Wyze Cam as webcam (quick setup)

Use the Wyze Cam as webcam  is something people have been asking a lot.

The Wyze Labs guys created the special firmware to allow the camera connecttion directly to a PC or laptop using a USB cable.

How cool is that, huh? 🙂

How to turn the Wyze Cam into a webcam

Here's what you’ll need:

• The Wyze Cam V2 or the Wyze Pan
• A micro SD card
• The special firmware
• USB-A to USB-A Cable
• Micro SD to SD Card Adapter

If you don't have a Micro SD card slot on your computer, use an adapter.

Make sure you have this list ready and follow the step-by-step.

Step-by-step firmware installation

1. Download the special firmware for the Wyze Cam (see links below).

2. Unzip the file and copy it to the micro SD card.

The image below shows a folder with the V2Webcam.zip file that is used for the Wyze Cam V2. You just need to use extract (unzip) to the folder.

After extracting the file open the folder and look for the demo.bin file.

Copy the demo.bin file to the micro SD card.

If you were using the card to record the Wyze Cam videos locally you will see some extra folder. Just ignore them and replace the existing demo.bin file.

If the micro SD card is new and was never used on the Wyze Cam, it won't have the extra folders. The important part is to copy the demo.bin to the root of the card.

3. Update the Wyze camera firmware.

Insert the micro SD card  into the camera, press and hold the setup button

The LED will blink yellow and blue, just wait until it becomes static blue.

Congratulations, you have your Wyze Cam ready to work as a webcam 😉

Now you just need to connect it to the computer using the USB cable.

The camera will work as a regular webcam.

Using the Wyze Cam as a webcam

OK, it's time to connect your Wyze Cam to the computer, just ignore the power port and use the USB port to have the camera working as webcam.

The next step is just open any software or platform that uses the webcam and the Wyze Cam will be listed as an option. Pretty easy, huh?

Now it's time to place the camera in the best position and start your meeting.

The Wyze Cam audio

Everybody loves the Wyze Cam because the video quality is awesome for the price, however, the audio is not that good for online meetings.

At first, the camera was not designed to work as a webcam so the audio was not exactly a concern for the engineers during the product design.

It's highly recommended using a USB microphone connected to the computer to capture the audio with better quality.

Software that works with the Wyze Cam

In theory, any software should work with the Wyze Cam as a webcam.

Anyway, the Wyze Labs reported that the major online meeting software work.

Here's a quick list:

Skype, ManyCam, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, BlueJeans and Cisco.

The cons

Alright, everything looks so good and now you have the Wyze Cam as a webcam.

But how about using it as a security camera ? Can I just access it via mobile.

No. Unfortunately, you need to choose if you need the camera as a security camera or a webcam, you can't have both working at the same time.

How to turn the Wyze Cam back from webcam to security camera ?

It's not rocket science, you just need to copy the original "demo.bin" file back to the micro SD card, insert it into the camera and press and hold the button while connecting the USB cable. You've been there and know the drill, right? 

How to use the Wyze Cam as a security camera and webcam at the same time.

Yes, you can do that.

But using different firmware and the RTSP protocol.

The ManyCam platform, for example, is compatible with the RTSP. 

If you want to learn how to setup Wyze Cam that way, just visit my other blog and read the article How to use Wyze cam as webcam. 

It's a little bit more techical but I'm sure you can follow the step-by-step process.

Conclusion

You can use a $25 camera as a webcam if you can't afford a new one.

It's a workaround but it's an option for hard times.

Please share the article with your friends.