I do some expert witness work and some trials are still being pushed back or having as few people as possible in the courtroom depending on the area. I have one coming up that I feel I will have to testify virtually. As of now, I use the camera in my laptop, with the laptop elevated so people are not looking up my nose. I also don't want to look like an air traffic controller or football coach, so I was wearing somewhat hidden Plantronics BackFit behind the head, headphones, which then piped in the sound to my ears versus computer speakers. Those have since broke. I may want to go with a nicer microphone, like some podcasts use but still want something that is a bit more hidden for ear buds. No Airpods. I will also consider recommendations for additional cameras that I can control settings on to get a good picture. (one recent trial had someone else testify that had control over the focal distance and she was able to be in focus, but her background was blurred, which I liked.) Any recommendations on something that is more professional, but not distracting in appearance? I don't want to be speaking directly into a giant mic that blocks most of my mouth. So it will need to be low or off to the side, maybe even out of camera view. Thanks in advance.
Why no airpods? They're perfect for what you're describing..............and the settings you saw are most likely not controlled by the camera but by the virtual software (whether Teams, Meet, or Zoom) - it's called a "blur" background. https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360061468611-Using-blurred-background-
A shotgun mic on a boom overhead is the proper way to keep a quality mic out of frame. You should be able to spend less than $200 there, even less if you buy used. The mic will probably be XLR so you’ll need an audio interface as well. Focusrite and PreSonus make good inexpensive models. The audio interface has a headphone jack for monitoring. A 1080p webcam will look a lot better than your laptop cam. You don’t need better than that for Zoom because their software compresses the shit out of the video data. Logitech C920 is prob good enough. Get some extra lighting and bounce it off a wall to really help. As said above, background blur is usually in software. I doubt you’ll find someone using an amazing camera and lens to do it with hardware.
You'd need a DSLR camera and prime lens to blur your background (bokeh is the term) I'm sure it's doable but I doubt you want to spend that much money
I have seen some streamers using DSLR cames as webcams but for what you mention it doesn make sense. And I am not sure how you connect to the court for the testimonials, but google meet has a couple options of how blurred the background can be, all done via software. You can also just completely change the background so people are not looking at your room.
I had great results with a mirrorless DSLR camera. Newer Nikon Z6 has awesome video focus tracking. I am sure Canon has comparable products as do others. Put a good fast prime lens on it. Set the depth of field to be narrow for a nice blurry background. As already mentioned above. 1. Put a directional mic on it 2. Turn off the "sleep" function 3. Add a hard-wired battery supply
Research what people use for Twitch or other live streaming services. Those guys are trying to make money and invest in equipment that works well.
Got some friends doing Twitch and professional podcasts (and a radio show from same studio) but what they use might be more than you need. I can ask if you like.
On the microphone front, you don't need to go crazy. Blue Yeti's and Snowballs are cheap yet decent USB options used by many streamers with good sound. On the camera front... yeah, you can spend lots and get shit results. Most of the 'high end' USB webcams are really pretty garbage considering what they charge for them. Logitechs in particular are a royal PITA because they refuse to retain settings between reboots. First thing I'd be looking at, the cellphone in your pocket. For free or very little you can get an app on IOS or Android to allow use of your cellphone's camera as a webcam. Throw it in a stand/tripod, USB tether it for power and you'll get a solid setup. Next step up would be a used GoPro running HDMI to a USB capture device. From there... it get's expensive real quick. A good DSLR/Mirrorless plus capture device can go past $1k really damn fast. If you don't play with cameras already you'll be buying a whole ton of capability that will just sit wasted without knowing how to use it, and may end up looking worse than what you could get with your cellphone on auto. If you're on a PC with an NVidia graphics card, you can install NVidia Broadcast to add AI powered noise reduction to your microphone setup. You can literally vacuum the room while using it and people will only hear your voice. It can also do background blurring, removal, etc for whatever camera you end up going with even if your video conference software of choice doesn't. As far as avoiding the airtraffic controller look, I wouldn't sweat it. It's pretty much accepted now that people wear headphones of some variety on video conf calls when solo. Find a set that's comfy and you like the sound of and have at it.
Oh, biggest thing you can do to improve ANY camera setup, better light! You'd be amazed at the quality uptick you can get even from your laptop's built in cam by just making sure there is enough light for it to work with.
