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I have noticed with colleagues the insane improvements in video and audio after their amazon shopping sprees. At the same I haven’t updated my camera because I

I have noticed with colleagues the insane improvements in video and audio after their amazon shopping sprees. At the same I haven’t updated my camera because I don’t have a nice room to work from and I feel a bit ashamed to show my tiny box with a high resolution... sounds weird, I know, but that’s how I feel

ghaff 6y ago
There are things you can do with hangings and screens and so forth if you want to. I do have an office but my background includes some ugly file cabinets so I got a fabric print to hang over them. You can also do virtual backgrounds with a lot of software if you rig up a green screen. (That's not absolutely necessary but it tends to look bad otherwise.)
- bonoboTP 6y ago
  Zoom is quite good in virtual backgrounds even with no green screen (on Win and Mac. Linux is worse)
  - ghaff 6y ago
    Probably depends on lighting but I'm not sure I'd call it "good." I find it's often a noticeable distraction when people move around.
aikinai 6y ago
Use a longer lens and you won’t have to show any of your tiny box! I hooked up my mirrorless camera behind/on top of my monitor and have a 35mm (APS-C so 50mm equivalent) which is perfect to just frame my head and show basically nothing behind me. I don’t know why webcams are always so insanely wide; we don’t need to see your whole room with your head only taking up 5% of the frame. Just like audio, I wish everyone else would use this camera setup so I can see everyone clearly.
- ghaff 6y ago
  As I said in another comment, I do have my DSLR setup. But for most purposes, I use my external webcam because it's just easier. I do zoom it in a bit (and agree with your general comment on field of view) but for routine video calls I also don't want to be tightly framed as I'm probably moving around a bit.
- asimpletune 6y ago
  “Why so wide” Maybe because the laptop case can only be so thick, which would limit focal length? I guess that could be improved by reducing sensor size but then it may affect performance in realistic lighting conditions.
josephg 6y ago
Do you have any recommendations for cameras? I've been using a macbook camera all year because all the cheapo logitech webcams on the market are clunky and look awful. What do you recommend?
- monkey_monkey 6y ago
  If you have an iPhone, you could use that in conjunction with something like Reincubate's Camo. There was an interesting discussion about it on HN recently [1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25869460 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25869460
- jon-wood 6y ago
  Not the GP, but I've been using a Razor Kiyo because it was about the only good quality camera available for a reasonable price back at the start of last year. The microphone on it is predictably terrible, but video quality is fantastic, and it has a ring of LEDs around which are suprisingly effective at dealing with the usual unhealthy glow given by sitting in front of a monitor.
- slantyyz 6y ago
  I'm using my retired Samsung A5 Android phone's rear facing camera connected via USB to my PC using DroidCam (costs a few bucks). DroidCam also does wifi, but I find USB to be better. The quality is pretty good from the A5, but if I need even better, I use my current phone's rear camera outputting to HDMI to an El Gato CamLink using Filmic (which outputs clean HDMI on Android or IOS, but isn't cheap as DroidCam). Filmic is definitely a step up from DroidCam, but fussier in terms of getting set up.
  - justincormack 6y ago
    I tried using Filmic with iphone and hdmi capture but the latency was terrible. Is it ok with Android?
    - slantyyz 6y ago
      It's been a while since I used it, but IIRC, it seemed OK to me when I tested it, but you can always try lowering the resolution to reduce the latency.
Tepix 6y ago
If you use a real camera with a fixed focus lens, the background will be blurry! You can use most photo cameras as a webcam with a cheap (less than $20) HDMI capture USB cable.
bonoboTP 6y ago
Use background replacement. Most videoconf software like Zoom have them.
- ghaff 6y ago
  Unless you have a green screen and proper lighting, my observation is that background replacement is often obvious and distracting. (Background blurring is somewhat better.) My observation is that, once people got over the novelty, many stopped using it.
  - bonoboTP 6y ago
    Noticeable yes, but you get to display a nice full bookshelf behind you instead of your messy bedroom. You'll look smart.
    - ghaff 6y ago
      Fortunately I have an office I was able to more or less stage manage. You're right that in a lot of circumstances virtual backgrounds will still be better than reality.

ghaff 6y ago

There are things you can do with hangings and screens and so forth if you want to. I do have an office but my background includes some ugly file cabinets so I got a fabric print to hang over them. You can also do virtual backgrounds with a lot of software if you rig up a green screen. (That's not absolutely necessary but it tends to look bad otherwise.)

bonoboTP 6y ago
Zoom is quite good in virtual backgrounds even with no green screen (on Win and Mac. Linux is worse)
- ghaff 6y ago
  Probably depends on lighting but I'm not sure I'd call it "good." I find it's often a noticeable distraction when people move around.

aikinai 6y ago

Use a longer lens and you won’t have to show any of your tiny box! I hooked up my mirrorless camera behind/on top of my monitor and have a 35mm (APS-C so 50mm equivalent) which is perfect to just frame my head and show basically nothing behind me. I don’t know why webcams are always so insanely wide; we don’t need to see your whole room with your head only taking up 5% of the frame. Just like audio, I wish everyone else would use this camera setup so I can see everyone clearly.

ghaff 6y ago
As I said in another comment, I do have my DSLR setup. But for most purposes, I use my external webcam because it's just easier. I do zoom it in a bit (and agree with your general comment on field of view) but for routine video calls I also don't want to be tightly framed as I'm probably moving around a bit.
asimpletune 6y ago
“Why so wide” Maybe because the laptop case can only be so thick, which would limit focal length? I guess that could be improved by reducing sensor size but then it may affect performance in realistic lighting conditions.

josephg 6y ago

Do you have any recommendations for cameras? I've been using a macbook camera all year because all the cheapo logitech webcams on the market are clunky and look awful. What do you recommend?

monkey_monkey 6y ago
If you have an iPhone, you could use that in conjunction with something like Reincubate's Camo. There was an interesting discussion about it on HN recently [1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25869460 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25869460
jon-wood 6y ago
Not the GP, but I've been using a Razor Kiyo because it was about the only good quality camera available for a reasonable price back at the start of last year. The microphone on it is predictably terrible, but video quality is fantastic, and it has a ring of LEDs around which are suprisingly effective at dealing with the usual unhealthy glow given by sitting in front of a monitor.
slantyyz 6y ago
I'm using my retired Samsung A5 Android phone's rear facing camera connected via USB to my PC using DroidCam (costs a few bucks). DroidCam also does wifi, but I find USB to be better. The quality is pretty good from the A5, but if I need even better, I use my current phone's rear camera outputting to HDMI to an El Gato CamLink using Filmic (which outputs clean HDMI on Android or IOS, but isn't cheap as DroidCam). Filmic is definitely a step up from DroidCam, but fussier in terms of getting set up.
- justincormack 6y ago
  I tried using Filmic with iphone and hdmi capture but the latency was terrible. Is it ok with Android?
  - slantyyz 6y ago
    It's been a while since I used it, but IIRC, it seemed OK to me when I tested it, but you can always try lowering the resolution to reduce the latency.

Tepix 6y ago

If you use a real camera with a fixed focus lens, the background will be blurry! You can use most photo cameras as a webcam with a cheap (less than $20) HDMI capture USB cable.

bonoboTP 6y ago

Use background replacement. Most videoconf software like Zoom have them.

ghaff 6y ago
Unless you have a green screen and proper lighting, my observation is that background replacement is often obvious and distracting. (Background blurring is somewhat better.) My observation is that, once people got over the novelty, many stopped using it.
- bonoboTP 6y ago
  Noticeable yes, but you get to display a nice full bookshelf behind you instead of your messy bedroom. You'll look smart.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    Fortunately I have an office I was able to more or less stage manage. You're right that in a lot of circumstances virtual backgrounds will still be better than reality.