- We've talked about connecting your camera to your computer
with the $100 Elgato Cam Link
and the $300 Black Magic ATEM Mini.
But what if you could connect your camera
to your computer for free using just
the USB cable that came with it?
Well, U S Better believe
that's what we're talkin' about today.
This video is gonna focus on the Canon EOS Webcam Utility,
but it's important to note
that other manufacturers like Sony, Nikon,
and I think maybe even Panasonic,
have also released similar applications.
So what I'm gonna do is collect
all of the ones I can find
and put the links to them in the description.
So if you're not using a Canon camera
you can still find the resources that you need.
So we'll start off by covering the installation process.
And then after that, I'll dive into
what is so great about this
and the scenarios where you still
might wanna stick with a more traditional capture card.
Oh, and do you know what spiders use for streaming?
Webcam?
(intense music)
Now, as I said, there's a direct link in the description,
but you can find this just by simply Googling
Cannon Webcam Utility,
and it'll the pop up as like the first option.
So once you select your operating system
you just scroll down to where it says, select your model.
And you can see right on the website
which applications the webcam utility is compatible with.
And there's also the list of camera models right here,
both EOS cameras and PowerShots.
So this is quite an extensive list.
And truthfully, I don't think it really matters
which camera you select.
So if you have multiple Canon cameras
that you wanna use with this
you don't need to re-install it separately for each model.
I don't really know exactly why they have you select this,
but they do.
So I'm just gonna pick the EOS R
because that's my main camera.
One thing to be aware of, though,
if your camera's not on this list,
go ahead and give it a try anyway
because the worst thing that will happen is nothing.
And the best thing that could happen
is it's actually possible to use your camera
that's not supported officially as a webcam,
which is kind of amazing.
Now, right now, I'm running Big Sur on my Mac.
And apparently it says there's no software for that version
but if I go to Catalina, then it pops up.
Once you see the list of software
you just select EOS Webcam Utility,
select it.
You do need to enter in your info.
And then I can just click the download button,
which will download a Zip file.
Once it's downloaded you just open up
the installation package
and it will run you through the installation process.
You will need to restart your computer before it kicks in.
Once it's installed, it will just show up as a source.
So right here, I've got Ecamm open,
and you can see iOS Webcam Utility.
I don't have a camera connected.
It is important to make sure you're running
the most recent version of whatever software you're using.
For example, in my case, it wasn't working with Zoom
until I updated Zoom to a more recent version.
I didn't realize there had been an update
and then it worked fine.
So if you don't have the most recent version
you canont use the Canon EOS Webcam Utility sometimes.
The thing that makes me the most excited
for this is it can really breathe new life
into older cameras.
And I think this is important
because a lot of people do have
either a camera that you don't think will work as a webcam
or maybe just an older camera that's just
sort of been sitting on a shelf for a while,
especially a lot of the older Canon Rebels.
A lotta people start with those
and then upgrade to something else.
And now that Rebel's just sort of sittin' there,
possibly even with like a nifty 50 1.8 lens.
That would be an amazing webcam.
And now you can just set it up as a dedicated webcam.
So I love that this breathes a lot of new life,
and kind of adds new features to existing cameras.
So for example, I'm gonna take my 6D Mark II right here.
This isn't the oldest camera
in the world or anything by any means.
But one thing about the 6D Mark II
is that it does not have a clean HDMI output.
So all of this information that's up on screen,
you can't get a clean signal.
I can actually press the info button
and delete some of it or get rid of most of it
but I can't get rid of the focus box.
So if I point the 6D to me,
this white box is going to be around my face,
no matter what.
if I put the lens in manual focus, then it does go away.
But if I'm using a wide aperture, shallow depth of field,
like this 35 millimeter prime lens right here,
it can be very difficult to keep me in focus.
And that doesn't really work super well for live streaming.
But with the Canon EOS Webcam Utility,
I can just plug a USB cable into my computer.
And now the camera is recognizing
that it's plugged in via USB
and I have autofocus turned on,
but there's no box, there's no info.
So if you have a camera like this
that has great video autofocus,
but you haven't been able to use it
for streaming because you can't get a clean output.
Now you can, that is a huge deal.
So this 6D Mark II, which I never thought I could use
as a streaming camera, now is a really great option
for streaming.
My wife, Heather, has a Cannon M50,
which kinda had the same thing.
Great video autofocus
but no way to get rid of that white box
if you left it on with an HDMI output.
But now through the webcam utility, it works, no problem.
So this really can breathe a lot of new life
into older cameras or just cameras that might not
have had a clean output for streaming,
which is kinda hard to find.
Most sub $1,000 cameras, even some, $1,500 and under cameras
don't have a clean HDMI output.
It tends to be a more higher end feature.
More higher?
Tends to be a higher end feature.
And now you get that same functionality right here.
And once you've got your camera connected
with the USB cable, the camera knows that it's being used
with the webcam utility, which means it's not
going to automatically power off or shut down.
So basically as long as there's power running to the camera
it will stay on, whether that's battery,
or if you have an AC adapter.
Most cameras have some kind of dedicated,
proprietary AC adapter that's available if you want it.
Or you can just run it off of battery power.
This does not override any kind of recording limits.
So if your camera has the 30-minute recording limit,
and you're streaming and recording
it will still stop recording after 30 minutes
but it will stay powered on and continue streaming
for as long as there's power running to it.
And Canon even points out on their website
other ways to improve your video quality is with clean HDMI.
And it explains that clean HDMI does offer
better image quality, higher resolution capability,
and just makes things look better in general.
But if you're using HDMI,
then you need some kind of capture card.
And of course that then captures more money
from your credit card because it's more expensive.
So now I'm sure you can see why Cannon's Webcam Utility
has been such a big deal since it's release,
because now why on earth would you need to spend money
on something like a Cam Link
or an ATEMP Mini or some other capture card?
There are definitely a few reasons.
So first of all, EOS Webcam Utility
has been utilized many times as a total lifesaver for me.
I still mostly use the ATEM Mini for streaming,
but there have been a few times where I found myself,
especially at work or using a work computer,
where I don't have any kinda capture card,
and I don't wanna use the crummy webcam,
but I remember, oh, I can just install webcam utility
and then I'm up and running really, really quickly.
And it works really well.
But I do think it's important to let you know
that my wife, Heather, who runs webcam utility
on a relatively new MacBook Pro
installed everything correctly,
many times, has maybe 70% success with it, maybe 75%.
Sometimes it just doesn't pick up the camera.
Sometimes it just won't show up
in whatever software she's using.
And so it's not a super reliable source for her,
but me literally just in the room next door,
it's working great.
So what I would recommend is that
before you rely on webcam utility for anything important,
definitely download it, install it, play around with it,
and make sure it's actually working
with your specific setup.
And the other thing, and I could just be sort of crazy here.
I mean, definitely I am, but maybe not in this case,
is it seems like camera autofocus works
a little more slowly sometimes when using webcam utility.
I don't really understand why that would be the case
because it still be using the cameras built-in autofocus,
but I've just noticed sometimes cameras
that normally have pretty fast autofocus
seem like it's a little slower
when they're using webcam utility.
I could just be imagining it
but I swear it's a thing that's happening.
And also I did mention how exciting it is
to be able to use a camera like the 6D Mark II
or the M50 with autofocus during live streaming,
which isn't something you could do before,
but if your camera doesn't have a video autofocus,
you're using an older camera, like the 60 D
or a T2i or a 5D Mark III, or something like that,
it's not going to magically add autofocus to your camera.
So if your camera already has video autofocus,
you'll be able to use it with webcam utility.
If not, then you'll still have to stick with manual focus.
But the biggest potential downside to EOS Webcam Utility
is its current available resolution.
Right now it only streams at 576p,
which seems sort of baffling and confusing.
Canon kinda claims it's a limitation
of the USB functionality.
But I think at this point we all know Canon
is extremely conservative with what they push
their equipment and their software to be able to do.
So maybe if there were compatibility issues
with a few camera models,
they wanted to just make sure
it was gonna work as reliably as possible
with as many cameras as possible.
So it only goes up to 576p.
However, I don't think that's as big of a deal
as it might seem.
I know a lot of people are wanting to stream in 4K,
and then you're like, this is like half a K.
It's a lowercase k.
Why am I streaming in that?
It really doesn't look that bad.
And believe me, the quality from a DSLR
or a mirrorless camera
versus a built-in webcam is night and day.
Like I will take 576p of the 6D Mark II
over 1080 P of just a crummy built-in webcam
any day of the week.
And then when I put it into software
like Ecamm Live it still automatically upscales it
to whatever resolution I have my stream set at.
So using webcam utility through Ecamm
upscaled to something like 1080p or even 1440.
This still looks really good.
It doesn't, look crummy or grainy or pixelated or anything,
but just know you're not getting full 1080p.
You definitely ain't getting 4K
out over the free EOS Webcam Utility.
So if you wanna stream in 4K,
that's where something like the Cam Link 4K comes into play
because it's really the only way to do that.
Or another capture car that has specific 4K ability.
The ATEM Mini only streams in 1080, but that's fine for me.
The reason I love the ATEM Mini
is because of how easy it makes it to combine sources.
And again, remember all of these capture cards
are not manufacturer specific.
This isn't just for Canon or just for Sony.
Any HDMI source will go into either of these things.
So if you're trying to use a Canon camera and a Sony camera
and a Panasonic camera, plus like an HDMI output
from a console or a web cam or something,
that's where the ATEM Mini
just makes your life so much easier.
And if you just want to stream
in the highest resolution possible,
that's where something like the Cam Link
will really make your life a lot easier.
I should mention, too, that webcam utility
is kind of a one camera at a time situation.
So even if your computer has four super fast USB ports,
it's only gonna pick up one camera at a time.
So if you wanna use multiple cameras
you'll still need another option like the ATEM Mini.
And I have no idea how it would work to do this
with multiple manufacturers.
Like if you're using Canon EOS Webcam Utility
and then Sony's webcam application at the same time,
I don't know if that's something
that's even possible to use.
It sounds like it would be a total nightmare.
And I would just avoid it
because instead of inflicting that pain on yourself
you could just buy an ATEM Mini and then you're done.
So keep in mind EOS Webcam Utility
is really intended for,
hey you've got a Canon camera,
you wanna do some streaming or some video conferencing,
here, use your Canon camera
instead of the terrible built-in camera of your computer.
And if you're somebody who's looking to get
into streaming or leveling up your video conferencing,
I really recommend starting out with the webcam utility,
because it's gonna let you know how things work
and kinda get your workflow going.
And then if it's something you really wanna stick with
and you have a specific reason to upgrade,
then you can get a Cam Link or an ATEM Mini,
but there's no reason to go spend that money right away
if you're not totally sure this is something
that you wanna do or something that's gonna to work for you.
So try it out for free
and then see if you wanna upgrade later.
And that's always my best advice is
work with what you have
and then upgrade as your needs become apparent.
Because if you look at just what somebody else is using,
like, oh, Tom has all this super cool stuff.
I will go to his affiliate links and order all of it.
And then I will have it all and I will be happy.
And you might not be,
because the stuff that I have chosen is very specific
to my workflow and my needs.
And so if you start out with whatever you have,
use it to the best of your ability,
upgrade as your needs and your preferences
become more apparent over time.
That's gonna give you the most customized,
most efficient, and most effective workflow.
But, if you wanna know more about live streaming
and all these tips and tricks and stuff
I have put together a special playlist
just full of those videos with all kinds of cool
tips and tricks to make live streaming a dream.
That didn't rhyme the way I wanted it to.
(gentle music)