Streaming Church Services Live and Cheap
Most churches start streaming church services live during Covid. You probably wish to continue that, but how do you do it without paying thousands of dollars?
Since Covid closed down America's in-person worship services in March 2020, most churches started streaming church services live on Facebook or other services. You can spend thousands of dollars on equipment and service fees, or you can spend far less. In fact, if you follow my recommendations, you can start streaming this week for far less than a thousand hundred dollars.
We'll look at the cameras you can use cheaply. You can buy inexpensive software and use what you already likely have in your church's sound booth to connect it all.
Streaming Church Services - The Camera
Most people start by thinking about a camera. The number one post on my site covers the 4 styles of the camera for streaming church services. Please read that post first for a comprehensive guide to choosing a camera. However, I recommend one kind for budget streaming.
Why not use your phone? Many smartphones come with a great camera. You can, but I don't think it gives you the best option. If you can't afford the cameras below, then use your phone. But you'll need to buy a mic anyway, so spend a little more and get a great dedicated camera that you don't have to worry about charging, getting intrusive notifications, and can't zoom or pan while recording as easily.
Get a decent 1080p camcorder with a clean HDMI out signal (see image and caption above) that will run for at least as long as your worship service, plus about 20 minutes. That could mean you leave it plugged in, or the battery lasts at least that long. What does all of that mean, and which one should you buy? Let's break it down...
- 1080p refers to the resolution. Some people recommend a 4K camera, but that's too much for most churches, and it will cost too much. However, if you already have one, then use it. Just set it for 1080p. 1080p means the resolution of the camera is 1920 pixels horizontally and 1080 pixels vertically. The P stands for pixels.
- Get a camcorder like everyone used to buy before cell phone cameras became so powerful. Make sure it has a 30x optical zoom. Ignore the digital zoom because it makes things look really blurry. Turn off the digital zoom. Only use optical zoom and make sure it does 30x, especially if the camera sits in the back of the auditorium. You want it in the back, so you don't distract attendees.
- Make sure the camera supports a clean HDMI signal (see above image and caption for description). If it doesn't support a clean single, then you'll see things like the battery indicator and the other onscreen display items you see on the small screen on the camcorder. How do you know if the camera supports a clean HDMI signal output? Look at the specs of the camera or ask the person selling it. You can also go to Amazon and ask about the camera.
- The camera needs to run on battery at least 20 minutes longer than your worship service. That way, you can turn it on and test everything before the service. The best camcorders run on AC power plugged into an electric outlet instead of running them off battery power.
We don't have room to go into more detail about camera specs. Adhering to the four things above will give you a great camera. Let me recommend a couple of cameras.
Canon VIXIA HF R800 Camcorder
The Canon VIXIA HF R800 will stream your church service, fulfilling the four requirements above. It supports 1080p and has a clean HDMI signal that would show the distracting icons on the built-in display to your viewers.
The camera supports 32x optical zoom for streaming church services live. Ignore the 57x digital zoom because when you zoom in that far, two things happen. Video quality degrades, and your camera operator will struggle to keep the image stable.
Finally, the camera operator can plug it in a while streaming church services live. The camera will run for about one hour and forty minutes on battery life.
There's one problem with the R800. It costs $300 at B&H Photo and that was cheapest price we could find.
Panasonic HC-V180K Camcorder
Take a look at the Panasonic HC-V180K for a slightly less expensive camera ($229.99 at B&H Photo). It supports a clean 1080p HDMI signal with a nice 50x optical zoom. Again, ignore the 90x "intelligent zoom," which is a misnomer because you'd be stupid to use it.
Consider looking for each of these cameras used. You can often find a camera that is in good condition for less than the retail value.
Streaming Church Services - Software
The cheapest place to stream also invites the largest audience. That's Facebook.
I've tried dedicated streaming services like Dacast and going live to YouTube before settling on Facebook. Google now requires 1,000 subscribers on a channel before they can stream live to their service using the YouTube user interface. Churches can also subscribe to expensive services that put your live stream on your website, or there's for anywhere from hundreds of dollars a year to thousands.
Facebook lets churches stream for free, and they don't need a minimum number of subscribers or followers. Whether you like Facebook or like the way they've limited or allowed certain kinds of accounts and content, it's the cheapest available. That's what my church uses.
How can you get the signal from the camera to Facebook? We'll talk about the connecting accessories below. First, what software should you use? Facebook has its own streaming user interface. Set up a Facebook page and then use their live streaming feature built into the website.
You can add some cool features like lower thirds, text written at the bottom of the video to show what's on your stream. Use it to put the names of people leading worship or the title of the pastor's sermon. To get that you'll need some software.
Take a look at three options below:
- OBS Studio - a free, powerful, open-source program that lets you stream live to Facebook and more. It's complex, but with some time and effort to learn the program, OBS Studio gives users the most powerful solution for no cost to their church.
- Ecamm Live - a great piece of software that makes streaming to Facebook easy, but it's at least a $16/month subscription.
- Restream - a program like Ecamm but offers a free version. I've not used it, but a lot of people prefer it.
- Dacast - a more costly program like Ecamm and Restream. It's more of a service, which offers streaming that you can embed on your church's website.
Of the two above options, I'd recommend OBS Studio if you don't want to use the Facebook page streaming interface. I only mentioned Ecamm Live because I use it at my church. We're grandfathered into the pre-subscription model. You can't get that now, but the software is easy to use. They charge either $16 or $32 per month to use it. They offer a 14-day trial.
Restream is another program that streams videos for you. It's slightly more expensive than Ecamm at the high end. It starts at $16 per month for the subscription version with some of the bells and whistles. The higher tier sells for $41 per month.
OBS Studio is more powerful but more complicated and also free. Ecamm is the easiest tool for churches without someone who can figure out OBS, but it's also expensive due to a monthly subscription. You could say the same for Restream and Dacast.
Other streaming software exists, but it's usually more expensive. If your church already subscribes to software for worship presentation, it might also include streaming features. Proclaim from Faithlife has an option for streaming and Podcasting.
Streaming Church Services - Computer
We put this hardware item last because it's honestly the least important. My church uses a 2014 Mac mini. I upgraded the internal hard drive with a 500GB SSD, and it runs fine. I paid $200 for the computer used and less than $75 for the SSD.
You can also get a recent model Windows computer. Desktops usually cost less than laptops. If you can run Windows 10, you can likely stream from it. Streaming doesn't require a high-end computer. Some people bring their own laptops to church and use them.
If you can afford a brand new system, I'd recommend the new M1-based Mac mini, which costs $800 for a basic version. It's not a "cheap" solution, but it will last a long time in most cases and can handle all that we've talked about for streaming. It's still not incredibly expensive, like a $2000 multimedia PC or MacBook Pro.
Connecting the Camera, Computer, Software, and Sound
Our church sanctuary has a balcony with our soundboard, computer, and camera in the center front of it. We can easily connect our camera, computer, and soundboard because they're within 6 feet of each other. If those three things sit further apart, it will potentially get harder to connect them. If you're set up like we are, then you can follow the first example below.
We put our camera on a sturdy tripod and plug it into a power outlet so that we don't have to worry about the battery running out. We use a mini-HDMI to full-sized HDMI cable coming out of the camera. It plugs into a box made by Blackmagicdesign ($160). It has an HDMI input on one side and a USB-C port on the other. Plug that into your computer.
The computer will "see" this input as a camera, and Facebook or other streaming software will let the operator choose it as the video source.
Connecting Soundboard to Computer
Don't use the sound from the camera for streaming church services live. You probably have a professional sound system with mics meant for soloists and speaking. Use it instead. Connect the soundboard to the computer's sound input using whatever kind of cable you have for sound output.
Our soundboard has a stereo output port with reliable white and red jacks, also called RCA jacks. On the other end of the cable, there's a 3.5mm stereo connector. That goes into the computer using the kind of cable you see below.
You will need this adapter if you have a Mac with a 3.5mm sound jack input. The Mac expects a cable with 3 signals coming in from something like the white Apple earbuds. Your white Apple earbuds or other earbuds or headphones with a mic have three signals going into the computer. One handles the voice coming from the mic in the earbuds or headphones. The other two are the right and left coming from the computer into the headphones. It would help if you had an adapter to change the stereo signal from the soundboard into something the computer jack can handle. For a complete explanation of TRS and TRRS connectors, watch the video below.
Windows PC users may also need the above kind of cable. They might not. There are too many different kinds of Windows PCs to explain how each of them works.
If your church soundboard doesn't have RCA outputs, you may need to use a quarter-inch to 3.5mm TRRS cable. The above video explained that thes "TS Cables" are quarter-inch connectors. But they work the same way. You can find them on Amazon for $10-$20 like this one. Some people will need an XLR cable that converts to 3.5mm TRRS. You can get either a male or female version.
A Better Sound Interface - USB
While the above cables will most likely work, a more expensive solution definitely will work. Get a good USB audio capture device. These devices connect to the computer using USB. Plug your audio cable from the soundboard into the device. It converts it to a digital version that the computer receives over USB.
An expensive high-end version comes from Zoom. The Podtrack P4 works great. I use it for my Wednesday night live streams at church. However, it costs $200 and has more than you need.
If you need a budget option that costs less that $50, take a look at a USB capture device like the Foxnova Game Capture Card. I have to admit, I've not used this one. However, it supports capturing both the HDMI and audio signal so you could potentially ditch the Blackmagjicdesign UltraStudio 3G we looked at above. Take a look at the video below to see an unboxing video.
To Sum It All Up
Let's sum it all up. To start, grab one of the cameras above or see if someone owns a camcorder in your church. They may donate it. Make sure it supports 1080P, clean HDMI output has at least 30x optical zoom. That should cost between $220-$350.
Grab the Blackmagicdesign UltraStudio 3G or the Foxnova Game Capture Card for $50-$160, depending on which one you choose. I'd start with the Foxnova card. It's cheaper. If it doesn't work, return it to Amazon and get the Blackmagicdesign.
Connect the camera to the box with the right mini HDMI cable. Connect the soundboard with the right kind of cable. These should cost less than $50 depending on what you buy.
If you don't already have a computer, try and find a used Mac mini ($200-$400) or get the latest M1 Mac mini ($700).
The software should be free unless you buy something like Ecamm Live.
All of the above hardware adds up to $550 to $1260. That's far less than most churches probably paid for their equipment, cables, and software.
The 4 Best Camera Styles for Streaming Church Services Live in 2021
What's the best camera for streaming your church services live on Facebook or YouTube. We'll give you some tips for choosing the right camera.
When churches shut down due to Covid-19 we looked at the 4 best camera styles for streaming church services. It's almost a year later and time to update that for 2021.
In a previous post about streaming church services live, we looked at the best way to stream with an iPhone or Android phone. To offer a professional live stream of your church's worship service, you'll want a dedicated camera instead of a phone. In this post, we'll look at picking the right camera for your needs. Again, a phone might fit your budget, but this time we're assuming you want something that creates better quality for streaming church services.
Here are the other posts in this series:
- Streaming Church Services Live from a Phone Made Simple
- Streaming Church Services Live Using Facebook or YouTube Apps or Pages
- 7 Best Tools for Streaming Church Services
- Streaming Church Services Life and Cheap
What Kind of Camera Should You Use for Streaming Church Services?
People can pick from a few different kinds of cameras aside from their phone camera. Most people think of a webcam when they think of live streaming. However, webcams only work if you're streaming yourself sitting at a desk or in a room close to the camera. The quality of the image that a webcam produces usually won't compare to a dedicated camera. The camera, if it zooms, usually uses digital zoom, which looks bad. You'll have to put the camera very close to the pulpit and it will distract the people from attending the stream. Don't use a webcam for streaming church services live.
The best options include the following styles of cameras:
- A video camera or camcorder with at least 720p resolution that also has an HDMI output that shows the live view of the camera video.
- A DSLR or mirrorless camera that also offers a live output of the video of the camera.
- A PTZ IP Streaming Camera that you can connect over an Ethernet cable and offers remote control of the panning and zooming of the camera lens.
Let's take a look at some options for each kind of camera.
Video Camera or Camcorder
Before cameras on smartphones got so good, most people owned a camcorder or video camera. Basic consumer-grade camcorders made in the last few years will offer a 1080p or even a 4K video option. You can spend as little as $250 for a very good Canon camcorder that offers HDMI output and a live view of the image. B&H Photo has a few ranging in price from $250 to $2000 depending on your church's budget. The cheapest option, the Canon VIXIA HF R800 Camcorder offers the following features needed for a good streaming camcorder.
- Optical Image Stabilization - less wiggle as the camera operator movies it from side to side.
- HD Video - 1080p is the sweet spot, but lower quality 720p usually looks good enough and high-quality 4K video may offer too much making it harder to stream on a slower network. This camera offers 1080p which gives your viewers good image quality.
- 32X Optical Zoom - avoid using digital zoom because it gets closer to the subject, but looks horrible. The optical zoom looks much better. If your camera has a digital zoom, turn it off in settings.
- Powered via Power Adapter - you want to plug it into the wall so you don't have to worry about your battery running out. If you do this remove the battery so you don't ruin it by keeping it plugged in. That way you can still use the camera for recording video outside of the sanctuary.
- Mic Input - the camera comes with a mic input if you need to use it in other situations outside of streaming your worship service. While streaming church services, you'll get sound from the soundboard going into the computer.
Consider a Higher-quality 4K Camcorder
The above Canon camera gives users an adequate option, but if you want 4K streaming you'll have to find another camera. The Canon VIXIA HF G50 4K Camcorder (seen below) gives a higher resolution but costs 4 times as much. But you'll get a much better image. It will also require higher bandwidth, so make sure your Internet connection is fast upstream as well as downstream and can handle streaming church services in 4K.
Despite the higher price, the HF G50 cuts the optical zoom by a third. That means you won't get as close to the people on stage while recording from the same spot. If you can place the camera person closer to the stage, then this will work fine.
You can go nuts with high-end professional cameras that cost thousands of dollars, but people who need those cameras probably already know more about cameras used for streaming church services live than I do.
Mevo Camera for Streaming Church Services Live
The Mevo Camera gives churches a specialized camera for streaming church services live, but you'll have to place it close to the platform like a camera phone.
The Mevo Start ($399) streams or record locally in 1080p. Use the Mevo App to control the camera on a smart phone or tablet. Set things up so it looks like you have multiple cameras all using the one camera and the app.
The Mevo Start is small and has a battery that should last long enough for most worship services, but you can also plug it in. The built-in mic will pick up audio or there's a built-in 3.5mm mic input to connect a higher quality external mic. Most churches will connect their soundboard to the smartphone or tablet instead. You'll need to connect some specialized cables to make that work. I'd suggest going to the Mevo Facebook group to get further support from other experienced users.
An Example of Using Mevo in Church
You can view an example of the Mevo in action at my church's Facebook page. Look for our Sunday School on Wednesday night videos. We use a regular camcorder for our Sunday morning, but we use the older Mevo Plus camera for Wednesday night streams. Here's the company's ad for the Mevo Start.
The camera will connect either to your phone or your tablet. I'd recommend using an iPad since that's larger and you can see more on the screen at one time.
The app runs on iOS and Android. Find out more about that from Mevo.
The Mevo camera works best in smaller sanctuaries or for churches who want to stream things like interviews or events in a small room. If your room requires you to be further than about 10-20 feet, this option won't work well for you and the image quality is lower than even a camera phone.
DSLR or Mirrorless Camera
Churches can use the above cameras for streaming church services live online, but they may want better quality images and a camera that they can take off the tripod and use for take photos of church events. A good DSLR or Mirrorless camera will fit that situation better.
What are DSLR or Mirrorless cameras? The video below explains it better than I can. If you don't care and just want recommendations, then skip to the next paragraph.
Mirrorless camera give the user a smaller camera while still offering beautiful photos and video. The DSLR is the style of camera that's been around forever, but now they're digital. Mirrorless is the future.
Canon M6 Mark ii
I used to recommend the Canon EOS M50, but a friend had a lot of trouble using one for his church. So I now recommend the Canon EOS M6 Mark ii. That's the camera I own and occasionally use for live streaming.
Canon released a brand new utility called the EOS Webcam Utility that lets users turn their DSLR or mirrorless camera into a webcam. You can hook your camera up to your computer with USB-C. The new utility will make it available in your software as a camera for streaming. It works fine for Facebook or YouTube live streams.
The camera might run out of battery power before your service ends, so get the power adapter that lets you plug the camera in AC power. It costs $24 as of this writing.
Get a zoom lens with at least 200 mm of zoom. You'll still have to place the camera little closer than you may like because 200 mm zoom is like 6.5X zoom on a camcorder.
Canon EOS Digital Rebel T7i
If you don't own a Windows computer, consider then take a look at the Canon EOS Rebel T7i DSLR camera which starts at $680 without a lens. Pay $1000 to get a long zoom lens.
I prefer Canon because they offer better color than Nikon or Sony camera. But you can find comparable cameras from those manufacturers that will work for you. Other companies like Panasonic, Fujifilm and Olympus make great camera. Here's a list of options at Amazon.
Look for...
- 4K resolution for shooting
- Live video output for streaming
- A lens from 200mm zoom or higher
- Stays on and offers live video for a long enough time to stream your entire service since some cameras shut off after 20 or 30 minutes.
- An adapter for powering the camera while using it because most batteries won't last for the full length of a worship service.
You may not be able to find the above things mentioned in the camera's description at your store of choice. Ask the seller or post a question in a place like Amazon.
The last item on the list is a must. Get the power adapter for your camera like this one for the T7i mentioned above. or the one we linked to above for the Mark 6 Mii.
PTZ Streaming Video Cameras
A friend of mine chose to buy another kind of camera that I've not used. It's called the Avipas AV-1081G 10x HDMI PTZ Camera ($620) with IP Live Streaming. PTZ stands for Pan Tilt Zoom, which describes the way it can move (panning left-right, tilting up-down and zooming in and out).
It only offers 1080p video, which is fine for now. It says it's a 10x zoom camera, but only the digital zoom is only 5x, which is not going to be good enough for medium to larger sanctuaries.
These IP cameras are usually smaller, so you can put them in your sanctuary and they'll seem less noticeable. You won't need a big tripod because you can install it permanently.
The camera connects via a network cable. You can control it from a computer or with a special remote control box. The box or the software will control the panning (left right) and the tilting (up and down) while zooming in to the subject.
Recommendation
For those who worship in a large sanctuary, get a camcorder with a 32X zoom or higher. They are usually the cheapest option and you can get a good 1080p or 4K camera for hundreds instead of thousands of dollars. Then invest in good software to make it work, although Facebook alone does the trick for most people. If you plan to stream to another service, ask them what they recommend. The best free software for streaming is OBS Studio. The open-source software comes with a large community of users who can help you get it set up.
Here's what you'll need to get it all working if you're streaming from your church sanctuary:
- Canon VIXIA HF R800 Camcorder - $250 at B&H Photo
- A mini-HDMI to HDMI out cable with an adapter for your computer like to convert the HDMI signal to format that streaming software can use - $100 for both.
- A good streaming computer like the new M1 Macs - $900+.
- A cable to connect your soundboard to your streaming computer. You'll have to determine what kind of sound output your board has - $10-$50.
- Open your web browser and use Facebook Live Streaming from your church's Facebook page or if you want more features get OBS Studio which lets you set up multiple camera inputs, an input for your worship presentation (lyrics and sermon slides), and other interesting graphics - Free.
For people who are streaming from a smaller room, consider going with the Mevo Camera and a good phone or tablet. Here's what I use to make it all work:
- Mevo Start Camera - $399 or $384 on Amazon.
- A mini table-top tripod like the Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod - $18 on Amazon.
- iPad to control the Mevo Camera app - $319 for a 32GB base iPad from Amazon or $329 from Apple.
- Zoom Podtrack P4 mobile mixer with 2 Zoom mics - $390 from Amazon
The last item on the list is a new addition to my setup. We had a lot of trouble getting audio right with the Mevo over my iPad. However, this mixer fixed it all. If you already have a headset, two XLR mics, and cables, then you can buy the Podtrack P4 for only $200. Check back here for a full review of the Zoom Podtrack P4 at a later date.