In this video you’ll get live on-camera demonstrations of the difference in how you appear between zooming and moving your web camera closer to you when shooting talking head videos.
Even though I’ve used the Logitech C920 webcam in this demonstration, the theory applies to ALL cameras with zoom lenses, such as dSLR, mirrorless, and handy cams too.
Photo: Compare using webcam zoom with moving closer
In the photos here, I tried to keep the width of my shoulders the same, so you could see the difference between zooming in and getting closer to the camera. You can really notice it in my glasses. Can you spot the difference?
Hopefully you can see that my face on the right looks distorted. In this view I’m about 16 inches from the lens of the camera. The shot on the left side looks less distorted.
Before you record any video…
Do some tests for yourself with your own web camera to see what looks best.
There are so many things to learn and test with web video. And if you’re new to it, you might want to start a checklist. These are just a few things.
- Video size/resolution
- Lighting
- Audio quality
- Camera distance
Hopefully this mini course is helping you get through all the technical details.
Logitech Set up guides for Mac and Windows
- Here’s the Logitech C920 Setup guide that shows you how to use the Windows App that you can download for your camera.
- Download the Camera settings app from this page: Logitech.com
Look for the Logitech Webcam Support Button at the bottom of the page.
If you have another kind of Logitech webcam, check out this page with all the current models.
Check out all the lessons in this course:
- Making Connections
- Your Biggest Fear
- How to Look Younger on YouTube – without getting plastic surgery
- Webcam Setup and Capture tips using Quicktime Player
- Lighting Tips for Webcam Videos
- Zoom your webcam or get close?
- Get better colour from your webcam
- Basic Video Edits using QuickTime
- Create Screen Capture Videos
- Insider tips for recording full screen video
Comments
One response to “Logitech Webcam: Zoom or get closer to your camera”
Thank you for this information. My problem is that after I set up the camera on the logitech capture camera software, when I go into zoom or skype or even try and take videos through the computer it doesn’t keep the settings. it goes back to a wide view and doesn’t zoom in. any ideas how to get the camera to keep the settings? thank you so much.