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Webcam suggestions?

Upchurch

Papa Funkosophy
Upchurch
Joined
May 10, 2002
Messages
34,265
Location
St. Louis, MO
I have an opportunity to video an upcoming talk. My initial thought was to borrow a video camera from a friend and then take it to work to digitize it for the web. Now, I'm thinking maybe this is the opportunity I've been waiting for to get a webcam for my laptop and just record the event straight to my hard drive.

It wouldn't have to exceedingly good quality, but it would have to be able to shoot at depth. I'm guessing the subject will be 15-20 feet away, give or take, so a zoom and autofocus would be nice. I'd like to spend under $100, but I could go as high as $150 if there were a good reason.

Any suggestions?
 
Upchurch...

Check out the 'Logitech' range...

They range from cheap...to medium expensive...

You're gonna want 640x480 minimum for real quality ( Even tho' 320x240 recordings are perfectly acceptable enough for a TV screen )

Have a look at the 'Logitech Quickcam Sphere'...it tracks movement and prob the best one of the range...it has a stand ( if needed) and takes medium / good quality vid...Totally good enough for burning to disc or viewing on the web or a TV...

And they have a whole s**tload of tiny laptop cams...i got one for mine...and its small...and good quality...good enough to get a medium / good image on my TV...

DB
 
Last edited:
De_Bunk said:
Upchurch...

Check out the 'Logitech' range...

They range from cheap...to medium expensive...

You're gonna want 640x480 minimum for real quality ( Even tho' 320x240 recordings are perfectly acceptable enough for a TV screen )

Have a look at the 'Logitech Quickcam Sphere'...it tracks movement and prob the best one of the range...it has a stand ( if needed) and takes medium / good quality vid...Totally good enough for burning to disc or viewing on the web or a TV...

And they have a whole s**tload of tiny laptop cams...i got one for mine...and its small...and good quality...good enough to get a medium / good image on my TV...

DB
Click to expand...
That sounds comperable to what I have been looking at on Creative's line
 
What's Creative stuff like these days? I know that they did have some pretty iffy products for a while, qualitywise.
 
richardm said:
What's Creative stuff like these days? I know that they did have some pretty iffy products for a while, qualitywise.
Click to expand...
We've got one of their web cams in the office. I've not seen it in action, but the guy who uses it likes it. He says the motion sensor is crap (change in lighting is enough to set it off so its on during dusk and dawn), but he likes all the other features. He shot it down a hall and was able to get a good picture of stuff at the other end.
 
I'm using a couple of Logitech 'QuickCam communicate STX' webcams on a project. These are the spheres with built-in microphones. They give good images indoors, but are swamped by outdoor light, and can only be made to work by fitting them with 'sunglasses'. It's not just that the picture has less contrast or is overexposed outdoors - the screen just goes completely white all over.

I think you need a webcam with some kind of Auto-Iris if you want it to work well outdoors - if anyone has recommendations for such webcams that come at a reasonable price, I'd be interested to have them.
 
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