6 ms·

Yeah I think they’d sell instantly. I looked all over for one and it doesn’t exist. The mirrorless camera solution sucks because there’s not an obvious winner

Yeah I think they’d sell instantly. I looked all over for one and it doesn’t exist. The mirrorless camera solution sucks because there’s not an obvious winner there either (and you usually need a capture card/camlink to convert the output from the camera). The room scale ones like the LG meetup are overpriced and generally awful, the PTZ versions from them are even more expensive, use proprietary connectors for the mics and require a host of unnecessary external boxes. The Facebook portal TV is a great product for most people, but I just want something like that I can plug into a PC. There’s a vacuum in this market. The current options are either low quality, overpriced enterprise stuff or dealing with the hassle of a mirror less cam setup.

novok 6y ago
I personally wouldn't want to start in this market, because by the time anything could reasonably ship the COVID vaccine has been distributed enough and most people won't care that much anymore.
- wyclif 6y ago
  I don't think WFH and remote work are going away though, even if COVID does.
  - novok 6y ago
    I think the demand for it will tamper down quite a bit although, and there are still many traditional places that aren't tech that are itching to get people back into offices.
iamatworknow 6y ago
>and you usually need a capture card/camlink to convert the output from the camera Early on in the pandemic the major mirrorless camera providers (I believe at least Sony[1], Fujifilm[2], Canon[3], and Nikon[4]) all released software that lets you use any of their relatively recent cameras as webcams with the regular USB transfer/charging cable. A separate capture card is no longer a necessity. [1] https://imagingedge.sony.net/en-us/ie-webcam.html https://imagingedge.sony.net/en-us/ie-webcam.html [2] https://fujifilm-x.com/global/products/software/x-webcam/ https://fujifilm-x.com/global/products/software/x-webcam/ [3] https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/self-help-center/eos-webcam-utility/ https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/se... [4] https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/548/Webcam_Utility.html https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/548/Webca...
- fossuser 6y ago
  From what I had read at the time (may be better now) that software was bad and the low quality output from it negated most of the benefits of going with the mirrorless setup in the first place.
  - iamatworknow 6y ago
    That's possible, but as others in the comments have mentioned it may be more people with bad lighting/positioning who just decided it was the camera/USB software that was faulty. Still, maybe it does suck. I never tried any of these programs myself because all of my cameras are just slightly too old to work with them.
    - fossuser 6y ago
      The people I learned this from were professional YouTube people who have high quality lighting - it was the software.
- kylecordes 6y ago
  As I understand these are all awful in their own way, typically with quality problems and extra latency as well as the extra complexity of the software. The obvious solution is a camera mode in which it presents itself over USB as a webcam… As far as I know no "real" camera at any price does this. I solve the problem with a Camlink, but it really should not be necessary.
  - rossjudson 6y ago
    I use a camlink 4k/nikon d610 and a Movo UM700. Great color and low-light performance, with natural bokeh, far superior to software background blur solutions. Now, I'm not sure it's a great idea to actually present myself in such find detail ;). But it was fun to set up.
  - spyspy 6y ago
    My Sony a6500 has been perfectly fine with my macbook since Sony released the new drivers. I haven't noticed any latency and love getting compliments from zoom peeps on the non-AI blur I get with my 16mm f1.4 lens.
notjtrig 6y ago
The best solution I've found is using a app like ManyCam on both your phone and desktop to transmit the A/V stream to the computer and emulate a webcam. Has a ton of benefits like being able to adjust the picture, filters, switching webcams, being able to play videos for people, screen sharing.
wyclif 6y ago
Let's say you have a Mac. What hardware/software do you need other than the tripod to get a good mirrorless camera setup? I notice a lot of pro YouTubers use setups like this, but I'm not a photography guy so I don't know much about this.
- fossuser 6y ago
  You need something like the elgato camlink 4k and a camera that supports clean hdmi out. That’s it - the software options today are bad.

novok 6y ago

I personally wouldn't want to start in this market, because by the time anything could reasonably ship the COVID vaccine has been distributed enough and most people won't care that much anymore.

wyclif 6y ago
I don't think WFH and remote work are going away though, even if COVID does.
- novok 6y ago
  I think the demand for it will tamper down quite a bit although, and there are still many traditional places that aren't tech that are itching to get people back into offices.

iamatworknow 6y ago

>and you usually need a capture card/camlink to convert the output from the camera Early on in the pandemic the major mirrorless camera providers (I believe at least Sony[1], Fujifilm[2], Canon[3], and Nikon[4]) all released software that lets you use any of their relatively recent cameras as webcams with the regular USB transfer/charging cable. A separate capture card is no longer a necessity. [1] https://imagingedge.sony.net/en-us/ie-webcam.html https://imagingedge.sony.net/en-us/ie-webcam.html [2] https://fujifilm-x.com/global/products/software/x-webcam/ https://fujifilm-x.com/global/products/software/x-webcam/ [3] https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/self-help-center/eos-webcam-utility/ https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/se... [4] https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/548/Webcam_Utility.html https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/548/Webca...

fossuser 6y ago
From what I had read at the time (may be better now) that software was bad and the low quality output from it negated most of the benefits of going with the mirrorless setup in the first place.
- iamatworknow 6y ago
  That's possible, but as others in the comments have mentioned it may be more people with bad lighting/positioning who just decided it was the camera/USB software that was faulty. Still, maybe it does suck. I never tried any of these programs myself because all of my cameras are just slightly too old to work with them.
  - fossuser 6y ago
    The people I learned this from were professional YouTube people who have high quality lighting - it was the software.
kylecordes 6y ago
As I understand these are all awful in their own way, typically with quality problems and extra latency as well as the extra complexity of the software. The obvious solution is a camera mode in which it presents itself over USB as a webcam… As far as I know no "real" camera at any price does this. I solve the problem with a Camlink, but it really should not be necessary.
- rossjudson 6y ago
  I use a camlink 4k/nikon d610 and a Movo UM700. Great color and low-light performance, with natural bokeh, far superior to software background blur solutions. Now, I'm not sure it's a great idea to actually present myself in such find detail ;). But it was fun to set up.
- spyspy 6y ago
  My Sony a6500 has been perfectly fine with my macbook since Sony released the new drivers. I haven't noticed any latency and love getting compliments from zoom peeps on the non-AI blur I get with my 16mm f1.4 lens.

notjtrig 6y ago

The best solution I've found is using a app like ManyCam on both your phone and desktop to transmit the A/V stream to the computer and emulate a webcam. Has a ton of benefits like being able to adjust the picture, filters, switching webcams, being able to play videos for people, screen sharing.

wyclif 6y ago

Let's say you have a Mac. What hardware/software do you need other than the tripod to get a good mirrorless camera setup? I notice a lot of pro YouTubers use setups like this, but I'm not a photography guy so I don't know much about this.

fossuser 6y ago
You need something like the elgato camlink 4k and a camera that supports clean hdmi out. That’s it - the software options today are bad.