topic Does a 5D Mark IV draw power from a USB connection? in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Does a 5D Mark IV draw power from a USB connection?

Bazsl — Fri, 01 May 2020 00:11:15 GMT

The idea of using my 5D Mark IV as a webcam is interesting but for a four hour conference where is the power comming from? Will the camera draw power from the USB cable or am I depended on the battery? Thanks.

Re: Does a 5D Mark IV draw power from a USB connection?

Waddizzle — Fri, 01 May 2020 01:49:50 GMT

First and foremost, I would not recommend using a 5D Mark IV for a 4 hour video conference. Depending upon your point of view, doing so is either overkill or under kill. For hours of continuous overpation, use a conventional web cam, or an actual video camera. I would go for the web cam. Most video conferencing apps do not afford the resolution. If you do need the high image quality, than use a real video camera.

None of Canon's DSLRs draw power from the USB cable, which is used strictly for data, not even charging. Canon makes AC adapters, with battery eliminators that plug into the battery compartment, to power up a camera for extended shooting sessions.

Re: Does a 5D Mark IV draw power from a USB connection?

rs-eos — Fri, 01 May 2020 11:10:20 GMT

Definitely echo what Waddizzle points out.

Also note that unless you're in a commercial setting, uploading data is much more throttled than downloading data. e.g. even though I have 200 Mbps download with my internet provider, I only have 12 Mbps upload. Thus, if capturing high-quality footage, you may not have the bandwidth to even send that out in real-time.

Re: Does a 5D Mark IV draw power from a USB connection?

kvbarkley — Fri, 01 May 2020 13:00:31 GMT

Since Canon's batteries are more than the 5 V USB supplies and a voltage boosted USB would draw too much current from the USB bus, Canon does not use the USB to charge or power the camera.