In making face-to-face calls on my 2020 iMac, I’ve found that unless I slouch very low (aggravating my back pain), the camera doesn’t show the top half of my face. Is there a way (software, I hope) to angle the camera up so it sees all of my face?
If not, I might have to create a view-backroscope with mirrors (smoke if necessary) to show all of my face.
I checked the date, and it’s not 1 April, so I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest, if only for the duration of the call, mightn’t you simply tilt the screen back a bit? It sounds like you’re subscribed to the school of eye-level-meets-top-of-screen is best for ergonomics, and/or you don’t find it annoying that Apple thinks displays simply never require vertical adjustments to fit humans of varied heights, and thus probably have not surrendered to purchasing a stand or sacrificing one or more books to combine to raise your iMac without catching severe glare from overhead lighting.
I’ll leave you with two other thoughts, as AFAIK, the FaceTime camera is fixed and is only as adjustable as is the display: Logitech and/or VESA.
Sorry I can’t be of more help.
Happy Tuesday
I have a 2020 27" iMac and have no problem fitting my face into the image while sitting straight. In fact, my position and setup very much resemble the ergonomic position in this poster (including the keyboard tray and armrests on the desk chair). Rather than have the top of the monitor positioned at eye level, I would estimate that eye level is about 40% down from the top of the screen.
I would suggest that it seems like your iMac is too low. I would suggest buying or improvising a stand to raise it from your desk.
Definitely not the first of April. The question is serious.
I have 2 monitors, which are angled exactly for work purposes. Tilting the main monitor requires repositioning both, but it’s the obvious solution.
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I usually tilt my iMac up a little for video conferencing. I tend to use the Photo Booth app to check the video setup before connecting to Zoom/Skype/Facetime.
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Ah. Once a second (or third, or in my case, sixth) display is involved I can see the annoyance. If elevating the whole setup isn’t desirable, nor is purchasing a dedicated webcam, you can use your iPhone or iPad as a web camera for your Mac, along with the utility software Camo ( Reincubate Camo - Use your phone as a pro webcam, free ).
HTH
I take a different approach. I run Camo on my iPhone and iMac and use the iPhones forward facing camera as a web cam. I bought a tripod just to position the iPhone. So great quality. Works with most meeting apps, works with Chrome browser.
I second the Camo recommendation. The free version works very well for me with most apps but, alas, not with FaceTime.
Jason Snell has proposed some ideas for camera enhancements for conversations and conferencing in the Apple ecosystem. It involves both hardware (you can’t work with stuff you don’t see) and software.
Rather than angling the camera, perhaps you could increase its field of view by adding a wide angle lens over the existing one. There are very low cost add-on wide angle lenses designed for cell phones that you should be able to attach to your iMac. With a wider angle lens you might get all of you within the field of view.
The Center Stage technology sounds like a good idea. It could even be retrofitted to current (newer) iMacs with the addition of a wide-angle lens, as TommyROM suggested.
I like TommyROM’s idea and will investigate adapting an add-on lens.
For now, though, on the few occasions when I need face-to-face conversations (e.g. a GP’s appointment during lockdown), I’ll pull apart the mating pair of monitors and tile the main one up.
Which tripod?
This is the monitor stand which sits beneath my 2020 iMac 5K - it ain’t pretty, but it does elevate the iMac and allows me to store a Thunderbolt dock and an optical drive underneath.