In this guide, we will see how to use Canon DSLR cameras as a webcam to have the highest video quality in video calls.
Video calls have increased exponentially in recent years, so much so that the network is saturating with the amount of data exchanged between devices and servers.
Throughout the internet, you will find many companies selling their webcams. The best ones are unfortunately very expensive, but some users may have tried a trick to have a decent webcam to do their virtual meetings with friends, family or work.
That’s why, for all the lucky ones, Canon has made available a program that transforms an SLR camera into a webcam.
As explained in DPReview, the company has released a beta version of “EOS Webcam Utility”, a software which, as its name suggests, is a tool for converting EOS cameras to webcams.
How to use the Canon Camera as a Webcam for Free
Since April 2020, Canon has allowed you to use almost all of its latest cameras on the market as a webcam. This was a feature that its users have been asking for years, and implementation couldn’t be simpler, since all we need is a camera, a USB cable and drivers that take up only 1.5 MB.
Canon cameras compatible with this program include SLR and mirrorless cameras, whether they are Full Frame, APS-C, compact or any other type. The cameras supported by EOS Webcam Utility are as follows:
EOS SLR cameras
- EOS-1D X Mark II
- EOS-1D X Mark III
- EOS 5D Mark IV
- EOS 5DS
- EOS 5DS R
- EOS 6D Mark II
- EOS 7D Mark II
- EOS 77D
- EOS 80D
- EOS 90D
- EOS Rebel SL2 (200D in Italy)
- EOS Rebel SL3 (250D in Italy)
- EOS Rebel T6 (1300D in Italy)
- EOS Rebel T6i (750D in Italy)
- EOS Rebel T7 (2000D in Italy)
- EOS Rebel T7i (800D in Italy)
- EOS Rebel T100 (4000D in Italy)
EOS mirrorless cameras
- EOS M6 Mark II
- EOS M50
- EOS M200
- EOS R
- EOS RP
PowerShot cameras
- PowerShot G5X Mark II
- PowerShot G7X Mark III
- PowerShot SX70 HS
In the EOS Webcam Utility Beta link we find the links to the drivers that we must download for each model. Officially it is only available in the United States, but we can use it without problems in Italy if we have compatible models.
So follow these procedures to use your Canon camera as a webcam:
- Select the model of your camera
- In the software section, go to EOS Webcam Utility Beta 0.9.0 for Windows
- Select it and then Download the file which is named “EOSWebcamUtilityBeta-WIN0.9.0.zip”
- Now decompress the file .msi file format using winrar or any other unzipping app.
- After that, run the file to start installation process by clicking Next and the driver will be installed so that Windows PC can detect your camera as a webcam.
- Now, reboot your computer and go to test if it works. For this, you have to turn on the camera, put it in video mode and connect it to the PC with a USB cable. This can be a problem on Mini-USB models, while recent mirrorless ones use USB C and you will probably already have such a cable in your home.
To check if it works, you have several options. The most convenient is the Webcamtests website, where you need to authorize Chrome to access your camera. There you can see not only the image, but the technical data of the signal, such as resolution or frames per second.
You can also go directly to the messaging application that you will use, such as Zoom or Skype, and select it as a source. As you will see, the image quality is excellent and the auto-focus works perfectly.
SLR cameras do not support cable charging, so the battery may not last long. Therefore, it is advisable to have at least one backup battery if the video call will last for a long time, in addition to a tripod on which to place it.
If you still want to use the camera as a webcam but it’s not in the compatible list, all you can do is buy an HDMI video capture device and connect it to your computer. For this, your camera must have an HDMI output and have the corresponding cable (usually Micro HDMI or Mini HDMI)
Watch video guide below on how to use Canon camera as webcam.
This is how to turn your canon camera into a PC webcam. If you have any question, don’t hesitate to ask me using the comments box below this post.
