Author Topic: Free standing webcams FTW!  (Read 1267 times)

Manotea

  • Where there is doubt...
Free standing webcams FTW!
« on: 28 May, 2020, 05:14:37 pm »
I've just bought me a webcam to clip to the top of my 27" Monitor (or rather, one of my 27" Monitors... :) ) so I can now teleconf without folks getting to either look up my nose, stare at a blank wall or admire the side of my head.

Whatever will they think of next?  ;D

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #1 on: 28 May, 2020, 05:33:44 pm »
Partner is teaching and playing piano remotely Has one webcam above keyboard and others at different angles. Piano keyboard contrast is somewhat problematic.

Chris S

Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #2 on: 28 May, 2020, 05:36:24 pm »
I've just bought me a webcam to clip to the top of my 27" Monitor (or rather, one of my 27" Monitors... :) ) so I can now teleconf without folks getting to either look up my nose, stare at a blank wall or admire the side of my head.

Whatever will they think of next?  ;D

Careful. You'll be Twitch streaming Overwatch or Fortnite before you know it...

Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #3 on: 28 May, 2020, 06:59:49 pm »
I managed to get one delivered from Hong Kong just as lockdown bit.  It has a tripod screw on the base as well as a natty clip arrangement for attaching to the top of a screen.  We use it on the camera tripod and I have the pc plugged into the large screen tv.  Friday night is ZoomPub night but we do use it for other purposes.

I also have an adapter to plug my phone into the tv and a bracket for the tripod to hold the phone.   That works well for WhatsApp.

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #4 on: 28 May, 2020, 07:19:46 pm »
We use it on the camera tripod and I have the pc plugged into the large screen tv.  Friday night is ZoomPub night but we do use it for other purposes.

That was left rather hanging....

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #5 on: 28 May, 2020, 07:26:44 pm »
It seems both the cameras and the microphones are optimised for faces and speech.

D's piano recording, teaching and sharing have made this somewhat challenging...

robgul

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Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #6 on: 29 May, 2020, 07:03:09 am »
I've just bought me a webcam to clip to the top of my 27" Monitor (or rather, one of my 27" Monitors... :) ) so I can now teleconf without folks getting to either look up my nose, stare at a blank wall or admire the side of my head.

Whatever will they think of next?  ;D

Be interested to know which make/model/purchasing source - I've been looking at getting such an item but it's a bit of a jungle of products and performance claims  (assuming it's PC and not the dark side)

Thanks

Rob

ElyDave

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Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #7 on: 29 May, 2020, 07:16:55 am »
SAme here, my current set up is a little sub-optimal
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #8 on: 29 May, 2020, 07:23:00 am »
We use it on the camera tripod and I have the pc plugged into the large screen tv.  Friday night is ZoomPub night but we do use it for other purposes.

That was left rather hanging....

 ;)

Our webcam with built in twin microphones is Logitech C920.  Prices have rocketed since March in spite of there being none available still in the UK.

Kim

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Re: Free standing webcams FTW!
« Reply #9 on: 29 May, 2020, 11:38:21 am »
Our webcam with built in twin microphones is Logitech C920.

The sex workers' favourite, apparently.  Barakta recently took delivery of a friend's spare one, and other than a bit of arsing about because Windows 10 isn't ready for the desktop (if the camera isn't accessible due to some privacy setting, why not give an error message to that effect, rather than emulating the symptoms of an incompatible driver ffs?), it seems to work well.  Not only does it avoid nostril-vision, but it does an excellent job of exposure control in quite challenging settings (barakta has a window with the setting sun over her shoulder, and a low tolerance for light on her face).  And it's a real lens that can actually - FOCUS YOU FUCK - on things at close range.

I remain sceptical about the merits of video for online collaboration, but it seems to be the way the disability activists are going as - given BSL interpretation, captioning and sparing use of the chat channel for deafblind users - it seems to be the least-inaccessible option for most people.