Web Cams and Streaming Video

[Eric Mc]

I'm becoming a real convert to Zoom video conferencing at the moment and was wondering if anyone had any advice on a decent quality web cam that would offer a better performance over the built in camera on the laptop?

[eltawater]

First of all, what sort of broadband connection are you on?
You could have the most super duper camera in the world, but the software is going to drop the bitrate and quality like a stone if the upload bandwidth on your connection isn't high enough.

[Eric Mc]

Download 82 mbps
Upload 10 mbps

[eltawater]

That should be fine, any modern webcam you can get hold of should be more than adequate.

What can make a huge difference to your video conferencing experience is the additional accessories. If you haven't already got one, consider getting a headset with a boom microphone. You may also find that a strategically placed lamp can make a huge amount of difference to your video feed as the camera isn't having to pick out a badly lit face against a bright background.

[Smiler.]

I've used one of these for the last few years, great bit of kit but I guess the other party gets the benefit.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessorie...

[Eric Mc]

I was looking at those the other day and they do seem rather good. I think I will order one as soon as they are in stock. I've had a look around and they seem to be out of stock at most of the normal sellers - I wonder why.

[768]

Smiler. said:

I've used one of these for the last few years, great bit of kit but I guess the other party gets the benefit.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessorie...

+1

They seem to be available on Amazon. (Lots of video conferencing services won't go as high as 1080p though, not sure about Zoom), but it still gets my recommendation.

Edited by 768 on Monday 30th March 09:56

[sjg]

Logitech cameras that start C9__ or Brio. Used to be able to get a C920 for under £50 although prices have understandably gone mental.

If you've got any old digital cameras knocking about, worth seeing if you can use it as a webcam when hooked up on USB - many support it, although you might need to hunt around online for a driver for it.

[TheRainMaker]

I did the normal thing of thinking about a home webcam set up too late, so I raided our warehouse.

So we now have

1 x Sony pxw-z150 camera
1 x MacBook Pro
1 x Blackmagic WebPresenter
4 x Sennheiser TeamConnect Microphone Speaker units



All connected to the living room TV

IMG_4869 by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

[FunkyNige]

eltawater said:

That should be fine, any modern webcam you can get hold of should be more than adequate.

What can make a huge difference to your video conferencing experience is the additional accessories. If you haven't already got one, consider getting a headset with a boom microphone. You may also find that a strategically placed lamp can make a huge amount of difference to your video feed as the camera isn't having to pick out a badly lit face against a bright background.

Very much this - being well lit makes much more difference than the quality of the webcam in my experience so if the room is a little bit dingy or the main light is behind you and your face is in shadow then you will look awful. Having a light to light up your face is ideal, I sit next to a window which works OK most of time.
I have the cheapest Logitech one (C270 by the looks of it) and it's OK. I also use a blutooth headset (an all singing, all dancing Plantronics one) for audio, using the laptop microphone can be hit and miss with echo, volume, etc. and it's obvious if I'm on a video call who is shouting at their laptop and who has a headset of some description.

Couple more tips -
none of the webcams have a decent way of attaching to a monitor so I use a sticky Velcro pad to hold it in place.
I don't like having a camera pointing at me all day so bought a little sliding cover that sticks onto the camera and slides open/close. These are the ones I have https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07794HDK9 but some new webcams have them integrated.

[Eric Mc]

Thanks chaps - all interesting stuff. I'm new to all this so all the information is appreciated.

[thebraketester]

TheRainMaker said:

I did the normal thing of thinking about a home webcam set up too late, so I raided our warehouse.

So we now have

1 x Sony pxw-z150 camera
1 x MacBook Pro
1 x Blackmagic WebPresenter
4 x Sennheiser TeamConnect Microphone Speaker units



All connected to the living room TV

IMG_4869 by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Pistonheads at its finest. Bravo.

[Fordo]

Dont forget lighting - even the best camera in the world won't make you look great if you're backlit by a window with the sun beaming in.

Might be worth getting something you can position above the cam, or bounce a desk lamp off the wall behind the camera, to give you a nice soft key light

[ocd]

There aren’t any webcams in stock anywhere as far as I am aware. I’ve got an app called epiccam which allows iPhone to be seen as webcam but it’s clunky. I’m looking to do live streaming presentations using two cameras so need some type of hardware to plug in HDMI to usb. Has anyone used the cheap generic Chinese ones sold on eBay? I guess I will have to fork out for something like pci capture card or ATEM mini but not keen to spend a fortune at the moment. Any tips from the experts gratefully received.

[Fordo]

ocd said:

There aren’t any webcams in stock anywhere as far as I am aware. I’ve got an app called epiccam which allows iPhone to be seen as webcam but it’s clunky. I’m looking to do live streaming presentations using two cameras so need some type of hardware to plug in HDMI to usb. Has anyone used the cheap generic Chinese ones sold on eBay? I guess I will have to fork out for something like pci capture card or ATEM mini but not keen to spend a fortune at the moment. Any tips from the experts gratefully received.

You'll probably find any form of streaming equipment out of stock at the moment, even cheapy Chinese HDMI to usb capture dongles.

But for your needs - the ATEM mini really does it all, and isn't mega bucks. (although prices have already gone up, due to supply and demand)

Trying to get two cameras into a computer with some HDMI to USB capture dongles, then using software like OBS to vision mix between the two cameras, will be fiddley to setup, and clunky to operate, and also puts a lot of load on your laptop too. But is is doable. But remember reliability is key when doing a live broadcast

[ocd]

Thanks for that. I’ve ordered an ATEM mini from Thomann. Hopefully I will get it next week.