Choosing a PTZ Camera for Your Church

Advanced new tools can help your team, tech veterans and volunteers alike, professionally stream and record worship services.

As a cutting edge, increasingly viable, and proficient arrangement, numerous houses of worship today are changing to PTZ camera frameworks and getting a charge out of the capacity to remotely control little, circumspect PTZ cameras put in key areas. Volunteers can be prepared at work, remotely overseeing cameras with joystick controllers, cell phone applications, and even their preferred video creation programming, for example, OBS, Wirecast, vMix, TriCaster, Livestream Studio, and more

With PTZ cameras, a solitary camera administrator can control various cameras utilizing an iPad, a joystick, or even a Xbox controller. While keeping up a congregation’s stylish appearance, PTZ cameras can be put in vital, off the beaten path areas where cabling can be covered up within dividers and alongside galleries.

HOW MANY CAMERAS?

The number of cameras you need for your church will depend on the size and layout of your worship space, your plans for producing your stream or broadcast, and your budget. Small spaces can often get away with one or two cameras. Larger areas may require more to be able to capture both the overall room and close-ups of what is happening upfront

PTZ cameras have become very popular in churches because a single camera can capture multiple angles which can be set up by a remote operator. Therefore if you place a camera in the center of your church, it may be used to zoom into the pastor during certain portions of your video recordings, but it may also be used to focus on the choir.

HOW WILL YOU CONNECT YOUR CAMERAS?

PTZ Cameras can connect to the rest of your setup in several ways, HDMI, SDI, USB, and IP. Choosing the right connection will depend on at least two factors: the rest of your streaming or broadcasting setup, and the distance to your cameras..

Many churches that are creating new installations for video production projects are leveraging a new standard called the NewTek NDI. This video standard allows cameras to send video, audio, and PTZ camera controls over a single ethernet cable. PTZOptics NDI cameras may be a great solution for reducing the number of cables required to set up your next live streaming system.

HOW CLOSE CAN YOU GET?

One of the biggest mistakes churches make when selecting cameras is not choosing a high enough zoom level. Optical zoom is the ability to enhance the image magnification coming to your cameras image sensor without digitally losing quality like you would with digital zoom. Especially when people are viewing streams on computers and mobile devices, it may be important to have a tight shot of the person speaking, singing, or otherwise participating in worship. If your cameras need to be a significant distance from the leaders on the chancel or stage, you will need a high level of zoom to get a useful image. Fortunately, PTZ cameras are available in 12X, 20X, and 30X optical zoom.

HOW WILL YOU CONTROL THE CAMERAS

Hand-held IR remote – IR remote controls are easy to use for close-range camera control, but they generally do not work when the camera is mounted far away or where daylight or other IR interference may exist
Joystick controller – PTZOptics features IP joysticks that can easily control any PTZOptics camera on a local area network.
Software – PTZ cameras can now be controlled with software such as OBS, vMix, Wirecast, TriCaster, MimoLive, and Livestream Studio, allowing an operator to simply click an image of where they want the camera to move.
Game controller/Apps – Cameras can be controlled with an Xbox controller.

HOW WILL YOU MOUNT THE CAMERAS

Here is a typical list of locations and mounting options for PTZ cameras installed inside churches:

1. Wall Mounted – Wall mounts can provide unique views that are above the heads of standing members in the pews.

2. Ceiling Mounted – Ceiling mounts can provide views from above, which can be used for showing special overhead and angled views of the church.

3. Pole Mounted – Pole mounts can be used to safely position cameras in places above crowds.

4. Wall-Recessed Mounted – For an even cleaner aesthetic and when the wall construction allows, PTZ cameras can be mounted in recessed cubbies where they are not visible to the congregation, to preserve the decorative face of a balcony or wall.