Camera or webcam?

[cookiethecrumb]

Hey guys, I have a Sony a6000 camera it does amazing video but in order to use it for streaming/youtube/work meetings I need to buy a $130 card, $20 battery cord, and $10 mini hdmi cord. Is there a better webcam alternative or around the same cost or is my camera the best option? The webcam prices seem heavily inflated right now.  Also is there a cam-link alternative for less money without sacrificing quality i only need 1080p 30fps but the cheep amazon ones seem to make the image quality worse. Thanks for any help!

[Moonzy]

there are $15 usb capture cards that you can look into, other than that you still need battery cord and mini hdmi cord

 

[Cyracus]

5 minutes ago, cookiethecrumb said:

The webcam prices seem heavily inflated right now

Such is life in the times of Corona where many have found themselves working from home.

[cookiethecrumb]

Just now, Moonzy said:

there are $15 usb capture cards that you can look into, other than that you still need battery cord and mini hdmi cord

 

Thanks for the suggestion! that is one of them that decreases the quality of the video that one can only do 720p unless you sacrafice some other settings.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

11 minutes ago, cookiethecrumb said:

The webcam prices seem heavily inflated right now.

Nah they're not inflated. They've always costed like 80 bucks for a 1080P webcam. It's just that corner of the peripheral market that no one really cares about. The Logitech webcams you see for sale have been around for probably 7 years by now. They just never refreshed their lineup and as such, never dropped the prices.

[zeusthemoose]

You could also look into free webcam apps. Apps like EpocCam for iOS/ipados work great. The free one only goes up to 720p but the 1080p version is only a few bucks.

[Moonzy]

4 minutes ago, cookiethecrumb said:

Thanks for the suggestion! that is one of them that decreases the quality of the video that one can only do 720p unless you sacrafice some other settings.

if those capture card quality cant deliver what you want, dont look at webcams

i own a C922, the footage is super grainy

[cookiethecrumb]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

if those capture card quality cant deliver what you want, dont look at webcams

i own a C922, the footage is super grainy

ya I was looking at getting that one, but they were like 50 a couple months ago but there like 130 now

[kelvinhall05]

26 minutes ago, cookiethecrumb said:

Thanks for the suggestion! that is one of them that decreases the quality of the video that one can only do 720p unless you sacrafice some other settings.

Realistically, are you going to be able to stream consistently above 720p, have others view in above 720p, and even if the answer to both those questions was a "yes", do you need more than 720p?

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Realistically, are you going to be able to stream consistently above 720p, have others view in above 720p, and even if the answer to both those questions was a "yes", do you need more than 720p?

if it's a full screen webcam footage then yes, 1080p matters

if not, even 480p is good enough if it's going to be shrunk into a corner

 

op never stated specific use case

[cookiethecrumb]

10 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

if it's a full screen webcam footage then yes, 1080p matters

if not, even 480p is good enough if it's going to be shrunk into a corner

 

op never stated specific use case

 

13 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Realistically, are you going to be able to stream consistently above 720p, have others view in above 720p, and even if the answer to both those questions was a "yes", do you need more than 720p?

I don't quite know I want to be able to full screen at times for youtube/podcasts so it would be nice. So for the full screen YouTube I think it would be necessary. Its there a middle ground for an adapter https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/cam-link-4k thats the 129 one but is there like a 40-50 dollar one that does 1080 with ease? I don't need 4k.

[GDRRiley]

that cheap usb capture card does just fine. its 1080p30 or 720p 60. I've got one running right now.