(

dmckinno 6y ago

It is possible to use any camera that can display its FOV on a computer screen as we webcam with OBS and OBS-VirtualCam. I've been using a Sony a6300 as a webcam for a few months now and it works great without any hardware beyond the USB cable between camera and computer.

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ekvintroj 6y ago

It's sad that the a6000 isn't there.

hbogert 6y ago
Just go the usb-capture-card route. Way better quality anyway for 10-15 €/$

mjsweet 6y ago

I have a Sony ZV-1. It took a bit to get it going but I'm now seeing the crispest image in OBS on a webcam that I have ever personally used. Coupled with the shallow depth of field with the ZV-1's fast(ish) lens it's a huge step up from my 2016 MBP 720p webcam.

mjsweet 6y ago
So far I have tested the following: Skype: "No device found" (laptop closed) Zoom: Only FaceTime HD Camera detected Quicktime: Captures only the Imaging Edge Webcam logo screen OBS: Works great - added a "Sony Camera" perfectly first time If anyone wants me to try something else, let me know.
- ihuman 6y ago
  Here's the compatibility list for the mac obs webcam plugin. I wonder if Sony's driver has the same issues. https://github.com/johnboiles/obs-mac-virtualcam/wiki/Compatibility https://github.com/johnboiles/obs-mac-virtualcam/wiki/Compat...
  - mjsweet 6y ago
    OBS is the only app I have been able to get working so far.
  - mjsweet 6y ago
    I will definitely to this soon though... but it would be good to do quick Zoom meetings without using OBS.

herpderperator 6y ago

We should also look at addressing the issue of conferencing tools not actually being able to handle true high quality streams like you might get on Twitch or YouTube Live. My Canon EOS R and L lens may look great in 60fps through an HDMI capture card, but what point is there when it's still going to be a 24fps 360p[0] video stream on Zoom even if I choose the HD option? Sure, the pandemic is somewhat to blame[1], but I'm just using Zoom as an example. Google Meet goes up to 720p maximum.[2] Google Duo doesn't do 1080p unless you're on a Samsung S20. Not even Pixels suppoprt it.[3] WhatsApp does great 1080p video calls on your phone (I think? I haven't verified this), but you can't make video calls on desktop clients. Skype seems to be the only consumer-facing free cloud video conferencing tool that will do 1080p and look good, but I haven't tried in years -- the redesign and general clunkiness drove me (and everyone else, seemingly) away from it. I can't believe support for 1080p video calls in 2020 is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I stumbled upon TrueConf[4], and might give them a go with my setup to see if I can get an actual 2020-esque video call going between my family. TrueConf appears to be self-hosted, which I guess is why there's no restriction on quality (takes bandwidth and transcoding out of the picture for the service provider, so zero cost per call.) Although this may be great for me, it's certainly not for the average joe, so the aforementioned industry-wide issues still need to be addressed and quite frankly I find it embarrassing that we have such low quality video calls in 2020. [0] https://www.dropbox.com/s/h88yrdu2gu9kh59/zoom.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/h88yrdu2gu9kh59/zoom.png?dl=0 [1] https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207347086-Group-HD https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207347086-Group-HD [2] https://www.dropbox.com/s/u74x9g89mtts6ho/meet.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/u74x9g89mtts6ho/meet.png?dl=0 [3] https://www.gsmarena.com/google_duo_will_be_integrated_into_the_galaxy_s20s_dialer_supporting_1080p_video_calls-news-41490.php https://www.gsmarena.com/google_duo_will_be_integrated_into_... [4] https://trueconf.com/ https://trueconf.com/

morsch 6y ago
I think a self hosted Jitsi Meet can do 1080p, if configured right.

villgax 6y ago

Android & iOS also need this sorely!

alphachloride 6y ago

If you have Windows (or linux), you can use DroidCam[1] to turn your Android (or iPhone) into a web cam. It can be over Wifi or USB. Very convenient. Also integrates with OBS for streaming etc. [1]: https://www.dev47apps.com/ https://www.dev47apps.com/

chrismorgan 6y ago

I heard about this last week and tried it with my Sony α6100 on Windows. All of these sorts operate over PTP, roughly saying: “camera, please take a photo of what you see (but don’t save it to the SD card)” followed by “camera, please hand me that temporary file you just created”—30 times a second, and then serves the JPEGs in succession as an MJPEG. I know this is how it works because I was figuring out how this stuff worked a month or two back (Wireshark and all) with a view to creating a way of using it as a webcam. My camera only captures at 1024×576 this way. This is disappointing. I suspect that this resolution may have been chosen so that it could still serve 30fps over USB 2 (480Mbps, and 1024 width × 576 height × 24 bits × 30 frames = 405Mbps, though in practice JPEG compression is used so it’ll never be anywhere near this). I’m not sure how fast it actually does transfer over USB, but the one time I imported my photos to my computer over USB, it was vastly slower than just taking the SD card out and putting it in the Surface Book’s reader, which let me copy multi-gigabyte video files off at 2Gbps. (I’m still marvelling at that speed every time I do it.) Despite that low resolution, it will still look better than almost all laptop webcams at 1280×720 or even those at 1920×1080, because of superior optics. Another thing to be aware of is much higher latency—I observed a delay of 150–200ms, which is extremely not great. So my conclusion all up is that, at least for the α6100, this is not suitable for serious use. I guided someone last week to using https://ptpwebcam.org/ https://ptpwebcam.org/ on their Mac last week (having come across it in my earlier research), and he reported getting a much better resolution with his Nikon camera than with his Sony camera. Not sure about latency, I didn’t ask. The alternative in all this is HDMI capture cards. Unfortunately, decent ones are moderately expensive—but then, you bought a DSLR or mirrorless camera, so you’re clearly not afraid of spending money, even if it is a pity that you have to spend more when USB really should be quite capable. I haven’t acquired one yet (I’m in India at present, and the options available are extremely limited, though curiously far wider today than they were two months ago, when there basically weren’t any below US$200), but from my research I say this: do not get one of the cheapest ones that advertise USB 2.0 operation, 1080p and maybe mention 30fps. It’s genuinely impossible for them to actually achieve this as they should: 1080p of 24-bit colour at 30fps is 1400Mbps, which is treble the theoretical limit of USB 2.0, and I’m not sure what the practical speed limit of USB 2.0 is, but it’s typically quite a bit lower than that. So in short they must be lying and sacrificing image quality and/or frame rate. Reviews of such capture cards are pretty consistently a mixed bunch with some saying “sure, it works fine” and others saying “no, this is terrible and unusable, don’t buy it, it was a waste of money”, sometimes with proper technical detail of where it fell short. Instead, seek as a minimum one that advertises USB 3.0, 1080p and 30fps (and make sure it actually says all three of these things, it’s muddy ground where there seem to be some that don’t say or consistently achieve 30fps). There are still various options a lot cheaper than popular known-reliable units like the Elgato Cam Link. I’m not sure what latency is like if you use an HDMI capture card, but I’m guessing it’ll still be enough (2–4 frames at 30fps) that you might want to fiddle with latency compensation if you’re using something like OBS Studio, to align your audio and video sources.

iamben 6y ago

Anyone know whether the original RX100 is supported? It doesn't look like it from the list.

dddw 6y ago
>rx100m3 i have a m2 No dice it seems