Micro 4/3 HDMI out for older m43 (-> USB capture card)

phigmov

Probably Not Walter Kernow
Location
Aotearoa
I'm looking to experiment with using one of my older m43 cameras as a webcam replacement now we're stuck WFH in NZ for a few more weeks.

I have a generic USB3 capture card which takes HDMI-in and is plug 'n play - Windows 10 picks it up and recognises it immediately as a video source.

If I hook up my Oly E-M5 through a mini HDMI adapter into a standard HDMI cable into the USB capture card - nothing. The camera does know something is up but displays a generic 'Nothing Connected' orange icon on the E-M5 and a brief dialog about hooking up to a TV or something similar. This is in video mode (or any other mode on the camera).

If I hook up my Panasonic G3, I get nothing coming through on the capture-card or on the camera screen. This is on any mode.

On either camera, I can't find anything specific to say 'Pass video through HDMI when connected' or similar.

What am I missing ?

Annoyingly, if I hook up my ancient Pentax K-7 DSLR to the capture-card, I get the menu screen on the camera, and when I flick the LiveView switch, I get a live-view of the camera image. Go Pentax!

So I know the capture card works AOK. It just doesn't seem to play nice with my m43 cameras (I also have an E-PM2 & E-M1 I could try but I figured the E-M5 wouldn't be much different to either of those). Do they not like the little mini/micro HDMI adapter-plugs (the Pentax was fine with them) in the signal path? Are they trying to do some crazy HDMI magic my capture-card fails to understand (but my Pentax if ancient enough not to bother with)?

Any advice gratefully accepted.
 
If anyone is interested... I picked up a cheap GH3 and run it into a no-name hdmi/usb adapter capture-card. Put it on a mini-tripod and set the back-panel display off to save power. Picked up a cheap body-grip/battery holder. I use a SLRMagic 8mm rectilinear ultra-wide (was tempted to use my 7.5mm Rokinon fisheye but it pulls in way to much) most of the time but my Oly 9-18mm also does the trick (I figure a manual lens will save power if it doesn't need to maintain contact with a lens cpu/motor). Works well & people do comment on the clarity compared to a webcam. Downside is the batteries need charging regularly - depends on how many meetings you have a day - can easily go a few days if you have 3-4 30m meetings a day but 1 or two long meetings will drain the batteries fairly quick (I usually switch back to the inbuilt laptop or an old external Microsoft one if the power goes).
 
I notice there was nothing but crickets between your two posts. Did you make any progress with the Em5? All of my mu43 collection are Olympus.
Sadly no. My newest Oly is an E-M1 and it doesn't do hdmi out for live-view. I think most newer Olys will be OK but I wanted to use something cheap - GH3's seem to be the low-end for this capability (& they're dirt cheap now - at least in NZ). I guess the other catch or pre-req was having something that wasn't so new that I would use it as my main m43's camera, I wanted something cheap enough that I could just leave it setup 99% of the time without feeling guilty about not using it for actual photography (I'd seen a few cheap G7's but they'd be better than my E-M1 in many respects).

Would really have loved to use my original E-P1 or E-PM1 or G3 but sadly none of them would do hdmi out for anything other than slide-show playback (no live-view to hdmi).
 
Downside is the batteries need charging regularly - depends on how many meetings you have a day - can easily go a few days if you have 3-4 30m meetings a day but 1 or two long meetings will drain the batteries fairly quick
Have you considered getting a dummy battery with DC in for the GH3?

I found the above with a quick search, I have another make for my G80 and I think it was cheaper.
 
Have you considered getting a dummy battery with DC in for the GH3?

I found the above with a quick search, I have another make for my G80 and I think it was cheaper.

Yes - its interesting discovering a lot of stuff that in retrospect makes perfect sense for a videographer but I'd never considered as a still shooter. I haven't come across many dummy batteries in NZ, I'm sure they are out there but probably stocked for newer models; I have seen them on eBay in AU but I'm not quite ready to buy anything yet. The battery-grip has helped with extending the life a bit too so the need isn't quite so great anymore.
 
Yes - its interesting discovering a lot of stuff that in retrospect makes perfect sense for a videographer but I'd never considered as a still shooter. I haven't come across many dummy batteries in NZ, I'm sure they are out there but probably stocked for newer models; I have seen them on eBay in AU but I'm not quite ready to buy anything yet. The battery-grip has helped with extending the life a bit too so the need isn't quite so great anymore.
Does that camera have the ability to use the battery in the grip first?
My G80 has that ability and that means that I can get virtually infinite battery time with enough batteries, as it will first use up the battery in the grip and then switch to the in camera battery so I can change the battery in the grip while the camera is in use. So with maybe 3 or 4 batteries, depending on how long it takes to charge a battery, you should have at least all day continuous use of the camera.
 
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