Over the years, Elgato has positioned itself as a top brand for streamer accessories with an impressive lineup of lighting rigs, broadcast control panels, and capture cards, among other products. And it looks like they’re rounding out their offerings by covering as many streaming accessories as possible. Last year, they did that by dropping microphones specifically for that demographic. This year, they’re even releasing a webcam in the form of the Elgato Facecam.
Yes, every company that makes PC accessories is putting out webcams (and monitors with built-in high-end webcams) this year. It’s just that long-ignored peripheral that’s suddenly become highly sought-after with the work-from-home boom. From what we can tell, though, this webcam is aimed squarely at the streamer demo, with features specifically targeted towards their particular needs.
The Elgato Facecam is equipped with a Sony-made STARVIS CMOS sensor that allows it to shoot in 1080p at 60 fps. We know… you’re only impressed if it shoots in 4K, but most streamers looking towards webcams as their streaming cameras probably won’t be transmitting at 4K any time soon, so it’s definitely appropriate for the target market. That sensor, by the way, has an eight-element prime fixed focus lens with f/2.4 aperture, 24mm full-frame equivalent focal length, and an 82-degree field of view, a set up that, the outfit claims, works great for capturing detail while reducing noise, regardless of lighting.
The webcam records in uncompressed YUV format, so it requires no re-encoding on your webcam feed, resulting in very low latency and zero artifacts, while onboard flash storage stores all your settings directly on the camera, allowing you to retain all your settings when you move from one computer to another (so long as you have the same companion software on it). It also boasts a custom heat sink, by the way, that will enable 24×7 broadcasts without overheating, allowing you to do those multi-day streaming marathons whenever you feel like it. Yes, even when the AC breaks down in the middle of summer, it should hold up. You probably won’t, but it will.
The Elgato Facecam comes with a low-profile monitor mount that lets you attach it to the top of your display panel, although it can also be mounted on any standard tripod using the built-in quarter-inch thread. Unlike some webcams that came out recently, it doesn’t have a built-in mic, which shouldn’t be an issue with the target demo, since streamers tend to use a separate mic for better control of their voice.
The webcam is meant to work with a companion PC app called Camera Hub, where you can tweak settings like white balance, contrast, zoom, exposure, shutter speed, color temperature, and more. You can also allow the software to perform automatic tweaks on its own based on its real-time ISO readings. And yes, it’s compatible with the outfit’s Stream Deck control panel, so you can program specific camera adjustments as a dashboard shortcut you can bring up with the push of a button.
The Elgato Facecam is available now, priced at $199.99.