(upbeat music)
- Choosing the perfect camera for your live stream
can definitely feel overwhelming,
but regardless of which manufacturer
or which model you choose,
there are five features you wanna make sure
that your camera have.
And today, I honestly Canon't believe
that there are Sony great cameras out there
to Fuji choose from Olympus.
And this isn't just about finding a camera
that's gonna work with your live stream
because there are so many different ones.
You can use a small point-and-shoot camera.
You can use your phone. You can use something like a GoPro.
There are so many cameras that work great for live streaming
beyond just the built-in webcam of your computer,
which is usually not the best camera in the world.
This is more about finding a camera
that's gonna let you level up
the overall quality of your live stream.
And it doesn't really matter
if you're using something like the ATEM Mini
or the Elgato Cam Link or some other type of capture card,
these five things are what I think you need
to make sure your camera has no matter what.
And this isn't going to be a specific recommendation.
I wanna give you some features.
Down in the description,
I will put a few of my recommendations
for low-level, mid-level, and high-end cameras
that you might wanna choose from.
But there are so many different ones out there.
If you are just tired of searching
and you just want an answer,
I, personally, for my videos, my streams,
my classes, everything, I use the Canon EOS R.
That shouldn't be a surprise
if you've been here for a while.
I think for the price, the feature set,
the reliability, nothing really beats it.
The EOS R also has every feature
that I'm going to talk about today.
So that's my camera of choice,
but that's definitely not the only option out there,
so I don't wanna just steer you
towards the thing that works for me.
I wanna give you some guidelines
so you can go out and find something that works for you.
So no matter which camera you choose,
here are the five things you wanna make sure it can do.
The first one, very important, is a clean HDMI out signal.
Not every camera has this feature.
It sounds very basic, but you kind of need to go
into maybe the mid-level or the lower high-end of camera
before you start finding models
that have the option to send a clean HDMI out signal.
Sometimes you do want that info on screen.
For example, right here, just out of frame,
I have a monitor that's showing me this recording
that I'm using right now,
and it has all of that camera info.
So I can see my shutter speed.
I can see my audio levels. I can see my record time.
I can make sure things are in focus.
And a camera with clean HDMI out, like the EOS R,
will let you go into the menu
and you can actually then select
what you want to be sent on your HDMI output.
And now if I wanna use this camera to film anything,
it's not going to have anything on screen.
It's going to be a clean output signal.
Now while every camera doesn't have clean HDMI out,
there are some ways you can kind of fake it.
So for example, if I take my 6D Mark II,
now this is a great camera,
but I can't get all of this info off of the display
when I'm recording with it.
I can, however, press the Info button
on the back of the camera
and take off pretty much all of that info,
and so it's almost clean HDMI out,
but what you'll notice is there's still the focus box
and the frame there.
I can't get rid of that.
The only way to get rid of that
is to flip the camera into manual focus.
And now it looks like I have clean HDMI out,
but it's in manual focus.
So what that really means,
especially if I'm using a prime lens,
like this is a 35-millimeter 2.0 lens,
if the camera moves just a little bit
or I move further or closer to the camera,
wait, that was backwards.
If I move closer or further away from the camera,
I'm going to go in and out of focus
because once I have my subject focused in the frame,
it will look great.
And this looks like a clean HDMI output,
but if my subject is talking
and moves a little bit away from the camera,
it's gonna go out of focus.
Moves closer to the camera, it's gonna go out of focus.
And when you're doing a live stream,
there's a lot to keep track of
even if you're just using one camera
because you're paying attention
to whatever it is that you're trying to communicate.
Maybe we even have another person there
that you're trying to talk to and have a conversation with.
You're trying to pay attention to the stream itself,
make sure everything's up and running.
And you're trying to pay attention
to, you know, the live chat and interact with your audience.
And on top of that, you don't want
to then also have to be reaching around fixing focus
because that's really
just not going to help your stream at all.
It will make you wanna scream on stream.
Depending on your needs, this might not be a deal breaker.
For example, with the 6D Mark II,
what I often use it for is I keep it at f/4
with a really wide focal length.
So like right now it's at 16 millimeters with f/4.
And once it's focused,
it's gonna be a little tougher for me to go out of focus.
And I will usually use this camera during a stream
as like a second wide shot.
Sometimes an overhead shot
where there's not a lot of movement.
Once the focus is set, it's pretty unlikely
that anything's gonna go out of focus.
And then I can actually use this as a live streaming camera
even though it's in manual focus.
And that puts some limits on your stream
because it basically forces you
to use wide-angle lens with a wide depth of field,
and that might not be the look that you're going for.
And that actually brings me into feature number two
that you wanna make sure your live streaming camera has,
and that is the ability to swap out lenses.
Whether it's a DSLR or a mirrorless camera,
I think that you absolutely wanna go with a camera
that is an interchangeable lens camera.
And the reason for that
is just to give you those creative options.
Sure, if you want the really wide-angle shot,
you can get it.
But if you wanna switch to a prime lens
like I'm using right now, you can get that.
If you wanna zoom in, you can get that.
It doesn't limit you in any way,
and it opens up a lot of possibility.
For example, the lens I'm using to film this video,
the Sigma 24-millimeter 1.4 opened all the way to f/1.4.
That's a look that you can't get with a zoom lens,
you can't get on small point-and-shoot cameras.
You need a fast prime lens to get that look.
And the only way that you can use lens like that
with your camera is to make sure your camera
allows you to swap out lenses.
And you also never know
how things are gonna evolve over time.
So you might start your stream loving a super wide angle,
but then as time goes on, maybe you're gonna switch
and you're gonna want a closer angle
or you're gonna wanna have more than one camera,
like using the ATEM Mini, for example.
And that's why being able to swap out your lenses
is so important because it just builds that versatility
right into your workflow.
Now the third thing that I think you need to have
on a live streaming camera that I don't think
should be any surprise at this point is great autofocus.
For the most part, I'm guessing if you're like me,
when you're doing a stream
or an online, anything that involves your camera,
you're probably a one-person crew.
And if there's somebody else with you,
they're probably on camera also, which just means
you're not able to pull focus behind the camera.
So you need a camera that you can count on.
You don't want it to then suddenly lock on the background
and then you're out of focus for 20 minutes.
You wanna make sure that when you hit record,
it's gonna lock onto you, keep you in focus.
Even if you're using a lens like I'm using right now,
the EOS R will lock onto my eye.
And then even though it's at f/1.4,
as I move further and closer to the camera,
it's going to keep me in focus,
so much so that it's actually sort of tough sometimes
if I want to hold something up.
I have to, like, really cover my face
before the camera will stop focusing on me.
And then as soon as my face comes back,
it jumps right into my eye.
So that's what you want in a camera,
something with great autofocus.
And the fourth thing that you're gonna want
in your live streaming camera is either great battery life
or the ability to connect it to AC power
because fortunately,
streaming usually doesn't take as much power
from your camera as actually recording does
because the camera's basically just on, in standby.
Usually, you're not recording
while you're streaming, the camera's just on,
but it does still take power.
So you wanna make sure your camera's
not gonna turn off or run out of power
in the middle of your stream.
Now some cameras do come with the ability
to just plug into the wall and be powered that way,
which is obviously pretty ideal.
I know that Canon does make a wall adapter for the EOS R
and for some of their cameras.
Sometimes it looks like a dummy battery
that goes in your battery compartment,
but it has a cable that comes out
and that connects to a wall adapter.
For me, though, the Canon one is just too expensive.
I think it's something like $160 and it's probably worth it,
but I just don't wanna spend $160 on a power adapter.
Fortunately, the EOS R has really good battery life.
I can easily get three to four hours, if not more,
from a single battery for streaming.
I'm never gonna stream for three to four hours,
so that's more than enough.
Even when I'm teaching my classes online
throughout the week,
I can usually almost get through the whole day
with one battery,
but I usually switch out in the middle just to be safe
so I don't have to worry about it.
I do have a lot of batteries.
I have, like, five batteries for this camera,
so there's always charged.
I can just switch them out really easily.
And I've never had an issue with battery life or power
using the EOS R.
So whatever you're using,
make sure that it has great battery life
or the ability to just be plugged into the wall
and have continuous power
so it's not something you have to worry about at all
while you're streaming.
And just a side note, if you are streaming
and your camera runs out of power, don't panic.
Just tell people, "Hey, I ran out of power."
Swap out the battery, it will take a few seconds,
and that's about it.
It just shows that you're human and things are okay.
So don't, don't panic
if you do have those kinds of issues during your stream,
but of course you want to avoid those.
And that ties into feature number five,
which is the ability for your camera
to stay on for an indefinite period of time,
meaning it's not going to auto power off
or overheat or anything like that.
Now if you are using a camera that's prone to overheating,
fortunately, while you're streaming,
since you're not recording,
it shouldn't give you any issues.
Although if you are going on a really long stream,
several hours, you might come into some heating issues
depending on your resolution
and your frame rate and that kind of stuff.
But for the most part, you should be okay,
so you shouldn't have your camera shut down for that,
which does actually remind me,
do you know why the Sony a7S III
asked the Canon R5 on a date?
It's because the Canon was just so hot.
And do you know why the Canon said yes to the Sony?
It was because the a7S III was just so cool.
Anyway, fortunately, most cameras do give you the option
to adjust your power saving settings
and your auto power off settings.
For example, in my EOS R right here,
I can go into the preferences setting,
which is the yellow wrench,
and I can go to the second menu, and there's an Eco mode,
which I've just turned off
because I use these cameras for streaming a lot.
And then there's also the power saving options.
The display turning off doesn't really matter,
so you can let your display turn off.
You can let your viewfinder turn off.
But it's auto power off.
By default, the camera comes with, like, one minute.
So after one minute, it's gonna turn off.
For streaming, you just wanna disable that.
And that way, this camera will stay on indefinitely
as long as there is power running to it.
And just like with clean HDMI out,
which sounds like such a simple, basic feature,
not every camera does give you the option
to turn off the power saving modes
and let it stay on indefinitely.
But most of the mid-range and high-end cameras
will let you adjust the power settings to suit your needs.
And all the ones that I'll put in the list
in the description that are just my recommendations
will allow you to do that as well.
And I can't emphasize enough
that I'm not trying to point you
towards one specific camera.
I'm just trying to equip you with a checklist
that's gonna help you get a camera
that's gonna suit your needs
no matter what brand or model it might be.
And if you are interested in doing more live streaming
or online classes or any of that kind of stuff,
I have a whole playlist right here, make room for it.
I have a whole playlist here,
all about live streaming tips and tricks
and cool stuff that I think will be very, very helpful.
(upbeat music)