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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?

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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.
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  • \$\begingroup\$ mu-43.com/threads/… and posts on other forums point to your answer being incorrect. \$\endgroup\$
    – Maks
    Jan 18, 2021 at 10:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ Hi @Maks. I have the E-M10 III on hand and connecting it to an external screen puts it into gallery mode. The HDMI menu only sets the output resolution and whether CEC is enabled. How would I use it as a webcam? It's running the latest firmware available (1.2). I'd appreciate your help. \$\endgroup\$
    – wilkgr
    Jan 26, 2021 at 2:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ you need to make sure that the "tv control" setting in the HDMI menu is turned OFF. But please be aware per my other comment on the question that it doesn't seem possible to remove that battery level indicator in the HDMI output so you can't quite get clean HDMI output, though if you can crop picture (eg. using OBS) than you can still bget pretty good output. \$\endgroup\$
    – Maks
    Jan 26, 2021 at 6:16
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    \$\begingroup\$ if you look up the manual, the relevant setting is described on page 118. So again you want to have "HDMI Control" turned OFF \$\endgroup\$
    – Maks
    Jan 26, 2021 at 6:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Maks Just tried it out - it works. Fixed answer. Cheers! \$\endgroup\$
    – wilkgr
    Jan 26, 2021 at 7:12
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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Please see my comments on @wilkgr answer, the M10 Mk3 does provide liveview output via HDMI, so using an additional USB convertor like the elegato livecam means you can get it to work as a "usb webcam". The main issue is that its not completely clean HDMI (batt icon always shows) so you need to slightly crop the output with something like OBS. \$\endgroup\$
    – Maks
    Jan 26, 2021 at 6:34

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