What are some good cameras for livestreaming a competition? I’m thinking of offering to stream a local scrimmage, but I don’t have a camera to do it with.
It probably doesn’t need to be anything fancy or big. Even just a phone camera (depending on the phone) is usually better than some of the big bulky ones. You can then pass that through to twitch or youtube using any of the available methods. If you’re actually interested in buying a streaming camera, you’d be looking at quite a lot of money.
Ill disagree. Phone cameras are not devices that you really should be recording objects move at high speeds from a fair distance to streaming platforms, and cameras that can properly pump the data are much better suited to the job if you can get your hands on one.
I streamed a local offseason here this year, and I got a JVC GY-HM170UA free through my uni equipment rental to stream it. Now, this is honestly a little overkill, something as simple as a GoPro on a stick (hello 2014) will work just fine if you can go that high and have a long enough cable.
You also need to be able to interface with what the camera outputs if you want to actually stream it and not just record it. If you dont have a switcher, you’re gonna need something like the Elgato HD60S or the Cam Link (i had mixed success with the Cam Link though, people on stream claimed there were issues, but the recording from the stream is fine? Either way I returned it) to actually output what the camera sees. This is where a phone could come out ahead since you can stream directly to twitch/YT from your phone, but you run the risk of it being choppy due to the WiFi.
Id recommend looking at 2337/3847’s guide to streaming an event. While its a little old, everything is still relevant today.
The cameras that FIRST used last year to webcast some events were the Marshall Electronics CV502 and CV505.
While they likely would be overkill for a single use, if you’re looking to stream multiple events a year, a couple of these (or even just a single 505) would be a great investment.
Yeah, that’s probably a bit out of my price range. I think I’ll take @MikLast 's advice and get a GoPro and find a capture card for it, or I’ll find a similar USB camera with a wide enough viewing angle.
Thanks for the help, everyone!
We use 1080p network security cameras for all our streams. They are the cheapest high quality solution we have found and with POE you only need to run one cable to each camera. We use OBS for mixing, streaming, etc.
Both the Marshall Electronics cameras and GoPro cameras run about the same cost when bought used.