Obsbot has announced a $99 webcam with a two-axis motorized mount that's capable of tracking subjects and dynamically reframing. Tiny is SE now available At $99, it becomes one of the cheapest ways to add a tracking camera to your streaming setup.
To hit that price tag for a two-axis gimbal-mounted webcam with tracking capabilities, the tiny SE comes with one notable limitation: it tops out at 1080p. For comparison, $199 insta360 link 2 Can do 4K up to 30fps, while Obsbot still offers it 4K-capable Tiny 2 Lite For $179.
Image quality will be lower than more expensive options, but the tiny SE should still outperform the webcams built into many laptops. It can stream at 1080p at up to 100fps (or up to 120fps and the resolution goes down to 720p) and supports Staggered HDR Recording up to 60fps.
Webcams can reframe and tighten a shot, allowing it to better focus on a person and who they're interacting with, and it can also be used to track specific parts of the body, such as the lower body or arm, or to track their face. Can be limited to concealment. But without optical zoom capabilities – only 4x digital zoom – image quality will be further reduced. Using the ObsBot Center app, available for Windows and macOS, you can also adjust the composition of the shot, so that tracked targets don't always appear in the middle of the frame.
Other features include the ability to use hand gestures to manually adjust the framing of the shot on the camera, a built-in microphone with three noise reduction levels, background blur for increased privacy, and a standard tripod. Mounts at the bottom for greater flexibility in where it can be used.