Webcams?

[-Ultimate]

I fancy a nice little webcam but have no idea about what price i should be paying for a decent quality picture(i have 1mb broadband so thats not an issue). Anyone got any recomendations?

Saw this on ebuyer but no idea if its any good:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=36863

 

[Jonty]

Hi -Ultimate

I'm not very au fait with what's hot and what's not with webcams, so forgive me if the following isn't very useful. Anyway, you should basically be looking for a few things in the specifications of the cameras . . .

• Video capturing resolution and speed (640x480 is usually the highest resolution for video capturing, which should be at no less than 25 frames per second (fps)).
• Still capturing resolution (~1024x768 is the normal maximum, although quality is often sacrificed at higher resolutions, so don't worry too much about this).
• Colour depth (24bit colour is usual, but accept no less than 16bit).
• Memory (if you a webcam which doubles as a porable camera, ensure it has a least 4Mb of memory, if not more, or an expansion slot).
• The bundle (check the kind of software it utilises, plus any freebies that may be worth having).

I could go on, but you get the idea. The quality of webcams varies a lot, and you probably shouldn't expect crystal clear images. Your best bet is really to try and find some reviews in magazines and online, as you really need to know something which specifications cannot tell you: how good the picture quality is. This kind of thing only comes out in reviews. For what it's worth, I believe Creative, Philips and Logitech all make good webcams, for which you should be looking to pay anywere between £35-£75. Often the webcams which double as portable cameras, such as your Creative one, will cost a little more as they are more versatile.

Personally, I am lucky enough to have the Sony CMR-PC2 webcam, which remains the world's smallest and lightest camera in its class. The picture quality isn't great, but it oozes style and is only the size of a small matchbox. I would normally recommend it, but sadly it remains too expensive and I received it as a present quite some time ago now, and Sony still haven't updated it, which means it may be fairly dated compared to other models. As such, I'd really suggest you look elsewhere.

Anyway, I'm rambling on. In short, just go out and read some reviews, paying particular attention to what the reviewer thinks of the picture quality. If you find one or two you like, then I'll happily try and find some prices for you, but if you stick to places like eBuyer and other such online shops, I doubt you'll really go too far wrong.

Kind Regards

 

[-Ultimate]

Thanks for the info Jonty! You always come up with goods when someone asks a question

 

[Jonty]

Originally posted by -Ultimate
... You always come up with goods when someone asks a question

hehe, I'm not so sure about that Like I say, though, I'm not that up-to-date with the world of webcams, so I'm limited in what I can really tell you, as most of the above was probably obvious. Anyway, if you need any more help or have any more questions, just shout

Kind Regards

 

[-Ultimate]

Well not really, that sort of info you gave on the sort of specs i should be looking for was exactly the type of thing i had no idea about.

Anyway that one i was looking at on ebuyer:

8 MB of on-board non-volatile memory for image storage - nps there!

Captures video at up to 30 frames per second at image resolutions of 320 x 240 and 160 x 120 and up to 15 frames per second at 640 x 480 - only 15fps at 640x480?

Captures still images in 24- bit color at all image resolutions up to 1280 X 960 - nps there!

So apart from the video capture it looks great. And even better there selling them on the creative website for only £39 ?! Maybe its worth it for that price, what you reckon jonty?

 

[Jonty]

Hello again

To be honest, it sounds like a good webcam, especially for the price. 15fps is a slow capture rate, though, so the video would be quite jerky. That said, unless you're communicating over a network or recording something offline, you probably wouldn't use that higher a resolution. The specs for the camera as a whole seem fine, and quickly skimming reviews by Amazon and Ferrago, it seems the product is quite highly rated. Just one thing I noticed, the camera uses something called 'interpolation' whereby at higher resolutions the camera effectively resizes smaller images and 'guesses' the detail. This is very common, and nothing too much to worry about, but it does mean that image quality at higher resolutions won't be too good.

Anyway, I don't want to say buy it, because I'm not too confident about recommending something I know little about. But, for the price, it seems like quite a good buy, and doing a quick Google search revealed some fairly favourable comments about it. If you can return it if you're not happy, then I'd say go for it, since you've got nothing to lose. If it's not possible to return it, then perhaps think it over, try and find some more reviews, see if anyone else replies to this thread, and if you're still happy with it after all that, then go for it.

Sorry I can't be of more use!

 

[smurkin]

I believe Creative, Philips and Logitech all make good webcams

mmmm....I have a philips webcam pro 3d (PCVC750K)...its quite nice...60fps 640x480....excellent in low light, built-in mic....I use it for video conference. It has a really nice "biped" stand and pedistool which intended for scanning....but I use it to pull the camera on front of the screen while I'm in conference....it gives the effect that you are looking the other person in the eye...68 quid inc vat.

Cant be used as a free snapshot camera tho.

It came with a ton of stupid software for playing games on screen and video e-mail, web cast etc. Really all I use is windows messenger or netmeeting for video conference tho.

 

[-Ultimate]

Well i just thought i may as well get it, the thing that swayed me was the fact its a digi camera as well, yeah its not the best quality and i'm sure theres much better ones out there but for £40 i'm not gonna complain if its not that great I assume Creative are trying to shift it as old stock or something as all other sites like ebuyer etc all have it for 70 to 80 quid.