Canon EOS M - Trying to use as a webcam...Help?!

[testrachan]

Hey folks, I've been googling for hours and still not found a definitive answer so apologies if this has been covered elsewhere...

I have an old Canon EOS M camera that still works nicely but is surplus to requirements. I wanted to use it instead of my standard webcam to increase production values when streaming.

I'm on a 2021 M1 MacBook Pro running Ventura 13.3.

I started by downloading EOS Utility like some posts suggested (most recent version I could find for this model is v2.31) – this gets the camera connected but when I try to use it on Streamyard it appears as an image displaying the words EOS WEBCAM UTILITY with a USB lead and a red X. I've tried a few different leads and none have changed this.

I then tried downloading digital photo professional 4 as some posts pointed towards that but when I click remote shooting I get the message 'EOS Utility is not ready'.

Are my problems stemming from not using the official Canon USB? Would I be able to get around this with a HDMI lead? Do I need a capture card? Appreciate that the EOS M won't have support forever but would hate to not be able to get a little more life out of such a good camera. 

[Stephen]

Hello!

If you're using the original EOS M camera, it isn't listed as supported by the EOS Webcam Utility. The full list of supported cameras is HERE. 

[testrachan]

Thanks, Stephen. I am and that definitely seems to be the case, but I wondered if there's a workaround or something I haven't seen. 

[Stephen]

Unfortunately, if your camera isn't compatible, there isn't a workaround that I'm aware of. 

[Waddizzle]

Welcome to the forum!

Stephen is correct unfortunately.  One feature shared by all cameras compatible with the Webcam Utility is that they are compatible with the regular EOS Utility in Remote Shooting mode.

As near as I can tell, none of the original M Series bodies are compatible with Remote Shooting by [any] application.  This includes your EOS M and my EOS M3.  

[testrachan]

Thanks. Any hope for a HDMI out? Would that bypass things and allow it? Or a capture card?

[Waddizzle]

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@testrachan wrote:

Thanks. Any hope for a HDMI out? Would that bypass things and allow it? Or a capture card?

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Honestly, I’ve never used the HDMI output of the M3.  If you are looking for “Clean HDMI” output, then you are likely to be disappointed by the results.  The EOS M does not support “Clean HDMI” output.

Many users claim that the unsupported models can actually produce a “Clean HDMI” signal.  But this involves switching the lens to MF and pressing [INFO] until all settings are disabled.  

This type of work around is fine for making “talking head” videos that you see all over YouTube.  The content creators sit in one spot.  The pretty much do not move around, which means the camera has no need to refocus, anyway.

However, I think the biggest limitation will be the short battery life.

[Stephen]

You can use a capture card with caveats. I have a T7i. It doesn't have clean HDMI out, either. Remember, when you use a capture device, it's simply capturing whatever you're putting into it—which, in this case, is your camera's HDMI out. The goal is to get as clean an output as possible. The best way to do that is to put the lens in MF and cycle through display modes until you get a "clean" LCD screen. Manually focus your scene, and you should be good to go.

Please also keep in mind that this is not something Canon supports! 

[testrachan]

Thanks. It's simple talking head stuff so that might be enough. Worth a try before buying something different anyway. Thanks folks.