Hey friends, hope you're well! This, is the Opal C1
And, it's trying to shake up the webcam space because you see if you're serious about live
streaming or video meetings chances are you have a dslum or mirrorless camera hooked up via HDMI in
a third-party app and that's where this new webcam becomes really interesting it's made
by a relatively new startup called Opal and it promises 4K DSLR quality video in a small webcam
form factor Plus for all the MKBHD fans out there myself included you may want to know that this is
a webcam that Marquez uses and more interestingly opal is a company he's invested into so this thing
naturally caught my attention and I've been using it over the past two weeks and here's what I found
so I'll answer the question I think many of you are probably going to ask right away which is
is the video quality really that good on the Opal C1 well let's jump onto the webcam right here so
as you can see on screen now it's actually pretty impressive more impressive than I thought it would
be it's similar to hooking up my older Canon DSLR as a webcam with a Tamron 28 millimeter lens so
this is a different View and angle with some opal app settings adjusted for a better picture
and yeah what do you guys think the sharpness is definitely pretty impressive and so is the
blurry background the bokeh it's actually software generated which is pretty surprising and it looks
to mimic apertures between F 1.8 to 2.8 for a very smooth dreamy and professional look it's the best
looking bokeh I've seen in a webcam considering it's pretty physical limitations and I'd say most
people won't be able to tell that it's software generated the webcam supports up to 4K with
mkbhd's favorite frame rate of you guessed it 30 frames per second all in all it looks great and
in fact last week I had someone ask me over a zoom core what webcam setup that I'm using so obviously
other people can tell that it looks pretty good despite the compression on Zoom cores comparing
it to my Logitech Brio 500 you can tell it's just infinitely sharper and the Opal C1 just has more
lifelike saturation tones and the bokeh does make a difference against the MacBook Pro M2 it's still
not much competition I think it's pretty clear the Opal C1 does have that DSLR quality that even
with MacBook software processing looks inferior to the C1 so it does make for a pretty decent upgrade
from the MacBook Pro as with the insta 360 link which is similarly priced I think that is more
of a closer comparison between the two as you can see on screen here let me know what you guys think
about these comparisons but is the opal C1 as good as setting up my so Sony a74 with a G Master prime
lens as a webcam let's be honest of course it wouldn't be but I've also got far better uses for
my a74 than to use it as a very inconvenient five thousand dollar webcam so the Opel C1 does in fact
look like a low end DSLR setup and some people will probably be surprised to know you're using
a small webcam so yeah I was pretty impressed with the video quality straight out of the box so I was
curious to look into the specifications on this webcam it has a considerable 7.8 millimeter 4K
Sony sensor the very same 12 megapixel sensor in Google's first pixel phone also you might not be
able to tell through this video but its build quality is actually really good straight out
of the box when I picked it up I was taken by surprise by its heft in hand most webcams are
made of recycled Plastics but opal C1 is made of machined aluminum for the most part and has this
anodized and paint splash finish that I quite enjoy it's a great fit on my ultra wide monitor
here just as much as it is on my MacBook Pro when I'm working remotely it's an A plus for its design
in the Box it's really simple you get a magnetic lens cover which has this microfiber material on
the back the mount and a USBC cable all in a pretty nicely packaged design the back side of
this webcam looks pretty slick too which handles heat dissipation and there's the USBC Port here
and the thread to connect the included Mount or to your own tripod also let me know if you guys
prefer this webcam in white or black I personally prefer in the white and then there's the software
features which is what sets it apart from standard run-of-the-mill webcams and even DSLR webcams
on-screen gestures are a nice touch like pinch to zoom and the peace sign to quickly turn off
video the peace sign is sort of funny because your video feed Fades to black but technically
the webcam is still on if you're conscious of those awkward last moments of Zoom calls where
everyone's frantically looking around the screen to exit out of the core you could peace out Fade
to Black and then disconnect from the call or you could just command shift plus e to and zoom cores
your core and helpful important you want to be there is also something opal calls face lock which
is basically the equivalent to Apple's Center Stage or insta360s AI framing with automatic
image enhancements the app is nicely integrated into the Mac toolbar and gives you useful features
like manual camera settings and exposure and focus locks to other more gimmicky features like filters
and Logo overlays I recommend tinkering with the manual settings for a few minutes when you first
get it to suit the space that you're in to get the most out of the webcam by the way the off-center
the camera design of the C1 is to make way for the multi-array of microphones here yeah these holes
here are the stereo microphones that does a better job than average producing clear audio if you're
like me and prefer to have an all-in-one setup for video calls rather than having a dedicated
microphone as well and here's how it Stacks up to the MacBook and Logitech Brio with a quick
microphone test life was like a box of chocolates you never know what you're gonna get life was like
a box of chocolates you never know what you're gonna get life was like a box of chocolates you
never know what you're gonna get life was like a box of chocolates you never know what you're
gonna get but let me know what you guys think of the microphone audio quality in the comments
below so the one area that I can fault it on is its app and its software it is slightly glitchy
sometimes and it definitely has some bugs that needs to be fixed particularly when it comes
to recording but thankfully opal is on top of it for the most part and they are regularly releasing
software updates to improve the Opel C1 so I've yet to mention pricing on this thing and although
it's a lot of webcam it's also a lot of dollars opal interestingly has recently changed the
pricing of the C1 from 300 to 250 which is much more palatable considering how unique this webcam
currently is opal seems to have also removed the wait list and any ongoing subscription fees
which is a win so I think if you're someone who values either a quality webcam or convenience or
well-designed Tech actually if you value all three things the Opel C1 is absolutely a consideration
at 250 it has the video quality to put your best self forward in video course without the
hassle of a DSLR setup nor the large footprint it takes up on your desk setup or office if you
guys are interested in checking it out I drop a link to the C1 down below and if you made it to
the end of this video guys comment the code word gemstone and I'll give it a like and I'll leave
a video right here to more desk accessories and tech gadgets that you might like and as
always thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video there's the peace Fade Out work here
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