Micro Four Thirds Webcam

The world needs a Micro Four Thirds webcam. Someone could make a killing by manufacturing one. Why? Shallow depth of field in a web cam.

What I mean is a USB webcam with a MFT mount and image sensor, with no display, no controls, battery, no additional power requirements, no HDMI, and no display artifacts. No PTZ. Maybe a microphone, and maybe a tally light. A sensible mount. Auto-focus. That’s it.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be MFT. Any mirrorless sub-full-frame mount/sensor standard would be fine: EF-M, X-Mount, DL-Mount. The full-frame or DSLR mounts would be okay, but in my opinion they would be excessive (in size).

There are existing cameras in this class that can be used as webcams, but they are a mess. They are all larger than necessary for the purposes of a dedicated webcam. I have found only one that can run on USB power, and evidently it overheats when do you that. Canon has a software solution, but because the compression is not in-camera, the resolution is extremely limited. Many cameras output HDMI, which requires an HDMI to USB converter (awkward at best), but then there are issues with on-screen artifacts. Some have other problems, like auto-focus or face tracking disabled.

If a MFT webcam existed, I would put a compact 20, 25, or 30mm lens on it, and would mount it in front of my monitor, a la Center Cam. I would want no cable mess, the ability to mount solidly to a 1/4-20 tripod, and as little screen real estate blocked by the form factor of the camera as possible.

Update (Mar 17, 2024): I woke up this morning to a rumor that Logitech is about to release a MFT streaming camera. An official announcement is expected on March 19. It’s not exactly how I would have designed it, but it is perhaps close enough.