Sony has joined other camera manufacturers in offering webcam apps for both Windows and MacOS platforms.
Canon’s EOS Webcam Utility in use. (Source: Canon.)
With webcams in short supply and many people relying on applications like Zoom, Skype Microsoft Teams and the like, the leading camera manufacturers have released software to enable camera owners to use their cameras for video conferencing. Some apps were slow to come to Australia and many were only available for Windows users. We’ve listed the main apps that are available for Windows and MacOS users below.
Canon’s EOS Webcam Utility is available for more than 40 camera models and is compatible with most of the popular streaming platforms. It is currently Windows only but a full production version of EOS Webcam Utility for macOS is ‘in development and coming soon!’
The Fujifilm X Webcam app is available for both Windows and Mac OS and supports the company’s three medium format cameras as well as the latest XC-series models (7 in total). It supports most cameras’ functions but the film simulation options available vary with the camera connected.
Nikon’s webcam software is still in Beta format and only available to Windows users. l Supported cameras are as follows: Z 7, Z 6, Z 5, Z 50, D6, D850, D780, D500, D7500 and D5600.
Also in Beta format is the OM-D Webcam Beta from Olympus, which is only compatible with the OM-D E-M1, E-M1 Mark II, E-M1 Mark III, E-M1X and E-M5 Mark II. It is available for Windows 10 and Mac OS 10.12 (Sierra) to Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina) platforms.
Panasonic’s LUMIX Tether for Streaming is also Beta software but it’s available for the Windows 10 (32bit/64bit) and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.14 platforms. Operation with Mac OS 10.15 Catalina is under verification but some issues are reported.
Sony has just released Imaging Edge Webcam for macOS (Ver 1.0), along with an updated version for Windows (Ver 1.1). Compatible operating systems are OS Windows 10 (64 bit) and Mac OS 10.13-10.15. The desktop application is available to download here.
