Even though it’s still famous for its arrest card, Elgato works to take over the entire setting of your streaming. The last half a decade has seen the introduction of the flow deck line to start the macro easily during broadcast; various types of lighting; And, last year, the company’s first game microphone. One thing missing in this list is a webcam – until now the introduction of FaceCam Elgato.
On the surface, the $ 200 camera is not unique. This is a chunky rectangular box that can be easily cut on the monitor, or connected to the Elgato multi-mount system. It shoots 1080p at 60fps, with a Sony-made sensor Starvis CMOS. This may not be 4K, but most of the ribbons do not need such a resolution now. Facecam redeemed it with a strong setting suite in a special camera hub program. Yes, you have to download other software for this camera to run game retrieval, stream deck, wave link (for mic) and control center (for lighting), which is a little annoying. Other companies bundle all drivers and their different settings into one tool, but I think separating it might make delivery easier.
On the camera hub you will have easy access to things like contrast, exposure and white balance. (The last two can be set to automatically so you have one fewer things to fuss.) Automatic white balance is a little warm for my taste, but it’s easy enough to turn it off and knock the number to the 4000k cooler. This software is also equipped with zoom options, but it’s nothing to write home about, because the camera focuses remains. You will always be sharp as long as you always live between 12 inches (30 cm) and 47 cm (120 cm) from the camera. It must take care of anyone who works at the table; Anyone who moves backwards will be better served with something a little more portable with advanced settings.
The biggest lottery of the camera hub is an ISO real-time reading, which makes it much easier to detect and react to changes to your lighting. Maybe your lights are too bright, or maybe natural light from outside disappears with a driving storm (which is exactly what happens when I type this). Exposure and White Balance can adjust automatically, or you can change your own settings quickly. There is a stream deck plugin available, which should make it possible to adjust the settings with the touch of a button. Of course, it depends on you have smart lighting in the first place, such as Elgato’s key lights or ringtings.
There is a definite feeling that you are meant to enter all-in in the streaming lineup of Elgato, may be best proven by the lack of a microphone on the facecam. The company says it doesn’t bother because most gamers tend to use a headset, but let’s face: Elgato prefers you to take one of the waves: 1 or wave: 3 microphones. They did sound great, but they were not my choice microphone thanks to some of the problems I have by getting a wave: 3 to work when I wear a headset – yes, even one made by the parent company Elgato Corsair.
Mostly, facecam has a lot of fewer kinks. My biggest problem is to connect it, because it must be plugged into your system directly and not through the hub. And it’s difficult with many modern laptops, which may only have two USB-c ports. FaceCam is equipped with USB-C to USB-A cable, and the company recommends you using a wire that is included instead of giving yours. I was forced to look for the converter dongle. While I praise the company to finally embrace USB-C in their game accessories, we need some solutions on the software side to ensure that they can actually be used with a hub. Logitech C920 I work with a hub and it comes with a built-in mic, so it’s likely to keep my webcam default for most of the purpose.
