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The Many ways you can Stream with Z CAM E2 Series cameras. If you are not fully familiar the Z CAM Lineup of E2 cameras covers a range of 5 camera models. Starting at about $1,100 CAD is the E2C MFT mount camera with up to 4k 30p capability, then there is the slightly larger main model the E2, also MFT mount, with 4k up to 160fps in 2.4:1 crop, and then again slightly larger flagship models ranging from the E2-S6 Super 35 at $4,149 thru the E2-F6 Full Frame at $6,699 to the top of the line E2-F8 at $7,999 offering a range of frame rates at various resolutions. All of the flagship models have a standard EF mount, and user interchangeable PL and other mounts are also becoming available shortly. So the Z CAM E2 line all make great affordable cinema style cameras, you might already know that, but something that is far less known about them is that they all make great live streaming cameras as well. Now obviously, they can used like any video camera to output either HD or 4K via their standard HDMI output port which can then be connected to a production system for streaming at up to 60p. The HDMI output could also be externally converted to either SDI for longer runs than HDMI or even with HDBaseT adapters to run the HDMI signal over Ethernet. This type of connectivity makes the Z CAM easy to integrate into any small desktop style or larger web studio system via these industry standard interconnects. In fact I have several now working in my own work from home studio. You can also then run these video signals through production switchers, if desired, or with an interface card, the video and audio can be brought directly into a PC or a Mac, for use with collaborative business software like Skype, Zoom Webex etc. or into Livestreaming Software applications, like OBS or perhaps VMix for example, or many of other streaming software titles that are available. The image quality of the Z CAM for these live production applications can be stunning thanks to their great colour, wide range of lensing options excellent sensitivity, low light performance and low noise. All of this means for the small independent owner operator or corporate user, that he can his expand his business model by offering a wider range of services to his clients. Adding streaming and webinars etc to his ability to produce standard high quality edited, post produced videos. Obviously since the cameras are designed for cinema style, they also do support Auto Focus with compatible lenses. You would typically use them in more static situations however with the proper accessories you could also expand them out for use with full remote PTZ head and lens operations. Which again could expand the opportunities for use in even higher end applications. At Vistek we can help to guide you step by step in configuring any of the above mentioned solutions. But wait! At the risk of sounding like the guy hawking sponge cloths at the exhibition, there’s more! A lot more in fact. Did you know that all of the Z CAM cameras can an also take things several steps further? Z CAM CineCam Tutorials: Learn about the basics, footage and LUTS Z Cam supports NDI! All of the Z CAM E2 family of cameras can output NDI ( H.264) over IP directly, yes that’s correct the Z CAM E2 lineup all have a standard built in Ethernet port, so you can directly connect your CAT6 cable into the camera, then to a Gig E switch if desired, or directly into your PC or MAC. No other interface card is required! The stream arrives in your computer as an NDI (H.264) Stream thanks to the associated Z CAM Stream Converter APP. You can scan and connect the various NDI camera sources, and also adjust and remotely control some of the menu functions of each of the cameras through the Stream Converter. Streaming Software like OBS or VMIX etc. can then be set up to utilize that NDI stream from the Z CAM camera and integrate it into your switched live stream production along with any other sources that you would regularly have connected. You can also use this feature on set for remote camera monitoring and control if required. See below. But What is NDI? So I know , what the heck is NDI, well it stands for Network Device Interface, it was originally developed by Newtek as a standard to move audio, video and metadata over IP networks. And it’s now been adopted by a very wide range of companies as an easy practical and standardized way to practically, plug and play, connecting video sources across standard CAT6 IP LAN and wide area networks. What that means as well as that your camera can be remote, I mean really remote, if desired, and connected inexpensively over an industry standard CAT6 network from using just a simple switch to an extensive cloud architecture. So the bottom line imagine everything I said above but now integrated more simply and affordably on a larger system scale. Now again to be completely up front, Z CAM’s implementation of NDI is only in the early stages, so overall features are still somewhat limited and may vary by the MAC or PC platform you use (Mac is a little behind) but what is there gets you going now, and what that means is that there is also a lot more excitement to come! Filming with the ZCAM E2-F6 - First Impressions But Wait Z CAM can also stream wirelessly! Each of the Z CAM cameras also offers the ability to control and stream via its built in Wifi as an option to using the LAN port connection. There is a wifi antenna included with the camera and you can connect your phone by using the Wifi to control and monitor the cameras live feed if so desired as well as directly stream it out from your phone by entering the stream URL & key information into the APP. Need more reliability you can directly connect the phone to the camera, via an optional USB-C to Lightning cable, to reduce latency and insure you have a solid stream and then live stream it from the phone. And More Z CAM also now has a no charge IPAD APP called Z CAM LIVE for Live wireless streaming! The app supports up to 4 cameras and while this first version does not have extensive features it can easily allow you to switch between up to 4 camera sources and then by entering the URL and Stream key you can stream the switched output live via your IPADs Wifi connection. You can download it now and try it if you like from the Apple App Store. Again these wireless applications are still in their early days so they are still buggy and simple without extensive feature sets, but in a world that is increasingly constrained by social distancing, live streaming along with the Z CAM's functionality is sure to grow and grow. So in closing out this blog I wanted to offer a little bit more help to those who already might have a Z CAM camera and want to try and test connecting it via the NDI. I found I had just a little trouble getting started and getting an IP connection so I wanted to share what I have learned. Make sure your computer firewall is disabled so turn off Norton or whatever you are using. This seemed to help me, Download the Z CAM Stream Converter APP for the Z CAM website. Version at this writing is .49 You can find it here: http://www.z-cam.com/software-update/ Once you have it before you run it, it's best to insure you are seeing your camera over IP first by using the web client. At the camera make sure you camera is set to the H.264codec first- this is an important step!!! Connect the camera first directly to the computer via Cat6 cable. Make sure your computer Lan port is turned on and enabled – sometimes you might have to turn off the wifi at first to allow it to switch to the LAN port. At the camera under the main menu select the menu “Connect” then “Network” and turn the WiFi off. Then select “ETH Mode” and set it to “Direct”. Note: when later connecting through a switch/Hub you need to change this last option to “Router”. The use the web client to test the IP connection with the camera. Follow these web client instructions. Using Z CAM web client: Connect Z CAM E2 to the computer through a Cat 6 Ethernet cable. On the Camera select - Menu -> Connect -> Network -> ETH. Mode -> Direct Read the ETH. IP 10.98.32.1 (normally). Open your browser on computer and enter: http://10.98.32.1/www/html/controller.html Z CAM web client screen would show up. If you have a connection you will now see video from the camera on the web screen along with camera control menus. If this does not work you have a cable or LAN port issue – or maybe firewall issues as above Fyi you can also use this setup also just to remote monitor and control your camera over IP. Now install the Stream Converter software ON the taskbar normally located on your PC bottom right hand side there is an up arrow for tasks that are running you will see a small Z CAM Icon “right click” on it and it you will see some menu options, simply press scan cameras and now they will be available to the various other software running on your computer. Here is a link to a video showing Z CAM connecting to VMix via Stream Converter – he was using an earlier version of the app and had trouble finding it before it was linked to the Z CAM website as per the easy link provide above but generally it shows step by step how to connect it. One other note is that the camera can connect as either a NDI or virtual camera depending on the software you are using. For OBS the setup procedure for the Stream converter to see the Z CAM is the same but to discover the NDI stream you also have to install a NDI plugin into OBS. You can find that plugin here: https://github.com/Palakis/obs-ndi/releases/tag/4.6.0 That’s all for now but as I mentioned lots more to come! Vistek will be doing videos and live streams upcoming soon on Z CAM and other Live Streaming and a wide range of topics, stay tuned to Vistek social media channels to find out about live streams coming your way.

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