I have a Logitech C920 and am looking to upgrade. Something suitable for streaming.
Some annoyances with the Logitech: sometimes autofocus fails and poor reproduction of blacks. Ex: Lack of detail when a black cat is on screen.
I already have a nice mic-- the webcam doesn’t need one.
You will get leagues better picture quality using a camlink/capture card and a camera with clean HDMI out. A gopro is a good budget option but a used DLSR or mirrorless camera is going to be the best. Some DSLR and mirrorless cameras support video out over usb so you don’t even need a capture card. Here’s a guide on getting it to work on Linux with a camera capability list inside the guide. If you do want to go the capture card route I hear elgato’s camlink works in Linux.
Wow, I’ve used a C920 and now a C930 and never had any issue, although I just do meetings.
I’m interested on seeing opinions too.
C920 is good enough for meetings. I solved the focus problem using the traditional Linux method of writing of udev rule which launches a timer when it’s plugged in, which periodically launches a systemd service, which runs a bash script to make sure it self-corrects at least every 5 minutes.
❯ cat /etc/udev/rules.d/90-video4linux-webcam-config.rules KERNEL=="video[0-9]*", SUBSYSTEM=="video4linux", ATTRS{idVendor}=="046d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0892", TAG+="systemd", RUN{program}="/bin/systemctl start video4linux-webcam-config@$env{MINOR}.timer" ENV{SYSTEMD_WANTS}="video4linux-webcam-config@$env{MINOR}.timer"❯ cat /etc/systemd/system/video4linux-webcam-config@.timer # This file is managed by ansible-video4linux-webcam-config [Unit] Description=Periodically restart webcam config service [Timer] # Unit= defaults to service matching .timer name OnActiveSec=30 [Install] WantedBy=timers.target❯ cat /etc/systemd/system/video4linux-webcam-config@.service [Unit] Description=Set webcam configs [Service] Type=oneshot ExecStart=/bin/bash -c "/usr/local/bin/video4linux-webcam-config.sh %I" [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target❯ cat /usr/local/bin/video4linux-webcam-config.sh #!/bin/bash if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then echo "Expected minor device number as sole argument" 1>&2 exit 1 fi v4l2-ctl -d $1 --set-ctrl focus_automatic_continuous=0 v4l2-ctl -d $1 --set-ctrl focus_absolute=0I’m using a C920 on Debian and I don’t have focus issues. I remember that once it was permanently stuck out of focus but unplugging and plugging again fixed the issue. Never had any other issues in years.
My c920 now glitches out and refuses to stream video after about 10 minutes of use (mic still works tho). After some unknown long period of time, it resets and works for another 10 minutes
Yeah mine’s doing that too, and my dmesg is flooded with USB disconnect and reconnects.
The thing probably is overheating and shutting off. I believe I’ve seen videos of them catching fire too, not sure if it’s that one or another webcam that looks similar.
Mine’s on a USB hub with buttons for each port so I just leave its port off until I need the camera and only turn it on when needed.
I have a c920 and it’s complete poop. Random hiccups and stutter and the auto focus fails.
Not a camera suggestion, but cameractrls, is a great piece of software to tweak all camera related things on Linux.
I’ve been searching for a way to control my Kiyo X on Fedora. This is great. Thank you.
Are you happy with the Kiyo X?
Very. Pretty affordable and it just works. Granted, I don’t do much streaming or recording off of it, but have been complimented several times in meetings over Zoom, Zoho Meetings and Teams. The highest setting is 1080p@30 and I’ve had no issues at all.
It has a mic, but I don’t recall ever using it as Webcam microphones are known to be horrible.
I’m using a Sony ZV-1 in a SmallRig camera cage, attached to an HDMI capture device. It’s a step below a DSLR, also in price, but it makes a huge difference to the quality and I get frequent comments about the “AWMAHGAWD amazing set up you’ve got, look at how crisp it is!” when I join meetings. The lens is really open and it captures a lot of detail. By far the best compact/quality setup I’ve found.
Looks great!
I recently purchased the Anker PowerConf C200 2K webcam and it has been great on Linux. Crisp image and no issues with focusing. It’s currently on sale at Amazon
I recently found out about Anker and I bought a wired ergonomic vertical mouse as I had been experiencing wrist pain recently. High quality for a very low price point, and from the looks of it most of their products are like that. Also helped with the wrist pain!
Dunno why you got a down vote,vote what you’re saying aligns with my experience with Anker products as well
A google Pixel phone works well for a webcam, in case someone comes across this post and has one.
Damn I actually have one, oldie but still has a better camera then my current phone. Just needs a new screen.
Tbf I am not sure all versions of the Pixel support this, my 7a does though.
If there’s a will there’s a way. I’m sure there’s a way for the pixel 3a
I’ve been using droidcamx to utilise any android phone as a webcam for a couple of years and it’s working great. Phones tend to have way better cameras compared to webcams so the video quality will be top notch in must most cases.
It’s cool they included this into android 14, though.
I’ve used droidcam in the past and I didn’t find it to be the most reliable thing ever which is why I appreciate the Pixel feature
How?
I haven’t tried it myself, but I believe the OC is referring to the webcam USB mode that Pixels (idk if this is an Android feature or a “Pixel” feature) have. To enable it, connect over USB then you’ll have a notification along the lines of “Charging this device over USB”.
If you click that notification it’ll let you enable Webcam over USB mode, which I assume just causes the phone to act as any other webcam device would.
I believe that is an Android 14 feature, not something exclusive to Pixel phones
Exactly, it works flawlessly and without any further setup on EndeavourOS for me. It’s a Pixel feature afaik.
That’s cool indeed, thanks.
Is that you Rossmann?
Just wanted to say that I was pretty disappointed with the C920 as well. The difference to my work MacBook’s webcam is quite literally night and day. With the C920, anything but bright, frontal, uniform illumination gives you a bad to mediocre image, while with the MacBook I could pretty much sit in complete darkness and nobody would notice a difference.
I think if you want something actually good for streaming you’ll have to use a real camera that can stream to your PC instead of a “webcam”. Not sure which brands are compatible with Linux though. Many streamers do list their streaming equipment in their bio, so you might just want to look around for someone like that with a good looking stream or just ask.
Well, Apple is, Apple.
Maybe a Logitech StreamCam will deliver better results for you? I don’t have complaints about my C920 but I don’t push it so far like you seem to do.
Yes. One thing that motivated me was comparing side-by-side the C920’s result with my iPhone’s webcam. My test subject is a black cat in a black cat bed. With the C920, it’s just one black blob. With the iPhone camera, you can at least see the distinction between the bed and the cat.
i’ve had a lot of luck with the logitech brio which is a 4K WebCam, the only issue that I’ve run into is the fact that you have to make sure that it is plugged in to a USB 3.0 and not 3.1 port.
You’ll have to forgive me, as I haven’t tested this personally on Linux yet, but this webcam is a USB 3 device and doesn’t have any special drivers. It should work plug-n-play.
The reason I bring it to your attention is that it has a nice physical lens for focusing, aperture, and zoom; all separate. It’s 4k 30 fps and I can confirm that the picture is really nice.
Looks nice and gets good reviews!
Any Logitech webcam should work fine. Otherwise you need to use a streamer setup like a Panasonic DSLR with filters and more sophistication.
You can probably use an Elgato Facecam (Mk.2), configure it in a Windows VM and then save the settings directly on the device to use it under Linux.
