• There are so many apps that will let you use your SLR or phone as a webcam. I’ve played around with a few, because I use 1 old phone and an older SLR as cameras for FBT in VR.

    Shit is kinda ridiculous that it doesn’t just show up in the OS as a fuckin’ camera without some “hacking.” It should literally work out of the box.

  • Tramort@programming.dev
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    3 days ago

    You start to feel badly for legacy tech manufacturers like Canon.

    Then they do things like this, and suddenly I am happy to see them die.

    You can’t treat your customers with contempt and not expect them to return the sentiment.

  • Greg Clarke@lemmy.ca
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    3 days ago

    Is there an open source solution? I actually stopped using my Canon camera as a webcam because the software was so shitty, now they want me to pay to use it 🤣 All they’ve done is stopped me from ever buying another Canon camera again.

    • KingRandomGuy@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      You can do this on Linux using gphoto2, ffmpeg, and v4l2loopback. You probably won’t get full resolution but the quality will still be good enough for video conferencing. See here for a guide.

      • GamingChairModel@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        The problem is that Canon locks the higher resolution capabilities behind a paywall, and this particular solution is also low resolution. So it’s not really a bypass for this, at least not in the current state.

        • KingRandomGuy@lemmy.world
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          17 hours ago

          Good point! For my use case (on a different brand, Sony) I’m fine with the lowered resolution since I just use it for video conferencing, in which case the raw resolution is limited anyway. But for users who need higher resolution, using an HDMI capture card might be better for a one time fee rather than a subscription.

  • Grimm665@lemm.ee
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    3 days ago

    I found a way to use my old Nikon as a webcam using an HDMI capture card. Hooked it up to the camera’s mini HDMI port and wham! had a working webcam!

    But after thirty minutes, it would always switch off the live view, so i was left with a camera feed of the menus. Turns out this is an import restriction so it can be imported as a “still camera” and not a “movie camera” for significantly less taxes.

    Enter some wonderful soul who found a way to hack the firmware to allow live view to stay on continuously, so now it works great as a webcam!