Traffic dropped hard after camera upgrade (Sony ZV-E10 + Sigma 30mm) — anyone experienced the same?

[Alice22880]

Hi everyone,

I’m really struggling and would appreciate any advice or shared experience.

My username on Chaturbate is meowalice1.

Before early January I was using a phone camera and had stable traffic — usually 100–200 viewers, 1500–2000+ tokens in good streams. In early December traffic already started slowing down a bit, but it was still manageable.

On January 4 I upgraded to Sony ZV-E10 + Sigma 30mm lens. Quality improved a lot (sharper picture, creamy bokeh, better lighting) — I was sure it would help.

Instead, traffic crashed even more. Now I get 7–20 viewers (mostly gray), people stay 30 seconds and leave, tips are almost zero (often 0–200 tokens in 3–4 hours). Retention is terrible, registered users barely grow. Room feels dead even when I put in maximum energy.
My confidence is taking a serious hit. I keep wondering what I’m doing wrong. I’m not used to venting publicly, but it hurts a lot and I feel lost.

Has anyone else had a massive drop after upgrading camera/quality?How long did it last? Did you fix it by going back to old setup, changing stream times, more mini-games, focusing on retention, or just waiting it out?

Any tips would mean the world right now. Thank you so much for reading

 

[punker barbie]

Hello @Alice22880 I have confirmed that the support team has responded to your inquiry. Ticket #25164795

 

[cbhours]

Hi everyone,

I’m really struggling and would appreciate any advice or shared experience.

My username on Chaturbate is meowalice1.

Before early January I was using a phone camera and had stable traffic — usually 100–200 viewers, 1500–2000+ tokens in good streams. In early December traffic already started slowing down a bit, but it was still manageable.

On January 4 I upgraded to Sony ZV-E10 + Sigma 30mm lens. Quality improved a lot (sharper picture, creamy bokeh, better lighting) — I was sure it would help.

Instead, traffic crashed even more. Now I get 7–20 viewers (mostly gray), people stay 30 seconds and leave, tips are almost zero (often 0–200 tokens in 3–4 hours). Retention is terrible, registered users barely grow. Room feels dead even when I put in maximum energy.
My confidence is taking a serious hit. I keep wondering what I’m doing wrong. I’m not used to venting publicly, but it hurts a lot and I feel lost.

Has anyone else had a massive drop after upgrading camera/quality?How long did it last? Did you fix it by going back to old setup, changing stream times, more mini-games, focusing on retention, or just waiting it out?

Any tips would mean the world right now. Thank you so much for reading

What else did you change? For example what obs settings are different

 

[Alice22880]

Hello @Alice22880 I have confirmed that the support team has responded to your inquiry. Ticket #25164795

Yes, they responded, but while I was waiting for a response, I went back to my old settings and switched to the phone camera again... nothing changed. It's gotten a little better, but I can't get my stable audience back.

 

[Alice22880]

What else did you change? For example what obs settings are different

I set up streaming settings for the pro camera, but now I've switched back to the phone camera and the old settings, and nothing has changed. Traffic started to slowly drop off in early December, and I didn't change the settings.

 

[BlackWizard]

I did not big upgrade but still- from 7 years old logitech brio to new Insta 360 link 2 c , quality is way better and regulars who i asked they like it, so i know everything works and i didnt screw up nothing with settings, but my traffic is way smaller when im using it. So i gave up ahaah and i use it for special shows :/ No idea why is like this but girl - this sucks for me too

 

[KingMarti]

I did not big upgrade but still- from 7 years old logitech brio to new Insta 360 link 2 c , quality is way better and regulars who i asked they like it, so i know everything works and i didnt screw up nothing with settings, but my traffic is way smaller when im using it. So i gave up ahaah and i use it for special shows :/ No idea why is like this but girl - this sucks for me too

That's what happened to me every time I have upgraded to a new camera
My guess is it's to do with the amateur look that a lot of people like, gives more of the feeling of "logged in because bored and horny" rather than it looking all professional, but that's a complete guess.

 

[rockin_rod]

Are you broadcasting in the same resolution you used with the phone camera?

 

[BlackWizard]

That's what happened to me every time I have upgraded to a new camera
My guess is it's to do with the amateur look that a lot of people like, gives more of the feeling of "logged in because bored and horny" rather than it looking all professional, but that's a complete guess.

Good to know that we are not the only one hahahaha Yeaaaaa invest in quality they say

 

[Alice22880]

Are you broadcasting in the same resolution you used with the phone camera?

No

 

[Alice22880]

Hello @Alice22880 I have confirmed that the support team has responded to your inquiry. Ticket #25164795

Support replied that everything looks fine technically, no issues with bitrate/resolution, and suggested focusing on engagement/retention.I sent them all the requested info: speedtest link, no VPN, ethernet connection, full OBS screenshots (Stream/Output/Video tabs + live window with CPU/dropped frames).

They haven’t responded yet, but today I discovered something even more worrying:I literally cannot find my own room by scrolling through pages (even on the first 50–100 pages in my category).The only way to reach my room is by typing the exact link (chaturbate.com/meowalice1) or using direct access.Other users confirmed the same — searching my username (@meowalice1 or just meowalice1) gives no results at all.

 

[Alice22880]

I did not big upgrade but still- from 7 years old logitech brio to new Insta 360 link 2 c , quality is way better and regulars who i asked they like it, so i know everything works and i didnt screw up nothing with settings, but my traffic is way smaller when im using it. So i gave up ahaah and i use it for special shows :/ No idea why is like this but girl - this sucks for me too

You’re definitely not alone in this. From what I’ve seen on forums and from other girls, this “new room test” after camera/lens upgrade hits so many of us. It’s like the algorithm goes “wait, this looks different now… let’s hide her for a while and see if she can still keep people”. Super unfair, but it seems temporary for most.

 

[pbonACF]

They haven’t responded yet, but today I discovered something even more worrying:I literally cannot find my own room by scrolling through pages (even on the first 50–100 pages in my category).

When I first got on to CB I would scroll through all 80-100 pages regularly. One thing I noticed was that models would jump between pages as I worked through them, making it very easy to miss a specific model. The rankings are updated faster than I could scroll.
You can search faster using browser search (ctl-f) on each page rather than scanning visually, but I do not know any way to put in a name and find the page they are on at that moment.

 

[Vixxen81]

I've seen rooms jump from the third row near the bottom to the third row of the page behind it and vice versa. Never tried it but maybe ctrl+f works.

It's also January. When December's Ghost of Holiday Merriment appears.

Also, one thing that helped me was opening my room (directly) as anonymous to see what the stream looked like and adjusted settings like brightness and sharpness and contrast and all that jazz.

 

[KingMarti]

I've seen rooms jump from the third row near the bottom to the third row of the page behind it and vice versa. Never tried it but maybe ctrl+f works.

It's also January. When December's Ghost of Holiday Merriment appears.

Also, one thing that helped me was opening my room (directly) as anonymous to see what the stream looked like and adjusted settings like brightness and sharpness and contrast and all that jazz.

ctrl + f works unless when you are loading page 3 you move from page 3 to page 2

 

[pbonACF]

...but I do not know any way to put in a name and find the page they are on at that moment.

This is a different question but you can find your thumbnail by adding a rare #hashtag to your room subject/title and searching for that. It won't tell you what page it is on, but it works for seeing how yours compares to others.