Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, you may not have had the chance to use your fancy new GoPro Hero 8 Black as much as you had planned. The good news is that it can now double as webcam. Following its DSLR and mirrorless counterparts, GoPro has released beta software that allows its latest flagship action camera to function as a USB camera in MacOS. 

To connect the Hero 8 Black to your Mac, you’ll need to download the latest firmware for the camera and GoPro’s new Webcam desktop utility app. The software makes the action camera compatible with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Discord and Bluejeans. You can also use it in conjunction with Webex, Skype, Facebook Rooms, Messenger and Slack, provided you access those through Chrome. GoPro says Windows support is on the way. 

You could use a GoPro as a webcam before, but the process was significantly more involved than it is now with the new software. And while you won’t get the same image quality as you would using one of Canon or Fujifilm’s cameras, the Hero 8 Black’s wide-angle lens and mount ecosystem mean you can get creative with how you frame things. That should make it a good fit for those who are busy hosting online fitness classes.