Technology

You start to feel badly for legacy tech manufacturers like Canon.

Then they do things like this, and suddenly I am happy to see them die.

You can't treat your customers with contempt and not expect them to return the sentiment.

I found a way to use my old Nikon as a webcam using an HDMI capture card. Hooked it up to the camera's mini HDMI port and wham! had a working webcam!

But after thirty minutes, it would always switch off the live view, so i was left with a camera feed of the menus. Turns out this is an import restriction so it can be imported as a "still camera" and not a "movie camera" for significantly less taxes.

Enter some wonderful soul who found a way to hack the firmware to allow live view to stay on continuously, so now it works great as a webcam!

Until consumers learn to reject proprietary software this will be the case

Man a one time fee, like fine I’d suck it up I guess but a subscription? Just why

Geez, during the pandemic Sony released its functionaltiy for free! It was really nice.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00247038

This reminds me of when I tried to buy an insta360 camera, only to learn after the fact that it requires an app to function. And that the app isn't even compatible with all phones and tablets.

Maybe it's buried on the store page somewhere that installing the app is a requirement, but I was pretty annoyed to learn that I had just bought a plastic brick unless I also wanted to upgrade my phone.

Sony gave us that webcam feature for free. Please don't get any bright ideas, Sony.

Ah... Proprietary hardware and software. Ugh.

Shareholders will surely love it when we treat high end professionals like shit

Is there an open source solution? I actually stopped using my Canon camera as a webcam because the software was so shitty, now they want me to pay to use it 🤣 All they've done is stopped me from ever buying another Canon camera again.

Panasonic provides the software for free for their cameras. Still only 720p but at least you're not paying for it.

Wasn't the first ever webcam just a regular camera that took shots of the office coffee pot? I'm pretty sure it was a bespoke script

I also remember the dude who made a homebrew app for his DS to control his Canon DSLR for long exposure shots because the alternative was to drag a fat laptop around or buy a $300 Canon PDA.

$30 billion company want**'**s

twitch

Also, they should be clear that it's $5 per month

That has to be an easy hack or workaround though, right?

I've always had Canon. I've worked with their professional trainers. C100s, 5Ds, R5... All of them.

Good thing I've also used Nikon and Sony as well. Guess when I finally get sick of the R50 I just use around the house in... Ten years or so I'll see who in the game isn't a shit head.

So, I guess I'll never buy another camera, eh?

Even better, let me know if y'all are offloading any good RF glass! I'll pay bottom dollar!

Sell your glass NOW.

The old adage that lenses keep their value so you're only ever really renting them is about to fall off a cliff.

The funny thing about my camera (DC-G9), is that it obviously had the 30-minute limit, as required by the WTO. But at the end of that limit, it seamlessly stopped recording and started recording to a new file, thus making two separate recordings that you just had to stitch together later in post.

Since 2019 however, it got a firmware update after the limit was no longer required by the WTO. It now records to a single file without limit. Or so I'm told, I use mine for stills only, and almost never take any video. Oh, and it obviously works as a webcam.

another company to avoid.

I am superior to everyone in the world because I own a Nikon DSLR (its a d60 from like 2010)

I need to buy a camera for recording some easy shots indoor (explainer videos, tutorials, vlogs etc…). I already have an old basic canon for photos. Does anyone have any tips?