Elgato’s Facecam is a $ 200 webcam with streamer friendly features

Elgato has attempted to be the brand of choice for streamers and content creators who need gear to get started, although it’s rarely the most affordable option. It manufactures its own LED lighting platform, several types of brackets for lights and microphones, app-controlled adhesive light strips for your monitor or desktop, sound deadening pads for podcasting, a mouse pad that serves also green screen, and much more. Now he has a $ 199.99 webcam for you to sell.

The Elgato Facecam is a 1080p webcam that can record up to 60 frames per second. It has a Sony Starvis CMOS sensor, with an eight-element fixed-focal lens with an f / 2.4 aperture, a full-frame equivalent focal length of 24mm, and a field of view of up to 82 degrees. The company says it’s great for capturing detail while reducing noise in all kinds of lighting conditions, and fixed focus is good if you don’t want a camera that constantly refocuses.

The webcam is supposed to be an option for people who don’t have their own high-end camera to connect to something like Elgato’s (pricey) Cam Link HDMI to USB devices, which range from $ 129.99 at $ 359.99. The Facecam includes a low profile monitor stand and can be attached to it or to a standard tripod with its quarter inch thread.

Photo: Elgato

An app called Camera Hub is available for Windows 10 and macOS, and in it you can update the firmware of the Facecam and change the settings. This webcam has built-in storage that can save your white balance, contrast, zoom, and other settings, so it won’t need to be adjusted again through the app if you pass to another device. Elgato says the Facecam’s sensor is surrounded by a heat sink, which he says allows “cool 24/7 operation” without overheating. Webcams can be a little warm, so this will probably be a good feature if you’re running multi-hour streams or someone looking to break Twitch marathon streamer Ludwig’s 31-day record.

What the Facecam has to offer could make it a good option for streamers who can afford its $ 200 price tag, or for people like me who occasionally jump into a video meeting. I’ve been using a review model since last week, and its auto-balancing features make me look presentable in my basement apartment – no small feat. I need to spend more time with it to really test it, though.

Photo: Elgato

Despite the positive first impressions, it’s hard to ignore what the Facecam lacks compared to some similarly priced competitors: The Facecam doesn’t have a microphone. Elgato omitted this because he felt most people had a preferred dedicated headset or microphone, which will almost certainly be the case for Elgato’s target audience. On the flip side, the Logitech StreamCam is a bit cheaper at $ 170, has a microphone, and can also record in 1080p with 60 frames per second. It’s smaller overall, and its Logitech Capture software can enable an auto-tracking feature that keeps you centered in the frame, which the Facecam doesn’t currently do at launch.

Logitech is not the only competitor in this price range. Razer’s $ 199.99 Kiyo Pro offers 1080p resolution at 60fps, and Dell’s new $ 199.99 UltraSharp webcam goes up to 4K resolution at 30fps, though it does also does not have a built-in microphone.

The Elgato Facecam is available today for $ 199.99.