Hi everyone! I apologize if this is the wrong community, but I couldn’t find a specific “Purchase Recommendations” community or something along those lines, so figured I’d ask here, since this seems to be fairly general. I’m in the market to buy a new webcam, as my current one isn’t amazing anymore. The connection to the cable is loose now and constantly disconnects at the slightest movement. The overall image quality is lacking, I think it’s 720p, but it feels like it changes all the time, and the frame rate is abysmal, fluctuating between 5 and 30 fps.
So, the main thing I’m looking for is a good overall build quality, especially in terms of the cable. I move my camera around semi-frequently so it’s annoying to fenangle with it all the time to get a good connection. (Side note, a longish cable is appreciated, but not required, I think the current length is around 5 ft, which is just about enough)
Some smaller considerations, I’d like it to be 1080p @ 60Hz, but those are pretty flexible requirements. I’ll happily settle for 720p or 30Hz, but 1080@60 is what I’d really like. Avoiding giant brands, (logitech, namely), is also a plus, but not a huge requirement.
Thank you so much for any/all suggestions!
Update: After a few people actually recommended logitech, I decided to look through their webcams and I found a few I liked. After a bit of searching I found a used logitech brio on facebook marketplace for $45, which is what I’ll be buying! Thank you again to everyone who took the time to make recommendations!
(Side note, a longish cable is appreciated, but not required, I think the current length is around 5 ft, which is just about enough)
Almost everything is going to be USB or HDMI, and will virtually always have a replaceable cable, so you can get whatever length you want, within the spec of that protocol.
EDIT: If you really want a long cable, something that exceeds what copper can do, you can even get cables that will contain an optical transceiver and contain a fiber optic strand — I have a long USB cable like this. I assume that you don’t need that, though, if you have the computer and the webcam in more-or-less the same place.
Yep! I wrote this post right at the start of my search, so I didn’t realize a lot of cameras had detachable cables since mine definitely doesn’t!
Ah, gotcha. You’ll still have an option in that case — if you go to Amazon (or Monoprice…traditionally, they were my go-to spot for cables, but I haven’t tried pricing them against Amazon recently), they’ll also have male-to-female extension cables for USB and HDMI. I keep a USB extension cable in the car, as I normally want short cables, but every now and then, I want to put something further away.
I have the anker powerconf c300 and it’s pretty good. Not available on Amazon so they might have replaced it with a new model, so maybe you can get it cheap on ebay or something. Good quality, decent software if you’re using windows (just setup Linux on my “main” pc and I haven’t gotten to the Webcam yet, so i don’t know there), not terribly expensive, comes with a privacy slider.
I use an OBSBot Tiny 2 and it’s awesome for streaming! In general though, anything Logitech makes is lovely.
That does look quite impressive! Probably out of my budget for now but I’ll keep that in mind if I feel like I need something with every bell and whistle!
If you have an Android and don’t mind having your phone on a tripod while you’re doing what you wanna do, DroidCam is a good option. It integrates with OBS easily and the paid tier isn’t super expensive and is a one time cost.
Alternatively, you can also get a cheap GoPro knock off that supports being a webcam. I have an Apeman action cam that works reasonably well for this purpose and was less than $100 CAD.
For purpose-built webcams, I’m really not sure.
I currently have an iPhone, which has some similar things to DroidCam, but I’d rather not use it like that. On that note, https://vdo.ninja/ is a cool website. The GoPro knock off idea might be good, it looks like the Apemans are sold out right now, but I might try something similar if I don’t get any better suggestions. Thank you!
You’re welcome. :) Good luck with the search.
I have a Poly Studio P5 (A HP brand) and haven’t had any complaints. The mount is better than most and can pan/tilt, it’s 1080p at atleast 30fps (I don’t remember exactly) and it has a built-in privacy shutter that physically and electronically disconnects the camera.
I work in the industry and while I haven’t used their consumer stuff, FUUUCCCCKKK HP-Poly. Their stuff sucks so much, we have a dedicated Teams channel with Poly employees to troubleshoot their garbage products.
Like did you know if you boot up their controller for the first time without all the peripherals you’re going to use connected, it uninstalls their respective drivers and the only way to fix it it’s by factory resetting the PC? And they don’t see that as a problem. Stupid stuff like that is common with them.
Both companies were on my Do Not Buy list before the merger and together, they were even shittier from the start. Poly had legible SKUs but after HP bought them, they became literal gibberish. An HP rep told us they were literally randomized.
Sorry for the rant but fuck HP, fuck Poly, and a big double fuck you to HP-Poly. Garbage company, garbage products. They’re the worst of the major conferencing companies by a lot
Ooooo, this looks really promising! I’m a little sketched out by the low price, it seems like a too good to be true kind of thing, but I might actually go with this! I’ll let this post simmer for a bit longer to see if there’s anything else that’s just perfect, but this might take the cake!
If you’re handy, you could try making your own! https://youtu.be/K1T1eMyPIC4
I know you said avoiding Logitech namly, but the Logitech C920 is one of the most recommended webcams because of the price, quality, and features (physical privacy cover, FoV, etc.). The other benefit of having a popular webcam (or any PC hardware) is it means better software support.
Otherwise, there is a c920 clone Aukey PC-LM1E 1080p
If you have an old phone you’re not using anymore, you could always use it as an IP webcam. The quality will typically blow any consumer webcam out of the water.
Only downsides (to me at least) are that phones are usually quite a bit bigger than your standard webcam, and the mounting can sometimes be a bit finicky with the extra weight and making sure it gets plugged in so it remains powered on at all times.
Hmmm, I have an old iPhone 5 that might do the trick, @AstralPath@lemmy.ca was suggesting something similar with my actual phone, but using this might work out, I’ll have to test it in a few minutes after the battery has charged a little
Edit: Looks like it’s actually broken beyond belief, the touchscreen barely works and the home button doesn’t at all. Definitely a no go.
You could also just get a cheap android phone.
