Good camera for live streaming outdoor events?

I'm about to live stream outdoor events like dog shows etc in Facebook live or YouTube live.

Sometimes zoom is needed and sometimes not. I have tried to live stream with iPhone 13 pro, but I find that the zoom isn't very easy/comfortable to use and sometimes it just isn't enough and I don't want to use digital zoom because image is getting blurry. I also want to use my phone to other things.

Usually outdoor events are in ideal weather conditions (sunny days) but sometimes also a bit cloudy too but not in the late evening or night.

One thing to notice that outdoor events lasts maybe 2-5 hours depending of the event and there is no way to have constant electricity from a wall plug. So I need some sort of battery.

So basically what I need is camera:

• that can keep up with moving subjects like dogs and humans
• that can live stream 1080p60 (preferred) with clean HDMI output
• camera that has ability to stay powered with some sort of power bank (USB-C PD?) or small battery (I don't wanna carry big batteries with me).
• that has some sort of capabilities for zoom like for example 24-240mm (full frame) or long optical zoom. 70-200mm is not enough wide.

I have battery powered laptop that I can use for streaming through the HDMI and usually there is enough space around to use tripod as well where I can add camera.

What setup would you recommend for this? I don't wanna get the most expensive setup on the market but not the cheapest and worst either.

I have Canon R5 also but I would like to use it to photographing instead of streaming.

I just want to stream what is happening around so bokeh (too tight depth of field) isn't really necessary..

Thank you!

My approach would be to buy a Blackmagic design Atem mini Pro, attach my phone via usb-c to it for network tethering. The mini can stream directly online then, no pc needed

Camera, some used market older model like Panasonic GH5 with a mft zoom lens should not be too expensive. But anything with HDMI out works, just make sure it's a model with good reputation for not overheating.

Battery for 5hours, will be a big v-mount style. There are cool ones out there from fxlion for example that have usb-c PD and usb-A and d-tap output. The usb-c powers the camera, the d-tap the atem mini, the atem mini powers the phone.

I strongly doubt using OBS will let you stream for 5 hours on a normal laptop on battery, live streaming eats a lot of CPU power. Apple silicon laptops maybe with the OBS beta using the M1 GPU acceleration but that needs testing.

A more compact solution would be camera with USB streaming support, e.g. Sony A7M4, attach to android phone and stream online. But I think there are caveats like no Audio, and of course I don't see how that can run for hours. Maybe with a battery adapter to keep the camera going but the camera won't charge the phone AFAIK. The FX6 can charge the phone while attached via usb-c but that's not exactly a cheap camera 😅

Or get the Sony Xperia pro phone, it has HDMI input, separate usb charging input and comes with software for streaming from HDMI. Expensive device too but allows for a compact set-up with any camera.

Andrew S10 wrote:

I think for your situation, a consumer camcorder like a Sony FDR-AX700 should work fine, but you'll need to confirm that it can output a clean HDMI feed.

You'll also need an HDMI to USB capture device, the cheap ones top out at 30 Hz, use the MJPEG codec, are prone to macro-blocking artifacts, and can shift the gamma & gamut, so you might go with an Aja U-Tap if quality is important.

Most cellular data plans (even ones that claim to be unlimited) throttle your speed after using a couple gigs of data, so double check that your carrier & data plan can support uploading vides at the necessary data rate for 5 hours straight.

Is audio important? Do you need to hear the announcer well? Did you have any thought or plans for audio?

P.S. A tripod with a fluid head will yield the best results for panning shots.

I forget to tell that I already have Elgato Cam Link 4K capture USB-device. Audio is not that important but of course it is ”nice to have” or nice to hear what is going on around

We have quite good cellural data plans here in Finland. No limitations so far for data and speeds are pretty good with 4G or 5G. I only have one on my cellphone but maybe I can use it as a wifi hotspot so there is no need for another connection? 
I think I need to check that Sony FDR! Do you know how long is the batterylife for that model and is there option to add external battery like D-tap?

mkfed wrote:

A more compact solution would be camera with USB streaming support, e.g. Sony A7M4, attach to android phone and stream online. But I think there are caveats like no Audio, and of course I don't see how that can run for hours. Maybe with a battery adapter to keep the camera going but the camera won't charge the phone AFAIK. The FX6 can charge the phone while attached via usb-c but that's not exactly a cheap camera 😅

Or get the Sony Xperia pro phone, it has HDMI input, separate usb charging input and comes with software for streaming from HDMI. Expensive device too but allows for a compact set-up with any camera.

haha yeah FX6 is a bit over my budget

I have Vmount D-tap 95Wh battery that I can use with cameras and phones..

I just need to find perfect camera that has clean HDMI

I know my laptop maybe doesn't survive OBS-studio for hours but I was thinking if Yolobox could do it? or maybe a smaller computer that has bigger battery life like macbook air M1?

kulmmii wrote:

mkfed wrote:

A more compact solution would be camera with USB streaming support, e.g. Sony A7M4, attach to android phone and stream online. But I think there are caveats like no Audio, and of course I don't see how that can run for hours. Maybe with a battery adapter to keep the camera going but the camera won't charge the phone AFAIK. The FX6 can charge the phone while attached via usb-c but that's not exactly a cheap camera 😅

Or get the Sony Xperia pro phone, it has HDMI input, separate usb charging input and comes with software for streaming from HDMI. Expensive device too but allows for a compact set-up with any camera.

haha yeah FX6 is a bit over my budget

I have Vmount D-tap 95Wh battery that I can use with cameras and phones..

That one should last you for 5 hours given you use some mirrorless camera and a low power HDMI to stream converter.

I just need to find perfect camera that has clean HDMI

I know my laptop maybe doesn't survive OBS-studio for hours but I was thinking if Yolobox could do it? or maybe a smaller computer that has bigger battery life like macbook air M1?

ATEM Mini pro (proposed in my first response) is similar to the yolobox but a bit cheaper, you can look into that one too. It can live stream to youtube, facebook, twitch and more. I personally am a fan of devices that do one job and are designed for it. Yes computers can do all of this but since you'll be taking photos at the same time you probably prefer a "set it and forget it" equipment, laptops might have changed configuration and go to sleep after a while, some other app eats cpu/ram and makes the stream choppy,...

For Macbook Air M1, I have one, I'll try to see what happens to the battery life if I stream with the OBS beta for apple silicon. I don't need to live stream in the field, but it's an interesting topic.

Fyi the Sony fdr-ax53 camcorder supports live streaming over phone wifi, however just to some weird IBM cloud it seems. It has 20x optical zoom, 4K and doesn't break the bank price wise (bigger problem will be availability). Maybe there are sane streaming implementations of other handycam manufacturers.

Looks like the new Sony FX30 could be interesting for you. With a d-tap to FZ100 adapter for power you can attach it as a streaming-webcam (1080p30fps) via USB-C to a laptop for long-running streams, no extra weird software setup needed.

It's still on the pricier side though, however image quality looks great.

For Macbook Air M1, I have one, I'll try to see what happens to the battery life if I stream with the OBS beta for apple silicon. I don't need to live stream in the field, but it's an interesting topic.

Alright OBS 28 is now stable for Apple Silicon and I have time to do the test.

setup:

- connect Blackmagic ATEM mini pro via USB-A adapter to macbook (using usb-c directly it charges the macbook!) this behaves like a 1080p usb webcam
- OBS 28.0.3 using x264 Software CBR 30fps 2500kbit/s
- OBS using hardware ABR 2500kbit/s (attention!)
- Stream over wifi to a on LAN running nginx with rtmp-module
- computer used: Macbook Air M1 2020 16GB RAM

As of macOS 12 the hardware encoder only allows ABR, macOS 13 will allow CBR with the hardware encoder(!), hence me doing the test with ABR to guess-timate the battery usage.

I was running the Stream for 30minutes for each test.

• x264 CBR takes about 7.5% CPU: 5% battery loss in 30min
• VT hardware ABR takes about 4.2% CPU: 5% battery loss in 30min

Looks like the M1 doesn't really care it is streaming, amazing tech that new silicon.

I tried to be as realistic as I can by only running OBS on the macbook Air, actually encoding an incoming webcam source and actually streaming it over Wifi to the outside. However there's room to optimise the power usage, my laptop screen was always on for example. On the other hand, outdoors is a different beast, could be hot which means the fan-less macbook air might throttle it's CPU. Or could be cold and the battery loses some of its capacity. But generally I'd be optimistic to do a 8h stream with it, on batteries!

Side note: the ATEM mini became much cheaper today, if you want to avoid having a laptop running this is now an even better option

Late to the party here and you may have already come up with a solution, but if it's not totally out of your budget (around $4K USD), a JVC GY-HC500 has all the features you need built-in...no laptop required, only a WiFi hotspot to connect to.

Directly supports FB &YT live stream and likely others, no laptop required, just a phone or other hotspot for WiFi.

Trying to shoot events such as you describe with a hybrid camera is an exercise in frustration due to the ergonomics.  Handheld and shoulder camcorders have evolved into their current form due to years of development.

Cheers!