So you may be noticing how almost every episode of the show looks a little different at the start. Sometimes the video introduction is good. Sometimes it is bad. Most of the time it is somewhere in between. I've become obsessed with getting it right. The video here shows 6 variations. Watch at the end when all 6 are side-by-side in a loop. I'm not done yet. Some of those episodes are yet to go up, as the whole Catalina release date has my whole schedule in chaos. But here is a run-down of these 6 variations and what is working and what is not. First, we have the <strong>Logitech Brio</strong>, a 4K (1080p really) webcam. I've been using this for a long while, but never happy with it. Look how washed out my skin is. The pixels are all mushy. I must do better. Next, I tried to use my trusty DSLR, my <strong>Canon T3i</strong>. It does 1080p and this may be the best of the bunch. The problem is there is no way to stream that into my Mac. I have to record to the SD card, film everything as best I can, then transfer via the card to the Mac. Doing it this way is a pain and while the image quality is great, the content will suffer as production never goes smoothly. Just to try it, I used my <strong>iPhone X</strong>. This was before I got the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but I don't think that would make a difference. The quality is definitely better than the Brio, but not as good as the T3i. And I have to record to the phone and transfer, which is a pain. OK, so I heard about the Elgato Cam Link 4K. It is a little USB device that takes HDMI in one end and outputs USB3 on the other. It turns any HDMI signal into a webcam. Yes! I wanted this for so long. Previous solutions just never worked. But what camera do I get to work with the Cam Link? My T3i can only be convinced to output sub-1080 on HDMI. I'd have to buy something new. I figured out the perfect camera, but stopped short of buying it because of the price. More on that later. Instead I got the <strong>Canon R800</strong>, a little camcorder that outputs 1080p. It only cost me $159. But my first attempt at using it was very disappointing. It looks almost as bad as the Brio! However, there are lots of YouTubers using the R800 and their video looks good. And Elgato even has a test video where they use it, and that looks good. So I played with the settings and found if I turned off "Auto" and switched to "<strong>Highlights</strong>" it looks much better. It actually looks 1080p, unlike the first try. But the other issue may have been my lighting. I have a lot of little lights. I keep adding more to try to get it better. I decided to spend $60 and get some real studio lights. Big ones. That seems to help. So the last example is the R800 with <strong>better lighting</strong>. I'm still not super happy with it. If I have more lights, why does it kinda look dark? I think the key may be in the settings. I'll keep playing with it. It could also be that "highlights" mode is working with the bright white shirt in the example. Maybe I need to adjust the exposure in some way that I haven't discovered yet. Oh, so I mentioned my ideal camera. I figured out that the <strong>Sony A6400</strong> is probably what I should get . It is a mirrorless camera with a 4K video mode that works well with the Cam Link. Plus I think the reason the T3i works so well, even though it is the oldest piece of equipment here, is just the basics: lens size and sensor size. It simply has a bigger lens and larger sensor = more light + larger sensor pixels. At least that is my theory. So the A6400 would be a modern version of that capable of pumping 4K through the Cam Link and making things look ultra-professional. But at a cost: $1,000. So I'm going to stick with the R800 for now and plan on an A6400 for later. The A6400 is all over YouTube and being hailed by many as the perfect "YouTube camera," which fits with how I want to use it.
Note: This is Club MacMost exclusive content. To view this video click the thumbnail below to go to the post as Patreon.com. Once there you will be able to view the video as long as you are logged into your Patreon account and a current supporter of MacMost at the "Club MacMost" or higher level.
