In my bid to become the best-equipped non-streamer, I finally got a mic for my GH7. With the camera mounted on my rather springy webcam mounting arm and connected to the PC via the Elgato HD60S, I am able to stream at 1080p as an input for SLOBS. Unlike consumer webcams such as the G922 that I have, using a digital camera allows for much more flexibility when it comes to things like white balance and focus. The picture is so much better than with the G922, although I would still need to get some lighting. I’m currently relying on the Nanoleaf Canvas squares on the forward wall, set to a bright white, to provide forward illumination. It works well, but not as well as if I’d had more strategically placed lighting options.

The only problem with using a digital camera for streaming is audio. There is a slight lag between live action and what the camera is sending to the PC. That means that using an external mic is out of the question for a live stream (recordings are OK). The camera has an internal mic, but as you might expect, it’s garbage. I picked up a hot-shoe mounted cardioid mini-shotgun mic from Movo (VXR10) for something like $35, and while I wasn’t expecting much, the performance is pretty OK. There’s a slight echo in recording, but that’s a result of my workspace having nothing but bare walls, allowing noise to just bounce around. With the proper filters applied to the audio input in SLOBS, I’m pleased enough with the results.

That fuzzy slipcover on the mic is colloquially called a “deadcat”, which is a fun fact you can use to impress and/or annoy people during your next Zoom meeting.