Yes, that is a gotcha, as some of the cheaper or older camera models have no HDMI out or the require proprietary conversion with a vendor driver. I haven’t run into this often myself yet since most people I know have been buying newer and more video focused cameras over the past couple years.

EDIT - For your case perhaps using camera settings to minimize the data (ISO/aperture/shutter etc) being shown on on the screen works well enough to use what you have?

> EDIT - For your case perhaps using camera settings to minimize the data (ISO/aperture/shutter etc) being shown on on the screen works well enough to use what you have?

I saw a few threads with that suggestion, but I wasn't able to minimize the data being shown, or confirmation that anyone with a Rebel T7 was able to do it.

I was able to do this on my Rebel T7i by switching to manual focus, and then selecting the "info" button a couple of times to remove the overlay. There might have been some other changes I made, like turning off the grid overlay, but I think just the first two changes were enough though.

This is the gap I hit, after trying to set up an old Canon G11 (released 2009) as an alternative to a webcam for my partner's Twitch streaming. It has a micro-HDMI port on the side of it, but only for reviewing photos— it doesn't pass through the live viewfinder image, and it appears there may be hardware limitations which prevent that from ever being possible, even with the various hacked up firmware options like CHDK/Magic Lantern [1].

[1]: https://chdk.fandom.com/wiki/G11

Custom software, such as Magic Lantern[1] for Canon cameras, can offer clean HDMI out for certain models, among other features.

[1] https://magiclantern.fm/

It can, though it doesn't seem to support my Rebel T7 either.

For a T7, one can simply use Canon's webcam software.

Kind of, yeah [1].

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31413073

EDIT: I mean it'd probably be OK if I were just shooting a video--I can fumble through it connecting unreliably, or just do another take if it unexpectedly disconnects. But I'm doing multiple video calls a day, and the webcam built-in to my monitor "just works" every time. It's tough to justify the additional complexity for something that isn't working reliably.

That's why I started leaning toward "Clean HDMI". With that method, as long as the HDMI capture device works, everything should "just work" on the Mac side, and as long as the camera can output clean HDMI, it should also "just work." I'm not dealing with a poorly-supported software webcam utility, special USB signaling, or annoying inactivity timeouts.

But it looks like I'll need a different camera, and it won't be cheap, but at least it's an option.

For the case of some older Nikon models, like my D7000, it is not possible to get "Clean HDMI" from the stock firmware, but there are options to patch the firmware[1][2] to get this. I use this with an HDMI to USB dongle[5], a wired battery pack[4], the aforementioned D7000 and any of the lenses I already owned. I've found that 35mm is a bit too tight given the length of my desk where the camera is mounted[3], but 20mm-24mm is about what works well for me at the moment.

The biggest problem with my setup is that when I open OBS I need to disconnect and reconnect the dongle before OBS will pick it up. Until I figured out how to repeatably get that working it was... more trouble than it was worth. I need OBS because the version of the patched firmware I'm running produces a non standard aspect ratio that I adjust for in OBS, at the cost of a more involved setup and extra CPU utilization. If I used the patched firmware that removes the fixes that (I haven't tried it yet), I would likely forego OBS for meetings.

[1]: https://nikonhacker.com/wiki/Supported_Models

[2]: https://nikonhacker.com/wiki/Nikon_Patch

[3]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094N6W6SP

[4]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071L8R4NC

[5]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K3FN5MR

It's not ideal but I've circumvented this by disabling automatic focus and other things that add visible elements to the preview, and the just using the preview's 720p output. It's a hassle and you'll have to manually adjust the focus so that everything's not blurry, but the end result quality is quite good.

Are you doing it on a Rebel T7 or a different camera? I tried doing this on mine but it didn't seem possible.

Different, I think. It's a Canon but I don't it wasn't bought by me and I don't have it right now so can't check the exact model, sorry. Quick googling suggests that it can be done with Rebel too: https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/index?page=content&id=ART17...

It should be an AF/MF toggle in the lens.