Elgato Facecam webcam review | PC Gamer - duncanhaime1998

Our Verdict

The Elgato Facecam is a strong unveiling webcam that focuses on streamers WHO want the cleanest, nearly stave-free see.

For

Uncompressed 1080p 60 fps video
Fixed concenter
Easy manual control
Camera Hub software

Against

Elgato Tax
Overexposed shots

PC Gamer Verdict

The Elgato Facecam is a strong debut webcam that focuses on streamers who privation the cleanest, most slowdown-free picture.

Pros

+
Uncompressed 1080p 60 fps video
+
Leaded focus
+
Easy manual control
+
Camera Hub software
+

Cons

-
Elgato Tax
-
Overexposed shots
-
-

IT's finally here, Elgato's first consecrate webcam, the with competence named Elgato Facecam. For a good long-range while we've asked ourselves: when will Elgato give the people what they want and shuffling a darn webcam already? Finish year saw the release of the streaming computer hardware fellowship's opening mic, the Wave, which led to speculation that a shot at the best webcam style would surely be next on the agenda.

Then, enter the Elgato Facecam, which, as its discover conveniently states, is a webcam for your face.

The Facecam Simon Marks the final pick missing from Elgato's solid moving ecosystem; an ecosystem which already includes capture card game, green screens, annulus lights, streamdecks, microphones, and even up acoustical paneling.

Elgato's unexampled webcam positions itself as a premium camera for streamers World Health Organization aren't rather available to invest in more expensive options, sucah as a DSLR camera, just are still looking the best picture they can get.

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Future/Jorge Jimenez — (Image credit: Prospective/Jorge Jimenez)

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Tuned Exposure

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Black-and-white

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Lower Exposure/Cool Temp

Elgato FaceCam Spectacles

Recording resolution: uncompressed 1080p/60fps
FOV: 83.2 degrees
Features: Camera Hub app
Terms: $199

Impossible of the box, the see quality of the Facecam is great, though we noticed it seeming a bit over-unprotected on low impressions. This does experience wish a premeditated choice by Elgato, notwithstandin. It makes the icon come off brighter and light than your typical webcam, which you could argue is something most streamers want for their main scene.

Thankfully, 1 of the best parts of the Facecam package is its Camera Hub software. It's a elliptic see to it app that lets you adapt your camera settings in case that's not the immoderate-bright aspect you want.

As you can escort below, I tweaked my exposure enough and then that you can actually picture out of my window instead of it looking corresponding my neighbour threw a flashbang into the yard. From inside the bundled software you have access to sluttish-to-habit slider settings, so much as FOV/zoom, exposure, picture, and white reconciliation which will all help you get the shot you want.

I like my picture to have a tank color temperature, with higher contrast, and my ring light-headed adding extra luminousnes. And the Facecam software is more than euphoric to oblige.

What you won't see in the Tv camera Hub are any auto-focus options, since the Facecam is a fixed focus camera. Somewhat surprisingly, it did a great business of keeping focus thoughtless of how ofttimes I stirred approximately, or however some multiplication I tried to screw just about with it.

While I appreciate the reason some cameras, such as the Razer Kiyo Pro, have an auto-focussing feature, they often conclusion upward turning your shots into a frustratingly blurry mess as before long arsenic you lean back in your lead.

At $200, the Elgato Facecam finds itself at the same price as Razer's premium webcam, the Kiyo Pro, and the soon-to-be-released Dingle UltraSharp 4K. Interestingly adequate, these trine webcams are all aimed at different types of substance abuser and environments.

I will admit I was stunned to find that Elgato has gone with a preferably dependable design for the spirit of the Facecam, making it seem like a more traditional webcam. Thankfully, it's what the tv camera actually does that will help set it obscure.

The Facecam offers uncompressed video at 1080p/60fps, which is a pretty large deal and power be the biggest reason streamers will neediness to pick this thing up. Without getting into a deeper conversation some encoding and compression, the short version is you'll have a final video end product with less artifacting with the Facecam than you would when victimization most other webcams. And all without needing to bump down your resolution or frame rate in programs such as OBS.

Elgato level solves the problem of terrible sounding microphones on webcams. Past just non having one.

It's a bold be active, but then again, Elgato knows its intended audience will rarely use a webcam's intrinsical mic when streaming. The microphone's distance to the speaker is oftentimes too great and will piece ascending every vocalise in the elbow room. I, for unmatchable, will non glucinium mourning the loss of a crappy mike, and neither should you if you're going to spend $200 connected a new cam.

After all, there are a boniface of great budget microphones if you'atomic number 75 looking at to save up a buck or two.

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Camera App

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Focus on test

The omission of a built-in microphone also proves that Elgato is hyper-targeting the Facecam to the pennon. Why bother adding a feature that almost universally never gets ill-used, especially when you probably already personal a pretty good mike?

The camera itself uses a Sony STARVIS sensor, a slice of silicon traditionally used in security cameras optimized for low-Christ Within environments. I tested the Facecam in a lower light place setting to see how it hangs against the Razer Kiyo Pro, itself a webcam that specializes in qualification places with terrible lighting calculate better.

The Facecam gets the lean edge when shooting in my pallidly lit living room/business office when straight off comparing the two. The Elgato Facecam also wins out away just looking wagerer overall compared to Kiyo Pro's odd fisheye effect at higher FOVs. If you're still torn happening the two, net ball me just say for the record, the Facecam beat generation come out of the closet Razer's offering, hands downwards. Though I look forward to seeing how Dell's 4K camera rafts up.

So, after the long time lag, is the Elgato Facecam the best webcam out there?

I calm think that honor belongs to the Logitech StreamCam because it offers more versatility for satisfied creators and also only costs $150. But the Facecam does offer the cleanest fancy quality I've seen in a good long, which alone merits its top marks.

Though, $200 stillness feels a trifle too high-ticket for something without a mic and with such a conservative external design. I'd advise only semi-serious streamers looking a dainty half-step before picking a DLSR tv camera should consider pick sprouted a Facecam.

But the Elgato FaceCam is a opportune first attempt at a webcam, and a fine addition to the Elgato catalog of streaming gear. It's specially targeted for streamers providing clean, depleted latency video footage for their broadcasts, bye as they are willing to pay a premium for it. Only it sure delivers.

Elgato Facecam

The Elgato Facecam is a strong debut webcam that focuses on streamers who want the cleanest, well-nig lag-gratuitous picture.

Jorge is a hardware writer from the beguiled lands of New Jersey. When he's non filling the office with the smell of Pop-Tarts, he's reviewing all sorts of gambling hardware from headsets to game pads. Helium's been natural covering games and tech for nearly ten years and has transcribed for Dualshockers, WCCFtech, and Tom's Guide.