On the other hand, if you’re working on a production that mandates a $280 teleprompter, there’s a decent chance you have something better than a $130 webcam. So, Elgato includes a pair of alternative backplates. One, a universal shroud, has a simple rectangular hole and fabric shroud, like the one I described above. If all else fails, this backplate handles any camera that can fit inside the teleprompter.
If Elgato only included these two, it would be sufficient, but the company went beyond and included a DSLR/mirrorless backplate and eight step-up rings from 48 mm to 77 mm. These rings attach directly to the front of your camera lens. The rings then slot directly into the Prompter’s backplate, blocking out all stray light without requiring a hood. It made it much easier to hook up my cameras to the prompter.
The Prompter also comes with a platform that can be adjusted up or down to line the camera up exactly where needed. The camera can also be bolted to the platform, though in my testing it wasn’t quite spacious enough to handle larger devices like Blackmagic’s cinema cameras. If you’re using a particularly bulky camera or long lens with the Prompter, you might need to build a custom rig to mount it.
As a nice little bonus, the Prompter has two hot-shoe mounts along its top, allowing you to mount things like lights or a microphone. This is handy if you have to build a rig around the prompter.
Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft
The Second Screen I Need
Teleprompters got relatively inexpensive once manufacturers realized many people have iPads (or a spare phone) sitting around they can use to display their scripts. We even recommend a couple of these. Elgato takes the Prompter in a different direction by including a screen directly.
When connected to a computer (either Windows or Mac), this screen is recognized as an external display, just like any other monitor. By default, it can mirror or extend your desktop, allowing you to use whatever app to show your script. You can even open up a Google Doc and bump the text size up if you want to put as little effort into messing with the teleprompter as possible.