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How to use an Olympus EM10 Mark III as a webcam via USB

Photography Asked by Arthur D. Howland on February 6, 2021

Have a new Olympus EM10 Mark III and was trying to use it as a webcam by connecting it to a USB on the computer. When I turn it on it has three options: Storage, MTP, Print, and exit.

I tried using Digicam Controller and OBS Studio but it keeps recognizing as a storage device and not a camera. Online tutorials seem not to mention the three options above. Any advice?

5 Answers

I will give this a small shot. I have the EM5 MII, but if you have your manual, try looking in the Video Out section, and HDMI settings. You will want to use NTSC instead of PAL output setting if you are in the US. In the Video Out>Control Settings>iAuto>Live Guide or Live Control under the iAuto menu. There also will be the Scene menu and the P/A/S/M menu. I can't seem to find the reference but, it seems to me you will have to use another connector than the USB. It may be the HDMI or an audio/video cable. If I am too far off on this, I will take my punishment as needed. Good shooting.

Answered by Edward on February 6, 2021

Yes, you can use the E-M10 III as a webcam...kinda.

As noted by Maks you can run it as a webcam by setting the HDMI Control option to 'off'. This means it will output its screen to HDMI, rather than showing it on the EVF or internal tilt-screen.

You'll also need an HDMI capture device. Lots of people use the Elgato Cam-Link, but I'm just using a cheap stick from AliExpress similar to this

There are two downsides to using an E-M10 III as a webcam though:

  • Some HUD elements still stay on screen. You can hide most of the UI with the INFO button, but it will still show the battery icon in the corner and (depending on autofocus and metering settings) the focus point and metering point. Maks does note that the battery icon can be removed by cropping the webcam with OBS.
  • There's no official AC adapter for this camera. You can either buy a 3rd party one which would slot into the battery port, or have multiple batteries and swap them out before meetings. This can get annoying on the E-M10 III as most tripod quick-releases block the battery door.

Answered by wilkgr on February 6, 2021

As the other answers state, the E-M10 III is not capable of "clean" HDMI output nor USB tethered liveview.

While I know there's a youtube video about using digiCamControl and OBS as a webcam solution touting it as a solution for any camera, the problem is that guy's using a Sony camera. The title lies.

digiCamControl relies on a camera's ability to do tethered liveview. And they do publish a list of supported cameras, which includes zero Olympus bodies. So, even if the E-M10 III did do USB tethered liveview, digiCamControl wouldn't be your solution.

OBS is a streaming studio application that can take any window (or window area) on your computer and, if you install the correct OBS virtual camera plugin for your operating system, can turn that into a webcam source.

So, if you can find an application for your computer that displays a clean liveview from your camera's sensor, then you can use the OBS solution. But AFAIK, Olympus does not supply any such application for its users (the ones they do have are either for four-thirds cameras, or (mostly) the latest E-M1 series).

And, given that your camera doesn't do USB tethering, then possibly your only solution would be if there were some way to send that liveview to your computer over the camera's wi-fi: something similar to the Olympus Image Share app, but on your computer instead of your phone and that doesn't draw control overlays over the image. Good luck finding it.

Answered by inkista on February 6, 2021

This is possible.

You simply need a HDMI cable (and a video capture device, £9.99 version from amazon is fine, if your mac doesn't have a HDMI input slot). Go to menu on the camera and make sure HMDI control is turned off, then connect the camera and it should work perfectly and just give you the option for USB Video Input on Zoom.

You'll have the tweak the camera settings to hide all the info stats.

Mike

Answered by Mike Darbandi on February 6, 2021

I have this camera and can confirm this is possible with the E-M10 III. You will need an HDMI capture stick, or something to capture the output from the HDMI out. There are, however, two downsides to doing this with this camera:

  1. You cant charge the battery via USB on the camera body. This means your stream/video feed will be limited to your battery life. And...

  2. You don't get a completely clean HDMI out. You can get rid of everything on screen EXCEPT the battery notification icon on the top left corner.

Answered by DragonFist616 on February 6, 2021

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