Using DSLR as Webcam without capture card - Any tips?

[Luther]

Many people are in quarantine right now and having a camera for remote conferences is very useful. So I thought using a DSLR would be a good idea. Got it working only using free/open software on Windows, but I have the feeling that there's a much easier way of doing that. On Mac and Linux this doesn't seem to be an issue (gphoto2).

Procedure:
- Install digiCamControl and OBS-Studio
- Install the VirtualCam plugin. Note: I had to manually copy the files, the installer didn't work
- Connect the camera through USB and turn it on. Open digicamcontrol and click LiveView button.
- Put the screen in fullscreen mode.
- Open OBS-Studio. Create "Window Capture" in Sources. Select the fullscreen'ed digicamcontrol window inside properties.
- Click on "Tools" (top menu), then "VirtualCam". Press Start.

Done. Now any software will recognize the virtual interface as a webcam.
But, as I've said, this seems too complicated/bloated. Is there any easier way you know of?

[yourboylloyd]

I remember I bought SparkoCam a long time ago and it worked perfectly for me through usb for my 5D2. But that was a while ago and I'm sure there is a more free option nowadays.

[ItsMeLenny]

it's an mjpeg stream that comes through it, I never figured out how to get it to act as a webcam in linux,
I could only get the stream through whatever method.
maybe search for canon dslrs and v4l2?

[Luther]

I remember I bought SparkoCam a long time ago and it worked perfectly for me through usb for my 5D2. But that was a while ago and I'm sure there is a more free option nowadays.

SparkoCam is paid... the solution above works even better than SparkoCam, but uses only free software.
I just thought that the method I'm using is not the best and some of you might have a better solution.

it's an mjpeg stream that comes through it, I never figured out how to get it to act as a webcam in linux,
I could only get the stream through whatever method.
maybe search for canon dslrs and v4l2?

On Linux it seems very straightforward (same goes for MacOS):

Code: [Select]

gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | gst-launch-0.10 fdsrc ! decodebin2 name=dec ! queue ! ffmpegcolorspace ! v4l2sink device=/dev/video0https://superuser.com/questions/870768/can-i-use-my-dslr-as-webcam-through-gphoto2-v4l2loopback

On Windows however, it is more complicated than it should.

[Skinny]

Is it limited to 480p 4:3 aspect ratio?

[ItsMeLenny]

Oh I thought you were struggling to get it to work on Linux, I read it wrong.

What I've heard for windows is, if you install the canon and eos software, eos utility and what not, the camera should be able to act as a webcam.
It's something like that, there is a driver for it to be a webcam.