10 ms·

Seems like a good way to get a decent quality webcam as well. On Android at least you can use DroidCam to turn your connected device into a webcam. Surprisingly

by tdeck 6y ago

Seems like a good way to get a decent quality webcam as well. On Android at least you can use DroidCam to turn your connected device into a webcam. Surprisingly it even works on Linux: https://www.dev47apps.com/ https://www.dev47apps.com/

harikb 6y ago
Unfortunately, doesn't work for Macs. Not that Mac camera is bad, but this would have been usable as a better way to position the camera on to the external monitor using an old Android phone
- falcolas 6y ago
  I can’t recall the name of the software off hand, but you can use your iPhone as an external camera for your Mac. EDIT Looks like there’s a couple of options, for example EpocCam.
  - darkteflon 6y ago
    Doesn’t work with FaceTime, unfortunately.
  - apancik 6y ago
    I've been using this method with pretty good result: https://github.com/apancik/iphone-as-a-webcam https://github.com/apancik/iphone-as-a-webcam
    - vestrigi 6y ago
      Thank you very much, this is exactly the satisfactory solution I haven't found when I was looking for it before! I expected that the iPhones screen recording was only available in Quicktime and not for third-party apps like OBS. Going to try it out soon with an old iPhone 5, I hope it supports streaming video from the camera in the browser.
  - darrenf 6y ago
    For paid software with which I have no affiliation beyond being a happy customer, there’s Reincubate Camo: https://reincubate.com/camo/ https://reincubate.com/camo/
- spijdar 6y ago
  While I'm not sure I'd call it "bad", the webcams on even the 2019 MBPs (last I've personally tried) were kind of overwhelmingly mediocre. The front and rear cameras on basically all the android phones I've used in 6 years are all much, much clearer than the mac's built in webcam.
  - PurpleFoxy 6y ago
    I was kinda shocked to see how poor the MacBook camera was considering how good the front facing camera is on the iPhone. Then I realised that on the MacBook it only ever gets used for video calls which will get compressed to 200x150px while the iPhone front facing camera is mostly for selfies
    - johnwalkr 6y ago
      The M1 macs apparently use the same or similar camera used since 2011, albeit with better image processing, which is kind of disappointing.
    - saagarjha 6y ago
      MacBook lids are really thin.
- Foivos 6y ago
  Since apple is so proud of their ecosystem, I still can not understand, why I can not use an iPhone as a web cam for a Mac without third party software. Especially after one year of work from home.
  - retox 6y ago
    I've seen a handful of streamers use phones (admittedly premium Android phones, not iPhones) and they tend to overhead after an hour or two indoors.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - chrisweekly 6y ago
    Agreed -- but I also have to say, setting up OBS to use your iPhone as a virtual camera is pretty trivial.
ACow_Adonis 6y ago
I've been using droidcam as my webcam on linux during the pandemic. For mounting, i went even simpler than the article. Since I had a kid, I've got a tonne of these things: https://www.kmart.com.au/product/outlet-plug-covers---pack-of-24/612323 https://www.kmart.com.au/product/outlet-plug-covers---pack-o... I simply stuck two of them together: back to back. So there's three prongs facing down and three prongs facing up. The downward prongs hook over the top of the monitor, and the upward prongs hold the phone. A bit of blu tack to absolutely make sure everything stays in place and remains level, and for the cost of the license (which is diddly squat) I've got a higher-quality streaming device than most of my colleagues that comes off my monitor whenever I need it to and has seen me through the pandemic.
acd 6y ago
Actually if you turn the cellphone and use the back photo camera, will beat most any webcam in quality. Simple hack that should be good for quality.
- StavrosK 6y ago
  It does work excellently, but the latency isn't great (about 100 ms, IIRC).
otterpro 6y ago
I also recommend EpocCam (https://www.elgato.com/en/epoccam https://www.elgato.com/en/epoccam) as it has almost no latency and high quality, compared to Droidcam. You can see it on EposVox's review on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOTvGmmDUE&list=WL&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOTvGmmDUE&list=WL&index=2)

by tdeck 6y ago

harikb 6y ago

Unfortunately, doesn't work for Macs. Not that Mac camera is bad, but this would have been usable as a better way to position the camera on to the external monitor using an old Android phone

falcolas 6y ago
I can’t recall the name of the software off hand, but you can use your iPhone as an external camera for your Mac. EDIT Looks like there’s a couple of options, for example EpocCam.
- darkteflon 6y ago
  Doesn’t work with FaceTime, unfortunately.
- apancik 6y ago
  I've been using this method with pretty good result: https://github.com/apancik/iphone-as-a-webcam https://github.com/apancik/iphone-as-a-webcam
  - vestrigi 6y ago
    Thank you very much, this is exactly the satisfactory solution I haven't found when I was looking for it before! I expected that the iPhones screen recording was only available in Quicktime and not for third-party apps like OBS. Going to try it out soon with an old iPhone 5, I hope it supports streaming video from the camera in the browser.
- darrenf 6y ago
  For paid software with which I have no affiliation beyond being a happy customer, there’s Reincubate Camo: https://reincubate.com/camo/ https://reincubate.com/camo/
spijdar 6y ago
While I'm not sure I'd call it "bad", the webcams on even the 2019 MBPs (last I've personally tried) were kind of overwhelmingly mediocre. The front and rear cameras on basically all the android phones I've used in 6 years are all much, much clearer than the mac's built in webcam.
- PurpleFoxy 6y ago
  I was kinda shocked to see how poor the MacBook camera was considering how good the front facing camera is on the iPhone. Then I realised that on the MacBook it only ever gets used for video calls which will get compressed to 200x150px while the iPhone front facing camera is mostly for selfies
  - johnwalkr 6y ago
    The M1 macs apparently use the same or similar camera used since 2011, albeit with better image processing, which is kind of disappointing.
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    MacBook lids are really thin.
Foivos 6y ago
Since apple is so proud of their ecosystem, I still can not understand, why I can not use an iPhone as a web cam for a Mac without third party software. Especially after one year of work from home.
- retox 6y ago
  I've seen a handful of streamers use phones (admittedly premium Android phones, not iPhones) and they tend to overhead after an hour or two indoors.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- chrisweekly 6y ago
  Agreed -- but I also have to say, setting up OBS to use your iPhone as a virtual camera is pretty trivial.

ACow_Adonis 6y ago

I've been using droidcam as my webcam on linux during the pandemic. For mounting, i went even simpler than the article. Since I had a kid, I've got a tonne of these things: https://www.kmart.com.au/product/outlet-plug-covers---pack-of-24/612323 https://www.kmart.com.au/product/outlet-plug-covers---pack-o... I simply stuck two of them together: back to back. So there's three prongs facing down and three prongs facing up. The downward prongs hook over the top of the monitor, and the upward prongs hold the phone. A bit of blu tack to absolutely make sure everything stays in place and remains level, and for the cost of the license (which is diddly squat) I've got a higher-quality streaming device than most of my colleagues that comes off my monitor whenever I need it to and has seen me through the pandemic.

acd 6y ago

Actually if you turn the cellphone and use the back photo camera, will beat most any webcam in quality. Simple hack that should be good for quality.

StavrosK 6y ago
It does work excellently, but the latency isn't great (about 100 ms, IIRC).

otterpro 6y ago

I also recommend EpocCam (https://www.elgato.com/en/epoccam https://www.elgato.com/en/epoccam) as it has almost no latency and high quality, compared to Droidcam. You can see it on EposVox's review on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOTvGmmDUE&list=WL&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOTvGmmDUE&list=WL&index=2)