I have a Logitech C920 and am looking to upgrade. Something suitable for streaming.

Some annoyances with the Logitech: sometimes autofocus fails and poor reproduction of blacks. Ex: Lack of detail when a black cat is on screen.

I already have a nice mic-- the webcam doesn’t need one.

  • Goun@lemmy.ml
    23·
    4 months ago

    Wow, I’ve used a C920 and now a C930 and never had any issue, although I just do meetings.

    I’m interested on seeing opinions too.

    • markstos@lemmy.worldOP
      15·
      4 months ago

      C920 is good enough for meetings. I solved the focus problem using the traditional Linux method of writing of udev rule which launches a timer when it’s plugged in, which periodically launches a systemd service, which runs a bash script to make sure it self-corrects at least every 5 minutes.

      ❯ cat /etc/udev/rules.d/90-video4linux-webcam-config.rules
KERNEL=="video[0-9]*", SUBSYSTEM=="video4linux", ATTRS{idVendor}=="046d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0892", TAG+="systemd", RUN{program}="/bin/systemctl start video4linux-webcam-config@$env{MINOR}.timer" ENV{SYSTEMD_WANTS}="video4linux-webcam-config@$env{MINOR}.timer"

      ❯ cat /etc/systemd/system/[email protected]
# This file is managed by ansible-video4linux-webcam-config
[Unit]
Description=Periodically restart webcam config service

[Timer]
# Unit= defaults to service matching .timer name
OnActiveSec=30

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

      ❯ cat /etc/systemd/system/[email protected]
[Unit]
Description=Set webcam configs

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c "/usr/local/bin/video4linux-webcam-config.sh %I"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

      ❯ cat /usr/local/bin/video4linux-webcam-config.sh
#!/bin/bash

if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
  echo "Expected minor device number as sole argument" 1>&2
  exit 1
fi

   v4l2-ctl -d $1 --set-ctrl focus_automatic_continuous=0
  v4l2-ctl -d $1 --set-ctrl focus_absolute=0
      • TCB13@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        4 months ago

        I’m using a C920 on Debian and I don’t have focus issues. I remember that once it was permanently stuck out of focus but unplugging and plugging again fixed the issue. Never had any other issues in years.

    • BaumGeist@lemmy.ml
      2·
      4 months ago

      My c920 now glitches out and refuses to stream video after about 10 minutes of use (mic still works tho). After some unknown long period of time, it resets and works for another 10 minutes

      • Max-P@lemmy.max-p.me
        2·
        4 months ago

        Yeah mine’s doing that too, and my dmesg is flooded with USB disconnect and reconnects.

        The thing probably is overheating and shutting off. I believe I’ve seen videos of them catching fire too, not sure if it’s that one or another webcam that looks similar.

        Mine’s on a USB hub with buttons for each port so I just leave its port off until I need the camera and only turn it on when needed.