Linux Webcam CLI

Use fswebcam or ffmpeg to capture images and video from webcam. This is a Linux alternative to macOS camsnap.

Setup

Install fswebcam:

bash

sudo apt-get install -y fswebcam

Install ffmpeg (for video):

bash

sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg

Check available cameras:

bash

ls -la /dev/video*

Capture Photos with fswebcam

Basic snapshot

bash

fswebcam ~/Pictures/webcam.jpg

Specify device

bash

fswebcam -d /dev/video0 ~/Pictures/webcam.jpg

Set resolution

bash

fswebcam -r 1280x720 ~/Pictures/webcam-hd.jpg

High resolution

bash

fswebcam -r 1920x1080 ~/Pictures/webcam-fhd.jpg

No banner (clean image)

bash

fswebcam --no-banner ~/Pictures/webcam.jpg

With delay (let camera adjust)

bash

fswebcam -D 2 --no-banner ~/Pictures/webcam.jpg

Skip initial frames (better exposure)

bash

fswebcam -S 10 --no-banner ~/Pictures/webcam.jpg

Multiple frames averaged (reduces noise)

bash

fswebcam -F 5 --no-banner ~/Pictures/webcam.jpg

Best quality shot

bash

fswebcam -r 1920x1080 -D 2 -S 20 -F 5 --no-banner ~/Pictures/webcam.jpg

PNG format

bash

fswebcam --png 9 ~/Pictures/webcam.png

With timestamp

bash

fswebcam --timestamp "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" ~/Pictures/webcam.jpg

Record Video with ffmpeg

Record 10 seconds of video

bash

ffmpeg -f v4l2 -framerate 30 -video_size 1280x720 -i /dev/video0 -t 10 ~/Videos/webcam.mp4

Record with audio

bash

ffmpeg -f v4l2 -framerate 30 -video_size 1280x720 -i /dev/video0 \
       -f pulse -i default \
       -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast -c:a aac \
       -t 10 ~/Videos/webcam-audio.mp4

Record until stopped (Ctrl+C)

bash

ffmpeg -f v4l2 -framerate 30 -video_size 1280x720 -i /dev/video0 -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast ~/Videos/webcam.mp4

Preview webcam (without recording)

bash

ffplay -f v4l2 -framerate 30 -video_size 640x480 /dev/video0

Lower quality for smaller file

bash

ffmpeg -f v4l2 -framerate 30 -video_size 640x480 -i /dev/video0 -c:v libx264 -crf 28 -t 30 ~/Videos/webcam.mp4

Timelapse

Capture timelapse frames

bash

mkdir -p ~/Pictures/timelapse
for i in $(seq 1 100); do
  fswebcam -r 1280x720 --no-banner ~/Pictures/timelapse/frame-$(printf "%04d" $i).jpg
  sleep 5
done

Convert frames to video

bash

ffmpeg -framerate 10 -pattern_type glob -i '~/Pictures/timelapse/*.jpg' -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p ~/Videos/timelapse.mp4

Advanced

List camera capabilities

bash

v4l2-ctl --list-formats-ext -d /dev/video0

Adjust camera settings

bash

v4l2-ctl -d /dev/video0 --set-ctrl brightness=128
v4l2-ctl -d /dev/video0 --set-ctrl contrast=128

List available controls

bash

v4l2-ctl -d /dev/video0 --list-ctrls

Cheese (GUI Alternative)

Install Cheese

bash

sudo apt-get install -y cheese

Launch

bash

cheese

Notes

•Linux-only (alternative to macOS camsnap).
•Default camera is usually /dev/video0.
•Use v4l2-ctl for advanced camera control.
•fswebcam skips first few frames by default for better exposure.
•Add user to video group if permission denied: sudo usermod -aG video $USER