How To Become Zoom or Teams Superstar in 15 Minutes: A Complete Guide To Choosing a Webcam For Your Online Meetings
I work remotely as a product manager for two teams at Wrike and spend roughly 20 hours each week on Zoom calls. During video calls, the context is often lost due to a lack of physical contact, and if you don’t have a quality camera, you’ll see a “blurry mess” instead of a visible person. It’s especially a shame to see eminent speakers during a training session using a standard camera in a dark room, all while the cost of such trainings can be several times higher than the cost of normal equipment.
I decided to use my photography and lighting experience to improve my Zoom calls, and give tips to anyone who uses Zoom extensively. In this article, I’ll discuss the techniques you can use to make your online meetings feel like an in-person one
The main test conditions are as follows.
I’m taking a screenshot of my screen on Zoom via a Macbook Pro (2560x1600) with no improvements or tweaks on each hardware set. I do it twice — with the lights turned all the way up (about 100 watts from the LED source) and with the lights turned off. In the dark I only have the laptop screen and an external 24” monitor with a white background to illuminate me. I always look at myself on the screen, not at the camera. The product links lead to Amazon and are not always the lowest. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This is about how the setup looked without external lighting. The LED light here is on purely for better photo quality. By the way, this was shot on Huawei P30 Pro:
I adjusted the focal lengths (affecting the camera’s view angle) to a standard 35mm, and I also added the aperture for the sake of proper comparison.
Everything took a lot of time. Some shots had to be photographed multiple times. I also tried to wear the same clothes, didn’t shave, and even kept my Christmas tree in the background. However, some insignificant details in the picture can still emerge.
MacBook Pro’s built-in webcam (28mm, F2.8)
No additional hardware required
I’m not a fan of the MacBook Pro’s built-in webcam, which hasn’t been upgraded for generations, especially in the evening. A blurry, noisy image with distorted colors gives me the impression that I’m using a 15-year-old Nokia camera.
This is what my workplace looks like with a standard camera and arrangement (laptop on the table):
Tip # 1: Buy a laptop stand that raises the laptop and its camera at least to the neck level. You should also place your laptop on a stack of books.
With a stand, I can look directly into the camera, instead of looking down as if I were a deity observing mortals:
In low-light conditions, noise reduction generally makes it impossible to use your camera and achieve an acceptable image quality:
Tip # 2: Turn on the light to full brightness.
Let’s try to improve the lighting situation with the help of additional gadgets I have at home.
External Logitech C525 webcam (32mm, F2.8) — from $50
No additional equipment
Logitech C525 is one of the most popular external webcams with a built-in microphone, autofocus, and even a mini backlight. Its maximum resolution is 720p. Its view angle is narrower than that of Apple’s built-in cam, so the face in the frame will appear larger. At the same time, the autofocus is weak, and at a default distance the image can look a bit out of focus:
Despite the impressive lens system, the camera only works well during the daytime, since its lenses are plastic. In the evening, aggressive noise reduction can make you look like a silicone doll and can misinterpret the colors:
Tip # 3: Don’t buy an inexpensive external camera in the hopes of improving the image quality. Invest money in lighting.
External Logitech C922 webcam (27mm, F2.8): from $100
No additional equipment
Logitech C922 is one of the “elite” webcams with a wide-view angle, a 1080p resolution, autofocus, and a built-in microphone. The view angle surpasses Apple’s built-in camera, the colors are more natural, and the noise reduction doesn’t turn on as often.
However, regardless of the price, it still feels like this camera is better suited for bright office spaces rather than home conditions with mixed light or no light.
It looks somewhat “gothic” at night, but you can use it:
Tip # 4: If you have $100 for a “cool” webcam, don’t buy it.
iPhone 7 Plus (from $100 used)
Additional equipment: a tripod or clamp ($20-$30), apps ($8-$40 per year)
A five-year-old smartphone with an “innovative” (for its time), bulging two-camera system. Now you can buy a used iPhone 7 Plus for about $100. Refurbished iPhone 7 plus for about $200–300. Last year, the software for using phones as webcams took a step forward. I managed to try two of such products: Camo Reincubate ($40 per year) and Neural Cam Live (free). The first was initially a paid app (although later the developers made it free with a watermark). The second app has always offered a free use or $30 per year subscription to gain access to filters and remove watermarks. There are also good ones for Windows: EpocCam ($8) and iVCam ($10 per year).
Camo Reincubate
This is a fairly professional tool with many switches and settings. The most useful features are manual focus (autofocus in the dark is difficult) and improved exposure/white balance control (because the camera sometimes misses the mark here). The video is delivered in 1080p/30fps.
Neural Cam
On the iPhone it looks like this:
The app is managed and paid for from the smartphone, which isn’t convenient. It’s a more “automated” tool with all sorts of neural gadgets like low-light mode, sneeze-suppression, automatically turning off to prevent embarrassing accidents. There’s also a face detection algorithm and the app can darken your background. Overall, I liked Camo Reincubate’s image quality more than Neural Cam’s.
To attach the phone to the monitor, you need a tripod or a clamp. If you don’t have either, you can use several books and clothespins.
We connect via wire to the computer, install the companion programs on iOS and Mac, and select our phone camera in the list of available cameras in Zoom.
Image from a back camera (28mm, F1.8) during the day:
At night:
The image quality is quite good. If it weren’t for the iPhone’s traditionally yellow tint, it’d be even better than the “elite” Logitech. And you can work at night, too.
Once we switch to the selfie camera (32mm, F2.2), there’s good color rendering at a slightly closer distance from the camera:
At night:
At night, everything was worse: there was too much noise, so I went back to the back camera.
The quality of iPhone’s portrait camera (56mm, F2.8) isn’t suited for conferences, especially given the low aperture of the lens:
At night:
If you aren’t bothered by constantly connecting/disconnecting your phone and disabling calls and messages on your phone during your meetings, then the iPhone 7 Plus is a decent working solution.
Tip # 5: Don’t sell or give your relatives an old iPhone. Use it as a webcam. This will significantly improve the quality of your calls. If you don’t have a tripod, place the phone on a stack of books, boxes, or an inexpensive stand (around $5).
iPhone 11 Pro ($500 used)
Additional equipment: a tripod or clamp ($20-$30), apps ($8-$40 per year)
I asked our fellow testers for one of the latest “photo iPhones” and tested the changes over the last five years. You can pick up a used iPhone 11 Pro for about $500.
The back camera (26mm, F1.8) provides a good picture quality:
Here’s the back camera with a background blur effect in the Reincubate Camo application. It looks great, despite the artifacts along the hair, but the wide angle makes my face look somewhat flattened:
The back camera (13mm, F2.4) pushes me away from my conversation partner and shows off the mess behind me. That won’t do:
With 2x zoom (52mm, F2.0):
The front camera (23mm, F2.2) is worse than the back camera:
The back camera without external lighting:
2x zoom without external lighting:
Wide-angle camera without external lighting:
The noise reduction is excessive, so you shouldn’t use this smartphone at night.
If we compare the best cameras of the iPhone 7 plus and iPhone 11 Pro (and this turned out to be the front camera and the back camera, respectively), in general you won’t notice a dramatic difference. Yes, the color, tint, and micro-contrast were better in iPhone 11, but the difference isn’t striking.
The improvements of the iPhone 11 Pro compared to the 5-year-old iPhone 7 aren’t worth extra money.
Tip # 6: Constantly setting up on a tripod, using your primary smartphone for video calls, turning off notifications, or setting it to airplane mode can be a hassle. If that’s your way to fight smartphone addiction, it’s fine, but I’d strongly recommend not buying the newest flagship model for Zoom calls if you don’t already have one on hand. It’s a waste of money. You won’t get a higher quality. It’s better to move on to the next two sections.
Huawei P30 Pro (from $300 used)
Additional equipment: a tripod or a clamp ($20-$30)
This is one of the photography flagships from two years ago for Android enthusiasts and my second phone. You can pick up a new Huawei P30 Pro for more than $500, or a used one for $300. It has three cameras: primary, wide-angle, and telephoto.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any normal programs for Android that could somehow control the whole process on a Mac. I used Iriun Webcam, a free application for broadcasting images from smartphone cameras to a computer. It seems rather than transmitting a video signal from the camera it transmits a screencast, which is why such heavy artifacts take place. Comparing images from the iPhone 7 and Huawei P30 Pro, I’d choose the latter, but there aren’t any programs that would convey this quality to Zoom calls. On the other hand, the image is transmitted via Wi-Fi, so it can be more convenient if you decide to move during the call. For Windows, there’s a good program called DroidCam ($5).
Primary camera (27mm, F1.6):
Not bad, but the excessive effects ruined the natural look of the picture. The wide-angle camera (16mm, F2.2) did quite well, but a telezoom camera with a 5x zoom (125mm, F3.4) forces you to move the phone at least another half a meter back, making your face look big and blurry.
Wide-angle camera:
Telezoom:
Primary camera at night:
Wide-angle camera at night:
Telezoom at night:
Selfie camera (28mm, F2.0) is practically useless: too much contrast, pink tint, and noise:
Selfie camera at night:
Tip # 7: If you have a Mac, using an Android smartphone as a webcam won’t work.
Sony a6300 mirrorless camera (from $500 used)
Additional equipment: a tripod ($30), a power adapter for DSLRs with a cord for an outlet ($50-$100)
DSLR and mirrorless camera manufacturers (e.g., Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Fuji, and Olympus) rushed into the pandemic era, and one by one they presented software for pairing their devices with a computer via USB for use as webcams. Not every company did quite well with it, but earlier you only had the option to use an HDMI-USB converter for $113 (like this one). On the other hand, the converter will deliver the maximum quality the camera can provide (4K), while the bandwidth of USB 2.0 is only capable of 1024x576 resolution. But believe me, 1024x576 is enough for your eyes. Unless, of course, you’re a popular blogger.
To begin, check the camera support on the manufacturer’s website. Then download the utility developed by the manufacturer, put the camera on a tripod, connect it to the computer, and run this setup in Zoom.
And that’s where you go nuts! Even with the kit lens, the image quality of Sony A6300 is a cut above top webcams and smartphones.
Here’s an example of a used kit Sony lens available from only $100 (24mm F3.5–50mm F4.5–75mm F5.6):
In the evening:
And I haven’t even touched the settings yet. Although I should have — the image turned out slightly darker than necessary. At the same time, there’s no noise, the colors are accurate, and there’s bokeh! It feels like you’re either watching a blogger or sitting next to a person in a cafe.
This is a standard kit zoom lens, but the advantage of cameras is that lenses can be changed!
Now let’s try prime (with fixed focal length) lenses with a good aperture. Here’s a 50mm 1.8. It’s a standard lens and its view angle is about similar to how the human eye sees. You don’t need to move the camera too far:
In the dark, everything becomes even more artistic. I’d just add some extra lighting on the right to reduce the contrast on my face:
And now the portrait lens (75mm F1.8) is elegant with some nice depth of field and bokeh in the background:
At night:
And finally one of the fast (with high aperture) manual lenses — 85mm F1.2. A lot of bokeh, but at the same time it’s difficult to stay in the focus zone. A centimeter back and forth and puts you out of focus. Also, lenses of this type on my mirrorless camera measure light throughout the frame, not at a fixed point, e.g., on the face. Therefore, in the automatic mode the camera can overexpose/underexpose the picture (as happened below in the night mode). This can be adjusted in the camera manually in advance, but is still inconvenient.
If you don’t have a DSLR/mirrorless camera, you can buy a used one. Since you’re not tied to the manufacturer, I did all the work for you. I analyzed the list of supported cameras and recorded the lowest prices available. Unfortunately, Canon is often criticized for instability, and Nikon, for some reason, displays an image with black stripes at the top and bottom, but we’ll deal with this later in the second part of the article.
In order for the battery to last longer, you need to disable the external display on the camera or put it into power-saving mode. For large DSLRs, you’ll need to buy a power adapter so that the camera doesn’t turn off after two hours ($50-$100).
Here’s a list of supported cameras.
Canon
EOS-1D X Mark III
EOS-1D X Mark II
EOS-1D X
EOS-1D C
EOS 5DS R
EOS 5DS
EOS 5D Mark IV
EOS 5D Mark III
EOS 6D Mark II
EOS 6D
EOS 7D Mark II
EOS 7D
EOS 90D
EOS 80D
EOS 77D
EOS 70D
EOS 60D
EOS 850D
EOS 800D
EOS 760D
EOS 750D
EOS 700D
EOS 600D
EOS 250D
EOS 200D
EOS 100D
EOS 2000D
EOS 1300D
EOS 1200D
EOS 1100D
EOS 4000D
EOS R5
EOS R6
EOS Ra
EOS R
EOS RP
EOS M6 Mark II
EOS M50
EOS M200
PowerShot G5 X Mark II
PowerShot G7 X Mark III
PowerShot SX70 HS
Fujifilm
GFX100
GFX100S
GFX 50S
GFX 50R
X-H1
X-Pro3
X-Pro2
X-T4
X-T3
X-T2
X-S10
Nikon
Z 7II
Z 7
Z 6II
Z 6
Z 5
Z 50
D6
D5
D850
D810
D780
D750
D500
D7500
D7200
D5600
D5500
D5300
D3500
Olympus
E-M1X
E-M1
E-M1 Mark II
E-M1 Mark III
E-M5 Mark II
Panasonic
S1H
S1R
S1
GH5S
GH5
G9
G100
Sony
α: E-mount（ILCE-）
ILCE-7M2
ILCE-7M3
ILCE-7C
ILCE-7RM2
ILCE-7RM3
ILCE-7RM4
ILCE-7S
ILCE-7SM2
ILCE-7SM3
ILCE-9
ILCE-9M2
ILCE-5100
ILCE-6100
ILCE-6300
ILCE-6400
ILCE-6500
ILCE-6600
α: A-mount（ILCA-）
ILCA-77M2
ILCA-99M2
ILCA-68
Digital Still Camera（DSC-）/ Vlog camera
DSC-HX95
DSC-HX99
DSC-RX0
DSC-RX0M2
DSC-RX100M4
DSC-RX100M5
DSC-RX100M5A
DSC-RX100M6
DSC-RX100M7
DSC-RX10M2
DSC-RX10M3
DSC-RX10M4
DSC-RX1RM2
DSC-WX700
DSC-WX800
ZV-1
Don’t worry if you didn’t find your camera in the list. You can try to stream the image via Cascable Pro ($48 after the trial period), but make sure your camera is fully supported.
Tip #8 (the pillar tip): If you have a DSLR/mirrorless camera and a tripod lying around, you can significantly improve your Zoom image by connecting the device to your computer! If you wish to make your face on calls look less like a Minecraft avatar and pack an extra $200, I recommend investing the money into purchasing a used supported DSLR with a fixed lens.
I wanted to see which used camera you can buy as cheaply as possible. If you’re unsure of what to buy — either a webcam or a DSLR/mirrorless — remember that you have a huge selection of cameras and they’ll often cost even less than solutions like Logitech.
Canon 1100d — $80
Canon 600d — $100
Canon 1200d — $110
Canon 100d — $120
Canon 60d — $130
Canon 1300d — $150
Canon 7d — $200
Sony a5100 — $220
Sony DSC-RX0 — $280
Sony a77 Mark II — $400
Sony DSC-RX100 Mark IV — $420
Nikon D5300 — $300
Nikon D5500 — $400
Here’s the summary table:
I hope I was able to convince you that DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have a great potential to use with Zoom.
How it started:
How it’s going:
In my opinion, the progress is tangible in so many ways. I’d be happy to see the number of people who look natural on Zoom calls at least double after reading this article.
Summary:
Tip # 1: Buy a laptop stand that raises the laptop and it’s camera at least to the neck level. At least care to put your laptop on a stack of few books.
Tip # 2: Turn on the light to the maximum.
Tip # 3: don’t buy an inexpensive external camera in hopes of improving the image quality. Invest money in lighting.
Tip # 4: If you have $100 for a ‘cool’ webcam — don’t buy it.
Tip # 5: do not sell or give your relatives an old iPhone. Use it as a webcam. This will significantly improve the quality of your calls. If there’s no tripod, at least place the phone on a stack of books, boxes or a simple inexpensive stand (around $5).
Tip # 6: constantly setting up on a tripod, using your primary smartphone for video calls, turning off notifications, or setting it to airplane mode is quite a hassle. If that’s your way to fight smartphone addiction, it’s fine, but I would strongly recommend not buying the newest flagship model for Zoom calls, if you don’t have one at hand. It’s a waste of money: you will not get any super high quality.
Tip # 7: If you have a Mac, using an Android smartphone as a webcam won’t work.
Tip #8 (the pillar tip): if you have a DSLR/mirrorless camera and a tripod lying around, you can significantly improve your Zoom image by connecting the device to your computer! If you wish to make your face on calls look less like a Minecraft avatar and pack an extra $200 I recommend investing the money into purchasing a used supported DSLR with a fixed lens.
If you like this article and find it useful, like and subscribe to our channel! If I receive enough feedback, I’ll write the second part on the software component of a better Zoom and Teams experience.
