Streaming video is possible be a big company, if it is a little painful. Whether you play games, craft or just hanging out in a hot tubone of the biggest streaming challenges can be finding a camera system that meets your needs. That's what Logitech had in mind when creating the Mevo Core multi-cam system, and it's an impressively simple solution to a modern problem.
The Mrs. Kern is a modest cube-shaped camera that uses a Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens system. The four sides flanking the lens each have a ΒΌ-inch 20-thread mount, allowing you to mount it on the top, bottom, or sides. On the back there are two USB-C ports for charging or wired connection webcama 3.5mm audio output, an HDMI port and a microSD card slot tucked away behind a protective case.
The entire system is designed to be adaptable to a wide range of shooting situations. The camera can record 4K video locally and stream up to 1080p video WiFi 6E, and it even has an internal rechargeable battery that can record or stream for up to six hours on a single charge. It's a fascinating camera system that walks the line between webcam streaming and more professional mirrorless cameras used for recording video. But it's the software that steals the show.
A studio, made simple
The Mevo Core cameras are designed for use in multi-camera setups, where you have multiple cameras around you for different angles, and to approach one if you only have one camera. The Mevo Multicam app is the key that makes the entire system work. This app allows you to connect multiple cameras and send them all to one output for live streaming.
Photo: Eric Ravenscraft
The Mevo Core cameras are surprisingly easy to connect to the app. Open the app and it will automatically detect the camera and guide you in adding the camera to your Wi-Fi network. Once they are on the network, connect them to the app with the touch of a button.
Once your cameras are connected, you can tap the source to switch the live output to that camera angle. In addition to the Mevo Core cameras you can also add Mevo Start camerasor with a Mevo Pro subscriptionyou can connect any smartphone camera as another video source.
Additionally, the Mevo Multicam app lets you add picture-in-picture presets, as well as graphical elements such as full-screen overlays, lower thirds, and over-the-shoulder images. The result is a makeshift live studio that can run on equipment you can easily fit into a shopping bag.
Streamers typically rely on apps such as OBS And StreamLabs to manage video streams, and while those apps are certainly more robust, there's a simplicity to the Mevo Multicam system that makes it incredibly easy to manage multiple camera angles live. The app can show you all the camera feeds at once, and you can quickly tap them to switch angles, adjust the audio input levels from each camera, and add images with a tap. If that was all this system did I would be impressed, but then Logitech added something that I would have wanted years ago if I had thought to ask.
Turn one camera into many
The 4K sensor in the Mevo Core is solid and captures decent image quality, but is better used as a 1080p streaming webcam. So why the extra resolution? Well, because if you shoot at a higher resolution than you need, you have the flexibility to crop the image without sacrificing image quality. It's partly why some of our favorite cinema cameras use 6K sensors for recording 4K content.
Usually that's a post-production process, but the Mevo Multicam app makes it easy to use that flexibility for live productions. In the app, you can tap parts of the frame to crop the subject and send only part of the video feed to the output. This is a technique I have used myself when editing video essays, but this camera system brings it to live performances. You can use a wide shot and then crop to a medium shot to emphasize a line.