Many of the newer mirrorless and DSLR cameras offer a webcam mode. This is an excellent feature. It allows you to use your professional camera in video conferences such as Zoom or Teams, but it also allows you to record video directly to your computer. This is quite handy and easy to set up in a program like OBS.
My Olympus E-M1 Mark II and Canon RP both have this feature. You download an app from the respective camera manufacturer and install to your computer. Both of my cameras connect via USB C which is handy as I have plenty of those laying around.
I’m sure you’re thinking the webcam feature sounds amazing. It is, but that doesn’t mean it is the best option for recording. The output is optimized to be a webcam, so you will not get the same output the camera is capable of.
So why not just use HDMI output? I honestly was using the webcam feature until recently and the reason is HDMI out requires a capture card. It’s simple, you run the HDMI out of your camera and into the capture card. The card then plugs into your computer with USB. It is plug-and-play, so no drivers or anything to install.
The capture card I purchased was less than $30 and has been amazing. The quality difference is huge. If you already have a mirrorless camera and aren’t using an HDMI capture card, it could be the cheapest way to improve your video quality.
You might not notice a big difference on your phone, but the difference becomes clear on something larger like a TV.
Let’s look at another common scenario and that is short-form video. The vertical crop is significant. When cropped you will see the clarity of the HDMI capture card is far greater than the webcam.
The lighting, camera, lens, and camera settings were identical for this video. The only difference in the image is how it is outputted which is the capture card (HDMI out of the camera) vs the webcam (USB C out of the camera).
What are your thoughts on this?
Have you experimented with different camera features?
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