Elgato Facecam MK2 Review

Elgato Facecam MK2 Premium 1080p Webcam

design

The Elgato Facecam MK2 refines the design of the brand’s original webcam and takes cues from the top-end Facecam Pro’s wider, flatter chassis. It’s a case of evolution rather than revolution but each of the changes to form factor are nicely considered and from a physical standpoint it’s an improvement across the board. It’s still an all-plastic shell but the Facecam MK2 feels more premium in hand than the MK1 did, it’s less hollow, slightly heavier and more solid overall. 

It’s the mounting system where most creators will see the greatest quality of life improvements with the Elgato Facecam MK2. A completely overhauled system, again borrowed from the Facecam Pro, does away with the awkward long neck of the MK1 for a lower overall profile and sturdier connection. The new connection allows for tilt and rotation without sacrificing stability and I had no issues both lining up the perfect framing and making adjustments on the fly without feeling like I had to reseat the entire unit.

The Elgato Facecam MK2 also corrects one of the biggest annoyances of the previous version, screen overlap. The front hook of the mount on the Facecam MK2 now drops down far less over the front and for most monitors will now likely only cover bezel rather than actual screen space. Good job Elgato. Of course if you want to do away with the included stand all together you can as there’s great compatibility with Elgato’s Multi Mount rage. The base simply screws off allowing it to be added to its range of Multi Mount poles and extensions or even a Wave Arm LP. 

The separate lens cap of the original Facecam is gone in favour of an inbuilt privacy shutter on the new Elgato Facecam MK2. It’s a better, neater solution though not wonderfully executed and almost feels like a late afterthought rather than something core to the design like you find on the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra. The shutter sits quite deep into the body of the camera and you’ll need to slide the actual shutter itself by latching on to a tiny raised bump with your fingernail. It means reaching ‘into’ the webcam and being particularly deliberate with your movements to avoid leaving a lovely fingerprint smudge right across the lens. I’d have liked to have seen a more considered approach, a tab sticking out the top for example or pulling the shutter further forward in the unit and away from the lens; it’s a bit of a low tech solution in a high tech device.

The back of the Elgato Facecam MK2 is one large grille to help with temperature control and a single USB-C port for connecting to your PC. A shout out to whoever in the design team at Elgato thought to print the transfer rate of its cables directly onto the cable itself because it’s such a simple idea that makes a big difference. Far too many times I’ve wondered why a camera or capture card wasn’t working, only to find I’d grabbed a cable that was too slow to handle uncompressed video. My only wish with the generously long 2m USB-A to USB-C cable included in the box is that Elgato had gone with a right angle connection at the camera end. The standard cable juts out quite a way from the back and makes neat cable management tricky with a desk up against a wall.

performance

The original Elgato Facecam was one of the first in the market specifically aiming to raise the game for streamers and it set the bar pretty high. The unique fixed focus lens delivered effortlessly sharp, high quality video but the 30fps limit for full HD doesn’t quite cut it anymore. In theory that’s the problem the MK2 solves, it’s now capable of 1080p 60fps video while retaining the same benefits of that prime lens setup.

It’s worth noting the Elgato Facecam MK2 isn’t a match for the existing Facecam Pro or the likes of the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra. This is definitely a mid-range camera by design, it doesn’t try to compete with the top end of the market with 2K or 4K video but the new addition of HDR video and bump up to 60fps makes for an improved experience over the MK1.

Most streamers don’t really need a 4K face cam anyway and the raw quality of the Facecam MK2’s uncompressed 1080p video is superb. Low light performance is good with little noticeable distortion if you don’t try to push things too far and it retains an impressive level of detail even in small background objects. Footage is smooth and low latency and the fixed focus lens once again does a great job of keeping everything sharp within an impressively wide 30 to 120cm range. The new 120fps frame rate is limited to just 720p but does a good job for streamers looking to play around with slow motion replays in a quality that remains acceptable for most scenarios.

All of this sounds great so far, and it is in theory. I can’t fault the quality of video the Elgato Facecam MK2 produces, but in my setup I’ve found it a tricky camera to dial in. I’ve used the Facecam MK2 for a couple of weeks, starting with pre-release firmware, and have struggled to tune a colour profile I’m completely satisfied with. Out of the box the Facecam MK2 runs with a soft, pastel vibe and on default, automatic settings I found the colours overly subtle with a tendency to look a little grey. This was noticeably worse on earlier firmware versions and has definitely improved with each update so it may be a case of the camera growing into itself in the real world.

Now, colour and style are entirely subjective and I’m sure there’ll be some creators who enjoy this softer, almost watercolour aesthetic. I prefer the top end of strong contrast and saturation for my stream and even on the latest firmware couldn’t quite find that punch I was looking for. I was able to take manual control of exposure settings and get to a good place, just not a brilliant one that I’m completely happy with. Again there’s no faulting the actual quality, it’s just dialling in colours and in particular white balance that I’ve found difficult.

On the left is the Facecam MK2 with all default, automatic settings. On the right is the best image I could generate with manual settings on the latest firmware.

It’s frustrating because Elgato provides all of the tools you (should) need to dial in and personalise your video and they’re a joy to use. The Elgato Camera Hub software is nicely laid out with a clean interface and simple controls for each aspect of the camera. If you’re already in the Elgato ecosystem with another device like the Stream Deck Plus you’ll be able to make changes on the fly outside of the app too. 

You’re offered manual DSLR style controls for everything from ISO to shutter speed and for situations with controlled lighting it’s definitely worth taking a few minutes to dial this in rather than relying on automatic settings. The same is true for white balancing, I found the Facecam MK2 never quite got skin tone right and I was only able to operate in the coolest 5% of the scale without becoming cartoonishly colourful. Whether this is the MK2 getting thrown off by my high colour, LED backdrop will need more testing to confirm.

Like the Facecam Pro, Elgato offers tools for digital framing in the Camera Hub app though they aren’t as useful as they are on the brand’s flagship camera. There’s simply not enough resolution to play with when you’re starting at 1080p instead of 4K so while being able to save quick zooms as presets is a nice toy to have, its use becomes a little limited unless you’re willing to part with quality in the process.

summed up

As it stands, the Elgato Facecam MK2 is a tad frustrating because it has all of the raw hardware to be a market leading webcam for streamers without completely breaking the bank but for a high impact streaming setup line mine it’s tricky to dial in. This is improving though and each firmware update does seem to have gone some way to correcting some of the shortcomings I’ve found.

All definitely isn’t lost with the Elgato Facecam MK2, it’s not quite the complete package yet but the build quality is there, the internal components are there and the supporting app is there too. It just needs to be more confident, more outspoken and not shy to let its true colours show.