Sony today made its Imaging Edge Webcam software available for Macs, letting Mac uses transform their Sony cameras into webcams that can be used in lieu of built-in Mac webcams.
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Sony first unveiled its Imaging Edge Webcam software for PCs in August, with the initial software limited to Windows 10 machines. At the time, Sony promised a fall expansion to the Mac, which has now happened.
Imaging Edge Webcam works with a wide range of popular E-mount, A-mount, and DSC cameras, with a full list available on Sony's website.
If you have a compatible Sony camera, the Imaging Edge Webcam software is free to download from the Sony website. macOS 10.13 to macOS 10.15 is required for the software to run.
Tag: Sony
Top Rated Comments
(View all)3rd party apps that aim to do this mainly suck and none supports FaceTime.
This would have been 10000% easier to do and more useful to the public than the 20 second hand wash software on the Apple Watch (SMH).
I tried to install it *twice*. Not only did I had to fully reboot twice, but this thing managed to turn the voice over accessibility option on its own, and as it rebooted, my Mac started ANNOUNCING every single app being re-launched. I don't know if I should cry or laugh, but this is another fail from Sony poor quality apps.
I’d definitely agree with this proposition. It’s really not acceptable to have such poor webcams in a 2020 MacBook Pro that costs £2,000.Apple should support the ability to use iPhones as Mac webcams, since most Mac webcams are still garbage.
Sony and the other major camera brands have released this type of software, but it unfortunately doesn't support all the cameras these manufacturers sell.
If you need this functionality and your camera isn't supported, you've got options. The cheapest option (free, actually) is to use your iPhone or Android phone as a webcam using the free Iriun software. You install the software on your computer and install the Iriun app on your phone. The two devices need to be on the same wifi network, and it works pretty well in my experience. iPhone cameras (even on older iPhone models) are leagues better than the webcams built into the latest, priciest Macbook Pros.
Another option is if you have a digital camera with an HDMI or mini HDMI out, you can get a dongle that converts the camera's video signal from HDMI to USB in a format your Mac or Windows machine can use with Zoom, Skype, etc using no additional software.
These dongles range in price from $20 for cheap, no-name ones at Amazon to name-brand ones like the
Elgato Cam Link 4K ($130) and the Pengo HDMI to USB video grabber ($90). I have the Pengo unit and one of the cheap no-name ones and both work great, without any additional software.
This capability is super helpful for anyone who needs more sharpness, better contrast, better colors, or better handling of suboptimal lighting than what you get from cheap webcams or the webcams built in to most computers.
My use-case is I teach at a small college, and some of my classes are online using Zoom. I need to have a webcam aimed at the whiteboard, which I stand in front of and write on as I teach, as if classes were in person on campus. The webcam in my Macbook sucks, and the well-reviewed Logitech webcams have been nearly impossible to find since the pandemic happened (except on eBay, where price gougers miraculously have plenty of new units in sealed boxes which they're happy to sell you for 2x the normal price). I've tried a couple of the inexpensive, no-name webcams on Amazon and I managed to find one of the well-reviewed Logitech ones, but the image they produce isn't good enough for students to clearly see what I'm writing on the whiteboard, plus they do into and out of focus depending on where I'm standing or what else is in the frame. I happen to have a Sony RX100 with an HDMI out, so I bought one of the $20 HDMI to USB dongles from Amazon and it works great.