Almost three years after its release, Elgato lifts the veil on a new iteration of its Facecam. This new iteration does not revolutionize things and seems content to bring some slight improvements in terms of ergonomics image.
The Elgato Facecam 2024 webcam is a model intended for streamers or professionals wishing to improve the quality of their videoconferences. Still “limited” to 1080p60 images, the new iteration of the Facecam now benefits from an uncompressed HDR image, more suited to difficult lighting conditions.
For the rest, it is a very similar model, which has a design closer to the Facecam Pro, while being more compact and still equipped with a physical confidentiality cover. Once again ignoring audio capture, this Facecam 2024 is offered at the recommended price of 150 euros.
A mini Facecam Pro
Visually, the Facecam 2024 has everything of a “mini” Facecam Pro. It thus sports a rectangular shell and more elongated than on the 2021 model. Entirely in black plastic, it nevertheless remains imposing, especially when we compare it to certain competing models such as the MX Brio from Logitech.
On the front, the circular reliefs typical of the brand are still there and bring a little character to the device. In their center we find the imposing optical sensor, still equipped with a confidentiality cover, so the design has been revised. If it was until now completely removable, we now benefit from a sliding cover that is really impractical to use.
In fact, the discreet appendage used to grasp it is very small and you have to press hard on it to grasp it and make it slide. If, unlike the Pro model, this cache has the merit of being present, it remains devilishly less convenient to use than what we find at Logitech for example. The front panel also has a light indicator, which turns blue when the camera is used by a program.
On the top, the brand logo is displayed in relief on a large part of the surface and is also printed on the right edge. Ventilation is provided by vents positioned at the rear, near the USB connector. The cable is still removable and even if it is not yet perfect, it is also more flexible than the one fitted to the Facecam Pro. Another good point: this time it is a USB C to USB A cable which will therefore not require any adapter to be connected to a classic USB port (but necessarily 3.0).
Still equipped with a standard screw thread which allows it to be used with many supports, the Facecam 2024 is supplied with a rather practical mounting foot. This can be used to place it on a flat surface, but above all to install it on top of a screen by adapting lightly while allowing the tilt of the camera to be adjusted. This is one of the other real new features of the 2024 model which here uses a compact support similar to that of the Pro model.
A plethora of adjustments thanks to Camera Hub
The Camera Hub companion application allows you to adjust many settings of the Facecam 2024. Starting with the framing, which can be modified on the fly and for which it is possible to keep four presets. This setting is associated with the zoom (logically digital) and now allows automatic face tracking using RTX cards. This feature, although interesting on paper, ultimately has no real interest due to the very jerky movement which removes the “natural” side of the framing.
To go further, there are also image settings to adjust contrast, saturation and sharpness. Likewise, the exposure can be easily modified, or left in automatic, with the added presence of a parameter dedicated to dynamic range and white balance. Finally, the Facecam 2024 includes noise reduction that can be set to three intensity levels.
Still very associated with NVIDIA, Elgato once again adds different background effects, which require the installation of an additional module. It remains quite damaging to have to use an external module to control these parameters, when most videoconferencing tools can do it without external help.
A very correct and hassle-free capture
Unlike the Pro model, the Facecam 2024 delivers a very correct image right out of the box. Where its big sister struggled, the automatic exposure works very well here and allows you to obtain correct brightness at subject level, even with a bright background. In normal conditions, with a large window as a light source, the image is completely usable, despite the presence of a slight dull haze, mainly linked to the default dynamic range. Noise, even if present, remains completely acceptable.
This digital noise is even more present in low light, but again, nothing catastrophic. Above all, with a monitor as the only light source, the image captured is overall very correct and does not suffer from any major defects, except the grain brought by the noise. The latter can also be smoothed thanks to the noise reduction offered in Camera Hub.
Finally, in “studio” condition, with a dedicated light source and different ambient lighting placed throughout the room, the Facecam 2024 shows some signs of weakness with a classic dynamic range. On the other hand, by activating HDR mode, things improve greatly and the images captured are very convincing. Only direct light sources then tend to flicker slightly.
Compared to the Facecam Pro, this new model is ultimately more convenient to use, because it requires fewer adjustments to obtain a correct image. On the other hand, the Facecam 2024 captures less sharp images overall, although this does not really have an impact, especially if the objective is to display your face in the corner of a Twitch stream. Important point: the Facecam 2024 does not offer adjustable focus. The focal length, however, is long enough for the entire image to be sharp, even at short distances.
Finally, it should be noted that our test model suffers from a slight misalignment of the optics. Indeed, while the camera is perfectly centered and aligned on our monitor, and I am too, the captured image is offset by a few centimeters. However, we have not seen whether this problem was present on another copy.
Facecam 2024 webcam price and availability
The Facecam 2024 is available at the recommended price of 150 euros.