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Comment by renewiltord | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone have a comprehensive guide for Canon DSLRs on MacOS on M1? The Canon drivers to use as a webcam are nightmarish and my friends had a hell of a time trying to get it to work.

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I’ve solved most compatibility problems with several camera brands (and their drivers) by simply using a hardware HDMI->USB video capture/processing card or stick. Then I can mount it as a generic video device and not install drivers at all, allowing me to switch cameras out at will.

Ah ha, thank you. Which device are you currently using?

Currently using an Atomos Connect since theyre compact and not expensive. Good luck!

Thank you!

FYI, online reviews say the Atomos Connect is just a repackaged version of the same generic HDMI-to-USB converters with the ms2109 chip that sell for $10-20 on Amazon (like the one linked in the original article).

The recently viral “USB hubs drove me crazy” post forced me to realize that all commodity outboard consumer hardware are probably identically sourced boards/chips, with western branding responsible for the markup— but this one survived where a previous cheaper one failed, YMMV.

As I understand, the drivers (webcam utility? not sure) are built for x86. For some reason they don't work in apps which are built for M1, so the camera only works if an app which needs a video is running in emulation mode.

So, if you want to use Canon DSLR on M1 in a web browser (e.g. google meet), get a browser built for x86.

I'm using Chromium, it can be downloaded for x86. The issue is that Chromium doesn't have screen share feature. So, for screen share, I'm using Chrome, and joining the call for the second time, in "companion mode". That's 2 separate browsers to participate in a call. Maybe there is a way to get Chrome or Firefox for x86, but I was a bit too lazy when setting it up :)

Haha thank you! That’s certainly an interesting approach.

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