[stonogo]

It's interesting to me that nobody's really taken the initiative to come out with a high-quality video-only UVC camera yet. I have in mind something like Arducam's offerings* but with autofocus. Even taking a Raspberry Pi high-quality camera and trying to make a webcam out of it is difficult.

I have no interest in buying a thousand-dollar mirrorless camera for this purpose, and even less interest in taking Michael Lopp's advice and buying a $4,000 BlackMagic camera for this. All the pieces are in place for a decent autofocus dedicated UVC camera with good color imaging, but for some reason the market hasn't landed there, and I'm curious why.

The closest is probably the Logitech Brio, but even that camera is horrible in lighting environments in which the Arducam's manual-focus larger lens excels.

* https://www.arducam.com/product/arducam-high-quality-complet...

[notJim]

It seems like cameras with decent sensors start around $500, though most cluster around $700+. I sort of wonder if no one has had the chutzpah to test whether there's a market for $500 webcams. I was personally a little surprised when I went remote three years ago that a "premium" webcam only costs $200, and looks like shit. Based on the number of people with fancy mirrorless setups now, I suspect a $500+ turnkey webcam could do well.

For your specific situation, a used Panasonic G7 and a $20 Chinese capture card would probably work if you're interesting.

[crummy]

Apparently you can use Android and iPhones as webcams (e.g. see https://reincubate.com/camo/ ).

[mdu96]

have you used these apps before? what's the experience like?

[mackatsol]

I've tried a few of them on iOS and they have all worked well. Some work over wifi and some over a connected USB cable. I tested these: http://iriun.com (open source, free, works over wifi) https://reincubate.com/camo/ (free, upgrade for more features, works over cable) https://neural.cam/live/ (free, upgrade for more features, works over cable)

[crummy]

I have not, though my coworker does sometimes (Camo) and the video quality is quite good.

[mdu96]

the other maker of Checklist.video here :)

stonogo -- you've hit the nail on the head! we asked ourselves the exact same questions.

There was a really great HN thread about it a few months back, did you see it? link here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25504771&p=3

[swyx]

noob question - what is the difference between a typical webcam (i have the logitech c925) and a "UVC camera"? i mean i get theres a price difference and i can see the difference, I just don't exactly know what causes it and why i need to pay $1k for it.

[mdu96]

hey swyx! a "UVC camera" simply refers to a camera that connects to your device over USB. most "typical webcams" are actually UVC cameras. the ones that are not, are the fancy SLR set-ups that you have to jerry-rig to your computer with multiple connectors and hubs. these are the setups that typically cost at least $1k.

[Domenic_S]

I use one of those fancy video setups. It consists of a tripod, the camera body & lens, dummy battery for power, and USB-C cable from camera to the mac, no jerry-rigging required. It's a Canon EOS R (a mirrorless camera). Modern cameras have gotten extremely good at this, there's no need for HDMI video cap boxes and so forth anymore.

[mdu96]

Ooo awesome :) What lens do you use with your EOS R?

[swyx]

ahhh ok ok. yeah. i want the dslr quality without the fuss and at maybe 1/3 the price tag. haha.