Question / Help Need help getting "better than webcam" quality

[WithSilentWings]

Thanks in advance for any help on this...

I'm looking to piece together a PC-based setup using a digital camera or camcorder to produce good quality 1080p or higher video.

I am very happy using OBS with my Logitech c930e camera, but I am not happy with the results in terms of the camera's quality, frame rate, ability to focus, and ability to cope with different lighting conditions.

I can see that a lot of digital cameras and camcorders have "live view" modes, but I haven't been able to find whether this would work with OBS (i.e. can OBS find a "live view" camera as a video input device).

Any advice regarding setup or hardware is greatly appreciated... I'm happy to hear about your experiences or current setup if you are accomplishing what I'm looking for.

Thanks!

 

[ColterTV]

High end webcams can produce very good quality video. But is hard to guess if thats enough for your purpose

One trick with webcams is to disable all auto features, like gain, white balance, focus, etc. That way you'll get a much better consistent image and better fps

As for camcorders, you would need a way to connect them, like hdmi-in from a capture card

 

[WithSilentWings]

I'm not aware of webcams that go beyond the capabilities of the c930e, which maxes out at 1080p at 30fps and has a very small lens. I think I already have the best that webcams will afford me.

Thanks!

 

[Videophile]

High end webcams can produce very good quality video. But is hard to guess if thats enough for your purpose

One trick with webcams is to disable all auto features, like gain, white balance, focus, etc. That way you'll get a much better consistent image and better fps

As for camcorders, you would need a way to connect them, like hdmi-in from a capture card

This. Disable all auto-features and adjust them yourself.

 

[WithSilentWings]

This. Disable all auto-features and adjust them yourself.

still won't go above 30fps etc.

Part of the point is, I want all of those automatic features but I want them to work much better without reducing performance--this is the reason I want to use a non-webcam solution (unless there are some higher end cams unknown to me).

 

[ColterTV]

Ye, I'm yet to know a webcam that does more than 30 fps. Part of the reason is that most of them are usb2.

You'll probably have to go the capture card + camcorder route. Just check that the card supports the resolution/fps you are trying to acchieve

 

[Videophile]

still won't go above 30fps etc.

Part of the point is, I want all of those automatic features but I want them to work much better without reducing performance--this is the reason I want to use a non-webcam solution (unless there are some higher end cams unknown to me).

Do you need 60fps? If so, try setting the webcam to 720p or maybe even 480p, and see if you can do 60fps.

 

[WithSilentWings]

Do you need 60fps? If so, try setting the webcam to 720p or maybe even 480p, and see if you can do 60fps.

Resolution is more important than framerate so long as it's over 30fps, but 60fps is a good guarantee that the rate won't drop too low.