Can't use Chinese action cam in FCP X or as webcam?

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Level 7

24,082 points

Can't use Chinese action cam in FCP X or as webcam?

I have a Wimius Q1 4K action camera which I can plug via USB into an old cheap Windows laptop and it works perfectly as a webcam.

However, when I plug it into either my 2012 Mac mini or 2017 iMac I get nothing!

OK, I can download videos into FCP X etc. but when I switch it to "PC Cam" I get nothing, so I can't use it as a webcam or as a live feed for FCP X. I can use the FaceTime HD??? camera in FCP X but the lens quality is reminiscent of the proverbial "bottom of a beer bottle."

I have been told in another forum that I probably need a special Mac driver but there don't appear to be any. (Macam didn't work or maybe I was using it incorrectly?)

Has anyone had any success?

iMac 27" 5K, macOS 10.14

Posted on May 20, 2020 4:30 AM

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Answer 1

May 20, 2020 7:17 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Let me start off by saying that the expectation of using that or any other webcam as a live input source for FCP X is zero.

Using it as a webcam would require a driver, which doesn’t seem to exist. AFAICT macam ceased to be developed several years ago. I have in the past (maybe in High Sierra) attempted to use some cheap pc webcams but macam would fail to work even then, so I am afraid that it may not be a viable option now.

But I have to ask: why would you think that a cheap Chinese webcam would be better quality than the built-in FaceTime camera on any recent (or not so recent) mac?

If you want to record high quality video you would use an actual video camera.

I used my 2014 mbp camera intensely and I don’t have any complaints. For videoconferencing it is great. For actual video work I would not use it, on another webcam anyway.

I seriously don’t understand why people always fault it, or a front camera on an iPhone, for being only 720p. It is more than enough. People doing videoconference with you would not know the difference.

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Answer 2

May 21, 2020 12:22 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Ian

If you want a live feed into FCPX you might have to dig out your old Canon HV 20 ( still working?)

Would be a good match for the 2012 Mac mini having a FireWire 800 port.

The success you have may depend on the OS it is running. DV and HDV becoming difficult.

Might be a cumbersome set up, but I know how you like to rise to the challenge.

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Answer 3

Alchroma

Level 7

23,912 points

May 20, 2020 4:45 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Does the camera show in the System report?

Al

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Answer 4

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

24,082 points

May 20, 2020 5:44 AM in response to Alchroma

Yes, it appears under "Haemorrhoid" . . . OOOPs! Sorry, I know it's a PITA but I meant "Android".

The Mac sees it but presumably only as a mass storage device.

When it is connected to any computer, the camera shows 3 choices on its LCD . . . USB Storage, PC Camera and Charging.

Selecting "PC Camera" does the trick when plugged into a Windows machine but nothing with a Mac.

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Answer 5

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

24,082 points

May 20, 2020 8:10 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

The Wimius is essentially a "poor man's GoPro" but it has got an excellently sharp lens. No comparison with the iMac's. Incidentally, my old 2008 iMac's webcam seems about the same as my 5K iMac.

The FaceTime HD webcam claims to be 720p but looks more like the quality of an old VHS camera when used on FaceTime/Skype and PhotoBooth. Maybe on a small screen device it is OK but on my 5K 27" iMac it looks bad. . . . slightly blurred, dull and grainy. Strangely, when used in FCP X it sems to give a slightly better picture . . . is it processed differently?

My son's iPhone image on my Mac is crystal clear and bright together with my cousin's iPad.

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Answer 6

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

24,082 points

May 21, 2020 1:08 AM in response to thesurreyfriends

I find your comments slightly disturbing. 😀

You seem to know me better than I know myself . . . how on earth do you know I have an HV20 . . . either psychic or a photographic (in every sense) memory.

I must admit that my main concern was to use the Winius as a super-sharp, super-wideangle webcam which I can do on my 7 year old Toshiba laptop but which I find inconvenient in other ways. I rarely fire it up, so when I do it invariably insists on spending ages updating the operating system before I can start using it . . . not very useful when you want to make a Skype call or do something else at short notice.

Using the camera with FCP X is only a secondary consideration . . . I don't like a machine telling me I can't do something, especially when a "despised" cheapo one can do it!

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Answer 7

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

24,082 points

May 21, 2020 11:39 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

I have just received a very cheap (£21) Logitech C270 Webcam and made screenshots to show why I was dissatisfied with the FaceTime HD camera.

This is the FaceTime camera which has a wider field of view than the Logitech.

Here is the Logitech. . . . I find the "clean" image is more pleasing than the rather darker, contrastier one from the Apple camera. It also appears to be sharper.

Of course, if I could use the Wimius I would get a super wideangle view together with increased sharpness.

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Can't use Chinese action cam in FCP X or as webcam?

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