Canon’s New Software Turns Your DSLR into a Webcam

Video conferencing and online classes are globally on the rise due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which means webcams are important pieces of hardware all of a sudden. Despite various advancements in technology, the quality of inbuilt webcams on a majority of laptops is still not up to the mark and that results in an inferior video calling experience. Moreover, high-quality webcams are becoming scarce in the market due to increasing demand. With all this in mind, Canon has released a new software dubbed EOS Webcam Utility Beta that lets Windows 10 users utilize supported Canon cameras for video calls.

With EOS Webcam Utility Beta, you can plug in your compatible Canon camera to your Windows 10 PC through a USB cable and use it as your primary webcam across popular video-conferencing platforms.

“Built by Canon software developers, this beta version software helps consumers to improve their video appearance while using popular video conferencing applications in the market, delivering clarity and high-image quality.”, wrote the company in a press release.

EOS Webcam Utility Beta supports the following Canon DSLR, Mirrorless, and PowerShot cameras:

EOS DSLR Cameras:

• EOS-1D X Mark II
• EOS-1D X Mark III
• EOS 5D Mark IV
• EOS 5DS
• EOS 5DS R
• EOS 6D Mark II
• EOS 7D Mark II
• EOS 77D
• EOS 80D
• EOS 90D
• EOS Rebel SL2
• EOS Rebel SL3
• EOS Rebel T6
• EOS Rebel T6i
• EOS Rebel T7
• EOS Rebel T7i
• EOS Rebel T100

EOS Mirrorless Cameras:

• EOS M6 Mark II
• EOS M50
• EOS M200
• EOS R
• EOS RP

PowerShot Cameras:

• PowerShot G5X Mark II
• PowerShot G7X Mark III
• PowerShot SX70 HS.

If you own one of the aforesaid cameras, all you have to do is visit EOS Webcam Utility Beta’s page, choose your camera’s model, download and install the software. Once it is installed, set your camera to Movie mode, connect via USB cable, and choose EOS Webcam Utility Beta as the webcam on the video-conferencing platform.

Canon mentions that the software is supported just in the US and will not be supported in other regions just yet. Also, Mac users are out of luck here at the moment. However, Canon says “additional operating systems may be available at a later date”.