Sony Releases Mac App To Turn Its Cameras Into Webcams
Sony has released its eminently-useful webcam app for macOS, turning the company's digital cameras into higher quality webcams for you Mac. The hotly-anticipated macOS release follows Sony's version of the Sony Imaging Edge Webcam app launched for Windows PCs back in August.
The idea is simple. Rather than your laptop's built-in webcam, or a standalone USB webcam, you could use your Sony digital camera and whatever lenses you might have on hand instead. That way, you work around the current shortage of decent webcams – snapped up as many people discover they're working from home for the foreseeable future – and the fact that most laptop webcams make you look like a badly-lit potato.
It was good stuff, but there was a problem: Sony only had a version for Windows users. At the time, the company said that a Mac version of the Imagine Edge Webcam app was in the pipeline for the fall. Now, v1.0 is available for download.
It works with cameras from Sony's E-mount, A-mount, and DSC ranges, with almost 40 different models supported. The full list of compatible cameras is below. You'll need the latest firmware for them, it's worth noting.
The app is a free download, and all you'll need is a USB cable. This new version will work with any macOS 10.13-10.15 machine. At the same time, there's also a new version of Sony's app for Windows 10, clocking in at v1.1 now. That should iron out a few bugs users encountered along the way.
Sony isn't the only company offering software that turns a standalone camera into a webcam, mind. Olympus has versions of its OM-D Webcam app for both Windows and Mac, also launched this year, while Panasonic's Webcam beta does the same for its LUMIX models on both platforms.
α: E-mount（ILCE-）
ILCE-7M2
ILCE-7M3
ILCE-7C
ILCE-7RM2
ILCE-7RM3
ILCE-7RM4
ILCE-7S
ILCE-7SM2
ILCE-7SM3
ILCE-9
ILCE-9M2
ILCE-5100
ILCE-6100
ILCE-6300
ILCE-6400
ILCE-6500
ILCE-6600
α: A-mount（ILCA-）
ILCA-77M2
ILCA-99M2
ILCA-68
Digital Still Camera（DSC-）/ Vlog camera
DSC-HX95
DSC-HX99
DSC-RX0
DSC-RX0M2
DSC-RX100M4
DSC-RX100M5
DSC-RX100M5A
DSC-RX100M6
DSC-RX100M7
DSC-RX10M2
DSC-RX10M3
DSC-RX10M4
DSC-RX1RM2
DSC-WX700
DSC-WX800
ZV-1