Use dslr (550d) as high res usb camera

[josvanr]

Hi

Is it possible with ML to use my 550d as a high res usb / webcam? I'm now using a 2M webcam for various art projects (projection of live images) but would like to have a larger resolution. Is it somehow possible to exploit the larger image sensor of the dslr for this?

Platform I'm using usually is linux.

thnx, Jos

[nigel]

You can use the sensor as a webcam. You do no need to use ML for this to work. A search on Google could point you in the right direction. I forgot what the application was called. I used to do with the 450D. However it was limited to 720p

[nigel]

Or you could use a HDMI media capture card for that.

[ItsMeLenny]

josvanr, if you have ever used the canon eos remote shooting application for windows and mac, using it as a webcam would work in a similar way
it produces a 4:2:2 mjpeg stream over USB at a semi high definition resolution, it's not fullHD, but still looks much better than a webcam
it should be possible, but you'd need an external program for it to work, unless your operating system can detect your camera as a webcam
i would also suggest turning off the auto off in camera, otherwise every 5 minutes your camera will switch off

i did a quick duckduckgo and the first result is good
http://gizmodo.com/5557265/how-to-use-your-canon-dslr-as-a-webcam
it has a video tutorial and also says you'll need the eos utility, along with other software

in addition the second result was
http://www.instructables.com/id/Use-your-Canon-EOS-1000D-as-Webcam/
which should work in a similar way for 550D

as for linux, I am yet to find a way.

[josvanr]

Thnx for you replies ! I also found some applications but they seem to not use the full resolution of the sensor (2mp and lower where as the sensor is 18mp).... But i'll search on........

[nigel]

Is it because perhaps USB 2.0 cannot handle the bandwidth with full hd?

[ItsMeLenny]

Is it because perhaps USB 2.0 cannot handle the bandwidth with full hd?

No, not exactly.

In terms of usb webcams and similar, the normal low quality ones stream uncompressed data at 640x480 (RGB) at about 30fps.
Uncompressed HD, like 1920x1080, would not be able to do the same, but compressed into something like mjpeg it could be done over USB2.0.

Now, the 550D (at least, it may differ between cameras), streams at 1056x704 (4:2:2) mjpeg, I'm not sure of the fps, but I believe that that resolution uncompressed would also be too big to go over USB2.0 (if it weren't compressed).

The mjpeg stream over USB is separate to basically everything. It's not related to what the HDMI puts out, it's not related to what RAW recording uses, and it's not related to what's viewed on screen, and it's not related to what is usually upscaled into h264.
I would ultimately assume that it was put in just for the canon eos utility software.

However, on looking at the https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgQ2MOkAZTFHdFFIcFp1d0R5TzVPTVJXOEVyUndteGc&usp=drive_web#gid=0 sheet
The resolution does match the "YUV (HD) VRAM Photo". But I know nothing more.

I'm waiting for USB3.0 fullHD webcams, although I've heard some of the USB2.0 HD and fullHD produce ok quality.

[htitman]

give this a try...
http://sparkosoft.com/sparkocam