Lumina webcam
MSRP $199.00
“The Lumina webcam is a stylish and compact webcam with excellent 4K image quality.”
Avg
-
Nice design and color options
-
Small and light
-
Sharp, well-balanced image quality
-
Simple installation
Against
-
The companion app is still in beta
-
Important Mac applications are not fully compatible
The Lumina Webcam is a quirky and stylishly designed webcam with AI-powered features designed to bring the DSLR experience to the home or office.
While many built-in PC webcams are notorious for being grainy and dark, Lumina excels at upscaling 4K webcam quality, even at the most basic settings.
At $250 (currently $200), it’s quite expensive, and some of the bonus features seem lacking. But this little webcam might have some tweaked image quality to make up for it.
To shape
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Amazon and other online retailers are flooded with webcams, but many of them look pretty similar. Bulky and ugly is the name of the game.
But Lumina’s webcam breaks the mold. This compact and beautiful device would pair perfectly with a MacBook or a modern Windows laptop. This is especially true of the rose gold model I reviewed, which really stands out from the standard boring webcams you can buy. Other color options include silver, atomic gray and gold.
The matte finish has just enough sparkle, and the two “Lumina” logos on each side are not in the way. Then there’s the lens, on the left, the lighting, and the speakers on either side.
The design of the Lumina is generally minimalistic at 3.5 ounces (100 grams) and 22 x 22 x 70 millimeters. It has a compact, curved rectangular shape and is made of aerospace grade aluminum. Its black computer stand went well with my all-black rugged laptop. You can easily replace the accessory with a tripod mount, but this feature is not included.
The included cable is USB-C, but the webcam also supports USB 2.0. The functionality is definitely ideal when the webcam is connected directly to your machine. I happen to have a USB hub and a wireless mouse that take up a lot of my limited I/O space, so it took a lot of plugging and unplugging to use this device. It wasn’t a huge hassle for me, but something to keep in mind if you’ll be using your webcam a lot. Be prepared to have a dedicated port for your Lumina or turn off other devices to make room for your webcam.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
The Lumina comes with a magnetic privacy cover that matches the look of the body and is meant to clip back to the back when not in use and clip forward over the lens to hide the camera when needed. This makes it quite unobtrusive, but I consider it an accessory that can still get lost if not handled properly.
Lumina also includes a color card with a QR code in the box. Idea? Purchase a Lumina webcam and then receive an opt-in invitation to have an official representative walk you through setting up and calibrating your camera. That doesn’t sound very helpful, and it wasn’t currently available anyway.
Features
The Lumina camera has a 4K 5-element f/2.0 glass lens with a 24.84mm² sensor and an adjustable field of view between 65 degrees and 95 degrees. Some of the features highlighted by Lumina include active color calibration and a “customizable AI cameraman.”
Many of these features are available in the Lumina app; however, as I said, I was not able to test the active color calibration. Normally, you’d hold the color tab up in the app’s preview window to automatically adjust aspects like skin tone, lighting, texture, etc., to create the ideal video.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
The AI recorder includes some configurations in the advanced settings that control the AI tracking feature on the Lumina webcam. Options include zoom, speed, xi shift, y shift. Another interesting advanced feature is the curve lift, which really effectively brings out the details in highly textured hair.
Image used with permission of the copyright holder
There are two camera settings available, Lumina Raw and Lumina Plus. The Lumina Plus camera requires a product key to unlock during software installation, but once it’s available, you can switch between the two cameras at will, in addition to the standard PC camera. The Lumina Plus camera is a full-featured setup, giving you access to image enhancements, zooming and more.
The Lumina Raw setting is exactly what it sounds like. The lens itself and nothing more. The addition of the Raw setting is nice, especially when you’re trying to figure out how good this camera really is, outside of any software tweaks and optimizations.
You can also tinker with the Lumina app settings privately, using the slide-in open view option or during a live video chat in the app of your choice.
Application compatibility
While the Lumina webcam supports both Windows and Mac, there are many different app compatibilities between the two cameras and the two operating systems.
For example, the list of applications that the Lumina Raw camera is compatible with includes Zoom, Google Meet, OBS, Webex by Cisco, Skype, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Slack, FaceTime, QuickTime Player, Photo Booth, iMovie, Ecamm Live, mmhmm , Loom, Riverside.fm, WhatsApp, BlueJeans and StreamYard. That’s a solid amount of apps, all available for both Mac and Windows.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the Lumina Plus, things get a lot messier. Lumina Plus Camera for Mac is compatible with Zoom, Google Meet, OBS, Cisco Webex, Skype, Ecamm Live, mmhmm, Riverside.fm, BlueJeans and StreamYard. There are some notable loopholes here, including Teams, Discord, Slack, and FaceTime.
The Lumina Plus has better compatibility for Windows apps, but as it stands, it lacks too many important apps on the Mac side.
Video quality
Despite the nuances between camera settings and operating systems, the Lumina webcam shines in video quality. I tested the webcam connected to a Panasonic Toughbook Windows laptop. Despite only having HD resolution, it has solid image quality for an internal webcam of its type.
However, when I started testing the Lumina webcam, I really started to see the differences. I especially noticed the halo effect I got from my ring light, which is visible in the image on my HD webcam.
With the Lumina webcam, my screenshots are much more consistent, no matter how I switch the camera from Raw to Plus or adjust the settings. I’ve included an image below where I’ve set the zoom and blur, and another where I’ve played around with the blue and red lighting as well as the saturation, and there’s no indication that I have any additional lighting in the background.
Lumina Plus camera tested in Zoom. Image used with permission of the copyright holder
Similar to a DSLR camera, the Lumina Raw camera has the most basic settings, while the Lumina Plus camera has several presets already added for typical ideal settings without calibration. In any case, Lumina’s webcam performed at a high level of quality and left me deeply impressed.
Lumina Raw camera tested in Zoom. Image used with permission of the copyright holder
During the consultation, I was recommended some hue and saturation tweaks, along with a curve lift feature, instead of AI calibration, to bring out my skin tone and hair texture.
With a bit of tweaking, I was able to get a really clear and free image. Don’t get me wrong — the Lumia camera looks great right out of the box. But after some time you can raise the image to a higher level that is well suited to your face.
Our opinion
The Lumina camera goes in the direction of many gadgets, combining high-tech features with a sleek and stylish design. It’s great that the camera quality stands out well, even before considering the app. Often such features can be forgotten by non-enthusiasts. However, taking advantage of all the settings and services that Lumina offers with its webcam can only improve the user experience.
Are there alternatives?
The Logitech Brio would be a decent alternative as a 4K webcam that is highly regarded and well rated in the industry. It is similarly priced at $200; however, it has been on the market long enough that they have started to see discounts. The Logitech C920x Pro HD Webcam isn’t 4K, but it’s a bargain at $70 and also comes highly recommended.
How long will it last?
The Lumina webcam comes with a 14-day observation period, in which it can be exchanged or returned, and also has a one-year warranty, under which the brand will assist in the event of accidents within reasonable limits. Its aluminum construction should be durable enough to last a long life of several years. One plus of its beta status is that developers are consistently working on the software and seeking feedback. Users are encouraged to get in touch.
Should I buy it?
At $250, the Lumina webcam is definitely a splurge. The webcam is currently on sale for $199, but it’s not known how long the sale will last.
I say buy it if you have a solid purpose, like streaming consistently or a remote job that requires you to be on your absolute A game all the time. The quality of the video alone is enough to say that it is, but only if the price is in step with the competition.
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn