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Live stream on camcorders HDMI?

Can I stream a live image from a Canon EOS Digital SLR camera via HDMI directly to my computer for capture?

  • Here's what I want to do. I want to somehow connect a Canon EOS Digital SLR camera (I haven't bought one yet, but I guess it would probably be the 5D Mark II) to my Mac so that I can stream and record the video that comes directly through the lense LIVE (i.e. NOT playback of a file I've already recorded). In essence this would make it a super webcam (I'm trying to set up an online TV show, and quality is very important to me). Can I use the HDMI output on something like a Canon 5D Mark II to send whatever the camera sees at that moment directly to an HDMI capture device on my Mac? If so, is the 5D Mark II, the only digital SLR that can do this or is there anything a bit cheaper from Canon or is there a Nikon equivalent?

  • Answer:

    I have no clue about video, but I'm hoping that it is, in essence, the same as still photos. I have hooked up my Canon cameras to the computer via the Canon software that comes with the camera. It is called Tethered Shooting. I haven't actually done it with my 5D MkII yet, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. I would imagine it can be done with video, too - the camera does have a HDMI output. It also depends on your vidoe card if it supports the communications between them. Look up thethered shooting, and talk to the experts..... there are Canon forums somewhere.

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If you are going to buy a 5d Mk 2 the dealer would probably be delighted to tell you how to do this. That is a great DSLR and I wouldn't mind owning one. The fact that they have nice quality video should be a big plus for a lot of people. Your computer, software, and interface capabilities may interfere with your ability to do this. Ask your dealer - they should be able to tell you and show you how to do it.

The files from the 5D2 (and in fact all of Canons DSLRs that do video) is H.264, which is an efficient codec in terms of quality per byte, but is lengthy to compress and decompress. Even with the codec in place the files are pretty huge and would be difficult to stream and view live or near live. There are other issues with using a DSLR for an online tv show, such as manually focusing: essential with VSLRS and good practise in anycase, but with the larger sensor comes much more critical depth of field... Also you either have to manually zoom or use a fixed shot size. One of the most overlooked aspects of video is the sound quality, how are you going to mic for decent sound and get it into the camera? Beachtek do a solution for the 5D2 which accepts XLR mics and has a headphone socket, but you are best advised to stip off ch2 in post as this is used to trick the auto gain control. It is fraught with difficulty, I would use a camcorder with a firewire out instead, something like a Sony A1 is the most basic I would opt for. And the foootage will need compressed before streaming.

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