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by imposterr 799 days ago
A used Sony a6000 + kit lens + cheap HDMI to USB dongle.

The nice thing about this sort of setup is that you can upgrade the lens as needed without having to redo the whole system.

As for lighting, DIY some diffusers for and stick them on some lamps.
2 comments
Retr0id 799 days ago
On the HDMI-to-USB front, beware of dongles that oversell themselves.

A blue USB connector just means a blue USB connector, it doesn't necessarily mean it's USB 3.0 (they might use weasel words like "USB 3.0 compatible").

Most have an integrated scaler, e.g. will accept 4K input even if they only capture at 1080p - the listing will likely emphasize the former rather than the later.

The MS2109 chip will do 1080p at 30fps, over USB 2.0 (mjpeg).

The MS2130 chip will do 4K at 30fps (mjpeg), or 1080p at 60fps (yuv), over USB 3.0.

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_rs 799 days ago
Some Sony cameras support acting as webcams natively over USB now too, so you can skip the HDMI step. Not sure about which specific models though
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ansgri 799 days ago
The list is here: https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/webcam/en/download/ It weirdly includes a5100 and not a6000, which are internally almost identical.

Also at least for older cameras it’s 720p only, no fullhd, so you’re still better with hdmi adapter.

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chrisa 799 days ago
This is my exact setup and it's great. Several pros:

- Relatively cheap since the a6000 is an older camera

- The a6000 doesn't have the 30 minute hdmi limit that some other cameras have (this can be fixed with gphoto, but you have to redo it every time you connect)

- When you're ready you can buy more lights, and then eventually a nicer lens if you want

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