Web Cam – Which is the best?
I’ve spent far more time than is healthy looking at the different web cameras which are on the market. I want a new one for home use for my PC, as my other is over five years old, and the picture really is of a poor quality.
Why do I want a webcam at home anyhow? It’s a good point, but there are three reasons.
Firstly, as I do spend time at home as a ‘web worker’, it appears a must have, especially as I may want to get into VOIP and Skype-type applications more. I’ve built-in iSight in my MacBook. I’m also interesting in using a camera for some time-lapse photography and maybe some stop-motion animation. There’s also the wonderful application Dorgem, which has lots of interesting possibilities for security applications.
Secondly, the ITMB Guru lecture software e-POP also allows video conferencing, and there’s a chance that I want to participate in this from home. Indeed at 1pm I’m doing just this, using my old web cam.
Finally, my friend who has recently received a ‘free’ laptop hasn’t got a web cam, so it seems an ideal Christmas gift for him.
Have you looked at the range of cameras available? It’s truly amazing. The major difficulty is that of branding, so many cameras have the same name, but are physically different, let alone what’s different internally.
There’s a balance between cost, resolution and general aesthetics. Some just look plain ugly, others are beautiful but expensive.
I’ve decided to go for buying two x Logitech QuickCam Connect
It’s got a fair resolution (640 x 480, up to 1.3mp if you use software), will clip onto my LCD screen, and being from a reputable name means that there should be updates, and maybe open source drivers too. It’s also a bit of a bargain from Amazon, £14.99 when an (apparently identical) camera from Tesco is £22.99. The green LED ‘in use’ light may also be useful too!
If I’m feeling brave I’ll post a couple of pics once it arrives to give a feel for the quality.
I’d be interested in what web cams people have out there and use, and also if there’s an application which will allow video chat over Jabber (such as Google Talk).
Better prepare for the video conference.
Update November 2008. The webcam above is no longer available, the closest equivalent is the Logitech QuickCam E3500
I have a four year old Quick Cam Pro that works fine under Linux on the later distributions so I suspect there will be open source drivers for the one you are looking at. (One guy has written about 150 drivers and owns one of every webcam going).
As for chat software I’ve not found anything over google talk. I believe it is possible from Linux anyway to use MSN for a server based web chat and also there are clients like Kopete or Pidgin (GAIM) that can support client to client webcam chat using the netmeeting protocol.
[...] meaning to blog for a while about my experiences with the Logitech QuickCam Connect which I bought a while back. I’ll post some pictures over the Christmas break, when I’ve got time to do a compare [...]