External DLSR Camera Lag on M1 Mac

Question

Level 1

9 points

External DLSR Camera Lag on M1 Mac

Hi,

I am trying to connect a DLSR to my new M1 imac to use as a Zoom/Web Camera - however, the video signal is lagging by at least half a second - which is extremely off-putting. I have tried using both a Canon M50 and a Sony ZV-E10. Things I have tried so far;

Direct connect camera via USB C
Connect camera via elgato camlink and HDMI
Connect camera via ATEM mini and HDMI
Boot computer into safe mode

Nothing else is plugged into USB. Have tried the thunderbolt ports and the USB 3 ports. In all of the above circumstances, the video signal is very laggy. This happens with boththe Sony and the Canon. The frustrating thing is - if I plug in a basic Logitech USB webcam in it works fine (no lag) and the internal webcam obviously has no lag. I thought it might be a USB issue. But no idea. A really frustrating problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Sep 13, 2021 3:40 AM

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Answer 1

Mal-S

Level 5

5,062 points

Sep 13, 2021 3:43 AM in response to jamiepride

This is purely a guess, are you able to reduce the resolution of the camera’s image capture to HD or lower?

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Answer 2

hcsitas

Level 6

13,964 points

Sep 13, 2021 1:31 PM in response to jamiepride

The Sony requires special software https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/webcam/en/ that unfortunately only runs on Windows. Short answer: not possible unfortunately.

correction: runs on Mac too. Give it a shot?

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Answer 3

Sep 13, 2021 6:45 AM in response to jamiepride

AFAICT, there is no Canon webcam version that officially supports the M1 or Big Sur:

canon.us/livestream

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Answer 4

jamiepride Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 13, 2021 2:01 PM in response to hcsitas

Hi there. I don't think you are understanding my issue. Both of these cameras (Sony & Canon) are plugged in via HDMI to either an ATEM or an Elgato Camlink to convert the signal from HDMI to USB. Both of these devices are absolutely supported on MacOS. This setup works perfectly on an intel based iMac. Therefore I am suspecting that it is some kind of issue with USB on the M1.

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