Recommended Video Capture Device for Canon HF-30

[wcndave]

I would like to capture a camcorder with hdmi output and be able to add as a source to OBS. Using windows 10 Pro.
Are there any recommendations on external devices to capture?
Should work with a laptop which has USB inputs only.
Thanks!

 

[bcwhittle]

I am using Elgato GameCapture. It works great capturing HDMI from our Panasonic camcorder. Make sure your camcorder has a "clean" HDMI output; no capture card can remove extra info a camera adds to the picture. From what I hear, anything from Elgato would be good.

 

[FerretBomb]

Generally the Elgato Camlink is the go-to. Just make sure that you get a USB 3.0 capture device, NOT a 2.0 device; 2.0 devices normally have a capture delay hovering around 2 seconds, and will make it near-impossible to synchronize your video and audio.

Definitely plug your camcorder into an HDMI display or TV first, to see what signal it's sending. Canon are notorious for NOT sending 'clean' video, meaning you'll have the on-screen display overlay which cannot be turned off. You can crop the camera down from there to cut off the edges though, if the center is clear... it'll just mean a smaller usable area.

 

[wcndave]

Hi, thanks both! So I dug around on those two devices, and it seemed a little hard to tell which was going to be better.

The camlink is seen by computer as "webcam", and therefore works with all software, eg skype/zoom, and is a tiny device.
The gamecapture HD60S+ works in OBS, but not in other apps directly, is larger, but has the benefit of monitoring what is being sent, and can use for streaming/recording other devices, like the game capture it's meant to be.

So I went for the HD60S+, as it seems a little more flexible, and I use the webcam feature of OBS anyway for things like teams and skype and other apps...

My canon allows you to turn off display, however I was still getting a record/pause dot. But then I found in the menu that you can turn of display capture for HDMI, and you get a completely clean feed.

Thanks again for all the help, very useful!

 

[FerretBomb]

Hi, thanks both! So I dug around on those two devices, and it seemed a little hard to tell which was going to be better.

The camlink is seen by computer as "webcam", and therefore works with all software, eg skype/zoom, and is a tiny device.
The gamecapture HD60S+ works in OBS, but not in other apps directly, is larger, but has the benefit of monitoring what is being sent, and can use for streaming/recording other devices, like the game capture it's meant to be.

So I went for the HD60S+, as it seems a little more flexible, and I use the webcam feature of OBS anyway for things like teams and skype and other apps...

My canon allows you to turn off display, however I was still getting a record/pause dot. But then I found in the menu that you can turn of display capture for HDMI, and you get a completely clean feed.

Thanks again for all the help, very useful!

Elgato makes a Windows DirectShow driver-set for the HD60S that will allow it to be used as a standard video device (webcam), without needing their GameCapture software installed or routing it through OBS. Just as a heads-up. :)