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Logitech C922 Pro Webcam Review/Test

When researching camera's for your youtube channel, it can be overwhelming. There are $1,000 DSLRs, $800 Mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lens systems, 20+ megapixel sensors, and hundreds more features that you will never use. Well, Logitech has made the search for your first camera much easier with their new webcam, the Logitech C922.

This camera is nearly identical to their prior high end webcam, the C920, but there are some differences. The first thing you can tell is that there is a slightly improved microphone. Secondly, you will notice a very slight improvement in sharpness. The third and most drastic change is that this thing claims to do background replacement without a green screen 

If you are interested in this microphone, it will set you back $100 on Amazon

What's In the Box

  1. Webcam
  2. Desktop Tripod (if you order C922 ommitted with C922x)
  3. Three month X-Split license (Six-Month license with C922x)
  4. Documentation

Specifications

  1. 1080p 30fps
  2. 720p 60fps
  3. Background Replacement
  4. Stereo Microphone

Performance / Features

The build quality of this webcam is nearly identical to the C920. It has a standard plastic build, but it feels fairly durable. It has a mounting system that allows you to mount it on top of your monitor or laptop screen as well as a tripod mount. The desktop tripod is nothing special, it has standard expandable legs, and a ball mount so you can adjust the angle of your camera. 

The image quality on this camera is great for a $100 webcam. It has slightly improved sharpness when compared to the prior C920 and can absolutely function as your primary youtube camera. When shooting at 1080p you can shoot up to 30fps which looks great. If you're doing a let's play and you plan on overlaying a facecam, you can shoot 720p up to 60fps and get really smooth video quality. But not everything on this camera is excellent.

The background replacement on the other hand leaves a lot to be desired. It struggled greatly when separating me from the background even though I was very well lit. The hair seemed to cause the most problems. It was constantly trying to differentiate my hair from the background, and it never succeeded. Ultimately, the background replacement does not function as well as I was hoping for, and if you do plan on using it, I highly suggest clearing your background completely, or investing in a green screen.

Pros

  • Great image quality
  • 1080p 30fps 
  • 720p 60fps

Cons

  • The microphone lacks in quality
  • The background replacement is not usable unless you have a clear background or green screen

Conclusion

Regardless of the fact that the background replacement does not perform as well as I had hoped, it is still an excellent camera. The video quality is superb at 1080p, and the fact that it can shoot 60fps at 720p will be a HUGE attractor for gamers. If you are in the market for a webcam and you have $100 to spend, I highly recommend this camera for your youtube channel/let's plays. If you are on a slightly tighter budget, I would 100% recommend the Logitech c920 which has video quality that is almost on par with the C922.

If you have any additional questions about this microphone, leave them on the youtube video, and I will try to reply ASAP. 

Buy it on Amazon
US: http://amzn.to/2e4uSNG
UK: http://amzn.to/2eb1ZOq

BSP-034: YouTube Will De-Monetize This Podcast

00:00 - Intro
01:00 - New Microphone?
02:15 - YouTube DeMonetizing Videos
09:24 - Apple Event
10:21 - HI-SEAS Mission Completed! (http://hi-seas.org/?cat=88)
12:05 - SETI Signal! ALIENS!
13:30 - SpaceEx Falcon 9 Explosion
15:52 - MacBook Pro Dynamic OLED Strip
17:45 - Phillips Hue Motion Sensors
18:37 - New Tile Slim
19:25 - Show & Tell (Binaural Mic Rig)
23:00 - Stranger Things Season 2
23:57 - Bill Nye Saves The World
24:53 - Red Dwarf Season 11
25:30 - Music of the Week
26:14 - What I’ve Been Testing
27:23 - You Don’t Have the Time to Achieve Your Dreams
33:53 - Outro

On episode 34 of The Bandrew Says Podcast, I talk very briefly about the new microphone that I am using for this episode. Following this, I go into a lengthy rant about youtube demonetizing peoples videos, and also how wrong people are about youtube infringing on their freedom of speech & being censored. 

Then we go into the news portion which covers the apple event, HI-SEAS Mission IV Completion, SETI & Aliens, The SpaceEx Falcon 9 Explosion & Potential Conspiracy Theory, a potential MacBook Update, New Phillips Hue products and a New Tile.

For show and tell, I walk you through a proof of concept for a binaural mic rig that I made today in order to provide demonstrations of headphones. I also talk about the reasoning behind this, and the inspiration for it. Following this nerdy portion, we talk about three pieces of show news and a transition from spotify to apple music.

Lastly, I talk about what I've been testing and why you say you don't have time to work towards achieving your dreams, but in all honesty, probably do! GET TO WORK!

Follow BSP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bandrewsayspodcast
Follow BSP on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bandrewsays

http://www.geeksrising.com

Canon DSLR That Shoots 4K Video

You read that title right. After years of waiting, Canon has finally announced that their Canon 5D Mark IV will be able to shoot 4k video!

The camera will utilize their new 30.4 Megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor which is a 6 megapixel increase from the prior iteration. This new sensor also allows you to shoot 4k video in 24 or 30fps. Just like the other canon DSLR's I've used for video, it does still have the 29:59 second limit.

One of the coolest photos on this camera is Dual Pixel RAW setting. What this allows you to do is make minute adjustments to focus and bokeh. Unfortunately this feature does take up 2x the memory, and decreases your buffer size for bursts down to 7 images.

The camera provides an ISO range of 100-32000, which is expandable to 50-102400! It also offers 63 points of autofocus, covering approximately 80% of the image plane.

For more information here is canon's product page as well as a video from Fro Knows Photo discussing the features of the 5D Mark IV!

BSP-012: How to Outline, Script & Edit for Youtube

On episode 12 Bandrew clears the air about giving away free microphones to Podcastage viewers, Talks about a comic book that everyone needs to read, discusses his gratitude for The Mythbusters, gets excited for The last man on earth, shares his thoughts about a few audio recording apps, spotify, and then discusses how he outlines, scripts, & edits for youtube.

BSP-009: How To Become a Video Creator

There has been an awakening...have you felt it. I'm back with new episodes of The Bandrew Says Podcast, but things are a little bit different. If you remember the first 8 episodes, you'll know that they consisted of me researching the news, finding statistics about dark things, and discussing them in depth and attempting to solve these issues that people have been trying to solve for hundreds of years. I am no longer able to do that because it took too much of a toll on me. So here's what we're doing now.

This podcast will now focus on a more personal reflection on my weeks and what I've been working on (in regards to geeks rising, podcastage, bsp, etc.) as well as a discussion of interesting tech news, and my opinions on how to do certain things.

For instance, in this episode I discuss how to become a video creator. I may go more in depth in terms of the technology actually required to do such a thing, but this is a very top level look at the process and what I think is important. 

I also discussed some photography and mentioned an image I took that I was pretty proud of. I have included it to the left of this paragraph and I hope you think it's cool.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy the relaunch of BSP, and I hope you're excited for the new direction I decided to take it. I personally cannot wait to make some more episodes and share my experiences and knowledge with you. i hope you find useful information and a large benefit from this podcast.

If you have the time, please leave a 5-star rating in iTunes along with a couple word review, and don't forget to subscribe and share it with all your friends. Until next week. High Five More People!!!

How to Start a Video Podcast for $30

Have you ever wondered how to start a video podcast or a video show like Good Mythical Morning for under $30-$50? Let's talk about that. =)

First off, this is slightly more than $30. I guess I bought the webcam while it was on sale. Secondly, one of our viewers BERT PD3CT challenged me to make a video podcast for under $50 and that's what this video will be covering: Video Gear, Audio Gear, Video/Audio Capture Software, & Video Editing Software. 

Gear

Video Camera: for video I went on amazon and searched for HD webcams, and looked at the reviews. At the time of ordering the gear for this challenge, I came across the Logitech C310, which seemed to provide the best features and reviews while staying within the $50 budget. This camera only shoots 720p, so you will not have the best quality image, and you will need to film with a lot of lighting, but for the $20 that I paid for this, I am perfectly happy.

Microphone: Bert recommended using the Neewer NW-700, but with a mic stand, that would put me over $50, so I decided to go a different direction. I decided to pick up 3 pack of Neewer Omni-Directional Lav Mics, which at the time of writing this article costs $4.50...yeah less than $5 for 3 lapel mics. The downside to these mics is first, the quality is not the best, they will break, so make sure you treat them with care and test to make sure they are working before recording long videos. Second, the audio quality does suffer a little bit. These are omni directional microphones, so you will be picking up a lot of noise around you.

Interface: of course for the interface, I went with the trust Sabrent USB Audio Adapter, which runs $6.00. This is the adapter I use in almost all of my videos because it is the cheapest solution, and it provides really nice results. 

Lighting: I am using the best lighting resource out there, the sun. I just set up in front of two big windows, and let the sun light me. Lighting is incredibly important and is what allows most cameras to perform at their best. 

Software

Capture: On mac you can capture video/audio the way I do it, using quicktime. All you do is click file > new movie recording, and you are good to go. Prior to even opening quicktime, you do need to go into your sytems audio preferences and make sure that the correct microphone is selected for your audio input.

On Windows, I downloaded Windows Movie Maker. This program allows you to set your video input and audio input, and then record the video/audio right into windows movie maker.

Editing: On mac you can use iMovie. This is a super simple editing program that will allow you to cut and put together movie clips, as well as overlay music, and simple titles. You won't have the most complex or in depth tools available to you, but it will give you a basis to start. 

On windows, you already recorded your footage into windows movie maker, so go ahead and edit and create your video in that program. The last time I made a movie in this software was back in 2005, but if I remember correctly, it has all the basic functionality that you will need to get a video made.

Conclusion

Option 1: The first option will cost you more than $50. You can get the Neewer NW-700 for about $20, then with the Logitech C310, will now set you back $30. On top of that you need to get the Sabrent USB Audio Adapter and a Mic Stand for the NW-700. So ultimately. You've spent closer to $70.

Option 2: Go with the lav mics. You can get a three pack of Neewer Omni-Directional Lav Mics for $5. They clip right on to your shirt, and they capture audio pretty well  considering the cost. Next, you pick up the Logitech C310, which as I mentioned is $30, and then lastly, the Sabrent USB Audio Adapter. You come in at about $41 with this option, well under the $50 limit

With one option, you go over budget by a minimum of $20, and on the other hand you come in under budget by $9. That's enough money to buy all this gear, and then go out and buy a burrito. I know which option I would choose.

If you have any questions about any of the gear in this video, or any other methods, go ahead and leave a comment on this site or on youtube and I will do my best to get back to you ASAP. 

Afterglow AGU.50 Wired Headset Review / Test

Today I tested out and reviewed the Afterglow AGU.50 Wired Headset.

There were no specs on this headset included in the box, or on the box which really bothers me. I like to know what the company is claiming to provide before I start testing a product out. Unfortunately, they did not provide anything.

The headphones are 50mm drivers and seem to reproduce audio from 20hz - 19.5KHz (Determined using frequency sweeps. Not 100% Accurate). The microphone provides a nice sound for the size, and it isolates the voice relatively well. The headset does have a controller that allows you to adjust the headphone volume and chat volume, and it allows you to mute your microphone. The cable runs splits a USB & 3.5mm jack, so you will need to be able to plug in both (USB = Microphone & 3.5mm = Headphones). In the box you get the headphones, and all the cables you will need to hook it up to your PC or Video Game console (360, PS3, WiiU).

The main selling point of this headset, in my eyes, is the microphone quality. The quality of this mic is pretty good for a $50-$60 gaming headset. However, there are quite a few negatives to this headset. Let's go ahead and compare the two.

Pros:

  • Microphone sound quality is pretty good
  • Microphone can articulate, making it easier to get good audio
  • Interchangeable microphone (need to make sure replacement mic is compatible)
  • Universally compatible with X-Box 360 / PS3 / WiiU / PC
  • Decent sounding headphones

Cons:

  • Headphones wired in both earphones
  • Not a braided cable
  • Construction feels cheap
  • Headphones do not fit snuggly - You can hear room noise

So as you can tell, the majority of pros are for the microphone, and the majority of the cons arise out of the headphones. A good way to determine whether this headset is right for you is by looking at what you will be using the headset for; will you be mainly gaming or will you be using it for skype? If you want good headphone quality for gaming, you can find a better option. If you're just looking for a good microphone, you can find a better stand alone microphone option. But if you're looking for a decent overall package, this will be serve the purpose, and will do so fairly well for the price. 

If you have any questions about this headset, leave them in the comments down below or on youtube and I will get back to you ASAP. Thanks for watching & reading.