Question / Help What is the maximum possible cable length to use iPhone as OBS Camera?

[zactschp2]

I'm wanting to do a multi-phone livestream, but ideally, I'll have to have one or both of the phones further away from my computer. My question is if anyone knows the maximum length of a lighting to USB cable and/or the combination of such a cable + a USB extension. Ideally, I'd like to have one phone that is approximately 50' away from the computer. Just wondering if this is even possible before I go investing in a bunch of cables. Also, any specific cable recommendations are very much welcomed. Thanks.

 

[Txbred]

Did you have any luck with this? I have the same question. I’m currently using a 30 foot USB extension cable and running two iPhones with OBS Camera installed and using my Mac camera. I seem to have issues with the 30 foot extension where the video freezes in OBS or the audio and video aren’t in sync. Sometimes it works fine, which is when I’m testing it by myself, but the minute my band shows to rehearse and go live, the issues arise.

 

[iRandy]

It's a complicated question because not all cables are created equal.

I've been able to connect OBS on my MBP to distant USB cameras and iPhones using this Anker Powered USB 3.0 hub, but even the USB cable you connect to the hub with matters. I've settled on this 15ft USB 3.0 Cable to connect to the hub, and this 10ft AmazonBasics Double Braided Nylon Lightning to USB Cable to connect to OBS Camera on the iPhone. That gets me 25ft total for an iPhone camera connection, and is as long as I've been able to get working correctly. Anything longer I've tried has had issues.

I have a separate 4k video camcorder that I also connect to the same hub with this Vebner 20ft 5 Pin Mini USB Cable that gets me an extra 10ft for this camera.

 

[Tangential]

There are lots of extenders available that will send USB (usually 2.0) over Cat6 for several hundred feet. Here is one at Amazon. Monoprice and lots of other retailers sell them.