Now that Skype has been shut down, I have to transition to a different app for chatting to my family, and Teams seems the simplest. However the way I used to use my camera won’t work anymore. I had an IP camera on my phone that would link to Skype really easily, with no issues at all. But for some reason it doesn’t work with Teams. Even kludging together some kind of intermediate app doesn’t work with it.
So now I need a dedicated webcam instead. I don’t really have any idea what’s available, nor have an idea of pricing, all I know is I need something that will work with Teams and provide a decent image. I also want to attach it to the bottom of my monitor, not side or top, because that’s where I leaned my phone and would like it to be a seamless transition.
I’d definitely get something useable for now and decide about upgrades later. I’d further head to a Goodwill or SalvArmy where there is certain to be armloads of cams for $10ish/ea.
There are a ton of neat gooseneck mount dealies, ring lamps, etc for positioning.
Webcam prices went crazy during COVID, but mostly have settled down. You may still come across one that’s crazy overpriced though. I think it’s important to get a high-quality one since studies showed people judge others based on webcam quality. That may not be such an issue for family calls though.
Anyway, a high-quality webcam is about $100. I also have a $30 webcam and it’s fine. If you don’t want to spend $100, I’d probably spend $30.
There is such a thing as too much quality too. I was using my mirrorless camera for a while and it was freaking people out because it was too crisp and clear.
Tried that. Didn’t work. It says it should work, in theory I see no reason why it couldn’t work, but annoyingly it refuses to work.
The camera in my phone is piped through the IP Camera software to my PC, where it was picked up perfectly well by Skype.
Looking at the webcams on Amazon, most are $AUD80 - $130, which I’m okay to pay, but the range of brands is enormous, and mostly names I don’t recognise but may actually be contemporary and reliable, and not dodgy knock offs, for all I know.
I guess finding something middle-range and recognisable to me might be the way to go.
You can find a baseline logitech webcam on Amazon for 40 bucks. Don’t spend more than that unless you have a specific need for high fidelity image capture.
ETA: I see one called the “Logitech C270 HD Webcam” currently on sale for 21 bucks.
Double edit: Just realized you’re in Australia. I’m sure the costs are different over there, but you almost certainly don’t need to spend 80+ dollars.
As far as a good quality Webcam without going way down a rabbit hole, go with the Logitech C920 Pro HD. It’s 50-60 bucks in the USA, and I bought a used one for my wife from FB marketplace for 20. Great camera, great picture, has a tripod mount as well as a clamp mount (for clamping to the top of a monitor or laptop) so you could mount it low or high or whatever you want.
I second this and I’ve been using the same one for years, mostly in Teams and Zoom. Great webcam and comes with a decent quality microphone as well. As long as you have speakers, you can skip using headphones completely.
I looked at my Amazon order history and this is the exact model I bought in 2016 (and still use today).
Best practice is to simply unplug the webcam when it isn’t in use. The cover won’t stop sound recording if it does somehow get hijacked. I’m not super paranoid either but I do not want the webcam powered on if I’m not actively using it.
I’m sure you are all on tenterhooks about what I have decided to do. I did some more looking around and found a different app that sends my phone camera to my PC and that seems to work.
However, for inexplicable reasons, Teams doesn’t let you preview your camera or mic until you make a call so I’ll have to wait till my next scheduled one comes around and give it a road test then.
You should have a “Devices” option within Settings (the three dots next to your picture) that will both preview your video and let you make a test call.
Only in the paid version. The transition from Skype is for the free version of Teams, and I’m not going to pay for it until I am sure this is the way I want to go.
Me too. I have an old logitech and in my last interview I was described as “pixel-ized” even though I have 66 up/18 down bandwidth. I really just want the cam bit as I usually use my headset and either its mic or a boom.