As announced last month when the Z5 launched, Nikon has finally joined Canon, Fujifilm, Panasonic and GoPro in releasing beta webcam utility software that allows certain cameras in its range to be used as high quality webcams.
The current global pandemic has seen an uptick in visiting friends and family online instead of in person, which has led to huge demand for dedicated webcams, which offer performance improvements over laptop or smartphone cameras. If you're stuck at home, your trusty DSLR or mirrorless camera probably isn't getting much use. Now Nikon has released joined other camera makers in putting select models to work as webcams.
The Webcam Utility Beta software is free to download, and you'll need a 64-bit version of Windows 10 to use it. And one of the select cameras will be needed, too – currently the Z7, Z6, Z5 and Z50 mirrorless cameras and the D850, D780, D500, D7500 and D5600 DSLRs are supported.
That camera is connected to the computer or laptop over USB, and a video chat service launched and configured. It is also possible to cable up over HDMI, though you'll need a third party video capture device to use it.
There's currently no mention of a version being released for Mac users.
