Webcams

[Robert Collins]

My webcam is rubbish. Well, actually its the webcam video that looks rubbish. My webcam is the popular Logitech C920 - which as webcams go - is a mid/high end webcam. But the image out of it really is bad (especially in low light.)

And, in case you are wondering - no, I dont have anything better to do than wonder why the video out of my webcam is so bad. Watching the news when everyone is being interviewed by webcam, you realize that virtually everyones webcam is crap.

And it isnt just my lighting. Admittedly my lighting was bad but I bought myself one of those Elgato key lights - better but still really rubbish if you ask me. Now, I know, of course, that I could set up my Sony as a webcam but it seems a hell of hassle - dummy battery, capture card, a stand etc... Surely there is something plug and play. But apparently not - there doesnt seem to be say - a 1inch sensor webcam.

Which brings me to my question. Why has there been so little innovation in the webcams? My Logitech C920 was introduced in January 2012 and apparently is still considered by some as the best webcam on the market in 2020  - https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-webcams#:~:text=There's a reason you've,calls and large meeting rooms. 8 years is an eternity in the camera world (it isnt as though camera companies have been particularly busy) and, I assume, equivalent to several lifetimes in the streaming business.

And, secondly, what sort of setups do people on this forum use?

[Snowfun]

Not quite a webcam but I went for the BM Atem mini with my P4k and a Ride videomic pro+. The Atem lets me use my two additional Mac laptops plus an overlay whilst my iMac desktop runs MS Teams, Zoom or Blackboard Collaborate.

I’d rather not use my P4k but I can’t find a suitable camera which outputs over hdmi when plugged In without switching off after a few minutes.

With a pull-up green screen and lights from BlindSpot gear it all seems to work well. The Atem has the advantage that I can play with the buttons & on-screen control software during boring meetings.
 

[leslie]

9 hours ago, Robert Collins said:

My webcam is rubbish. Well, actually its the webcam video that looks rubbish. My webcam is the popular Logitech C920 - which as webcams go - is a mid/high end webcam. But the image out of it really is bad (especially in low light.)

And, in case you are wondering - no, I dont have anything better to do than wonder why the video out of my webcam is so bad. Watching the news when everyone is being interviewed by webcam, you realize that virtually everyones webcam is crap.

And it isnt just my lighting. Admittedly my lighting was bad but I bought myself one of those Elgato key lights - better but still really rubbish if you ask me. Now, I know, of course, that I could set up my Sony as a webcam but it seems a hell of hassle - dummy battery, capture card, a stand etc... Surely there is something plug and play. But apparently not - there doesnt seem to be say - a 1inch sensor webcam.

Which brings me to my question. Why has there been so little innovation in the webcams? My Logitech C920 was introduced in January 2012 and apparently is still considered by some as the best webcam on the market in 2020  - https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-webcams#:~:text=There's a reason you've,calls and large meeting rooms. 8 years is an eternity in the camera world (it isnt as though camera companies have been particularly busy) and, I assume, equivalent to several lifetimes in the streaming business.

And, secondly, what sort of setups do people on this forum use?

i have the c920 as well,  pc gamer had this too say,  The Logitech C920 has reached a legendary status in the webcam arena. Six years after its release, it’s still cemented as one of the best webcams you can buy.

pc world had this to say, One of the C920’s neatest tricks is its ability to record 1080p video clips using H.264 compression technology built right into the camera. By having the camera do the heavy lifting rather than your CPU, it guarantees sharp, smooth video—even on older computers.

Honestly i have to say its never performed up too expectations for me. While its ok, its never lived up to the hype for me. Maybe i got sucked in by the marketing hype. I kinda think it comes back to the reviewers again like in other threads at the moment. Most seem happy to sell their soul so long as the free products keep coming or cash perhaps.

Maybe cinematographers and wannabe cinematographers (me) are too picky ? but i doubt that we are both wrong.

[UncleBobsPhotography]

On 6/29/2020 at 2:53 AM, Robert Collins said:

And, secondly, what sort of setups do people on this forum use?

I use a GH5, Videomic NTG, Elgato HD60s and a softbox.

Lessons learned:

-GH5+Capture card is a bit of a hassle to set up if I use the equipment for anything else. The kit lens keeps on changing the focus every time I turn it off and on again. Easily avoidable by changing the lens, but my other lenses are primes which makes composition harder.

-Videomic NTG works really well. All it needs is a USB-C cable and it's good to go, and the sound is much better the Jabra disc-thing. However, if you don't use headphones you might get feedback issues.

-Elgato HD60s requires a quad-core prosessor. I would have gotten another capture card if I were to buy one today (Elgato Camlink perhaps)

-GH5 looks good, but a lot of the picture quality is lost in transmission. Reducing contrast/adjusting the knee/picking the right picture profile will help a lot to preserve highlights.

-Shallow depth of field is pointless because of the loss of quality using Zoom/Teams. It will just make your video look worse. I try to stick with f/4.0 or above on the GH5.

-Softbox, good, but ISO doesn't matter. The softbox obviously makes shadows softer and better looking. However, because of the compression you can hardly notice the difference between ISO 400 and 6400, so don't stress it if you don't have enough light output. The softness is much more important than the brightness.

With the new Panasonic software I should be able to forego the Elgato capture card, but I haven't had the time to try it out yet.