Olympus publishes tool to use system cameras as webcam

Olympus has made a free tool available with which certain system cameras can be used as webcams. The software only provides an image, users have to connect a separate microphone themselves.

The camera manufacturer calls the tool Olympus OM-D Webcam Beta and makes it available for free on its website. The software currently only works with Windows 10. The tool currently works with the E-M1X, E-M1 Mark III, E-M1 Mark II, E-M1 and M5 Mark II system cameras. It is not clear whether Olympus will also make the tool available for other cameras or operating systems.

To use a compatible camera as a webcam, users must turn off the camera and insert a memory card into the device. Olympus recommends Movie mode for playback. Then they have to connect the camera to a computer with a USB cable. USB mode can then be selected in the camera, after which the device appears as a webcam in video calling programs.

Olympus is not the first camera manufacturer to announce such a webcam tool. Previously, Canon, Fujifilm and Panasonic released programs to allow certain system cameras to function as webcams. Canon and Fujifilm have also released macOS versions of these tools. Since the corona crisis, the demand for webcams has risen sharply, because people now have to work and stay at home much more.