Mac OS X Camera?

October 19, 2007 at 2:31 pm 
Filed Under Mozilla, Technology
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I have a Mac Pro (aka the “Cheese Grater”) at home. My laptop is a Macbook and has a built-in camera for chat, etc. but the Mac Pro does not. This has caused me no end of annoyances at times.

Apple used to make the standalone iSight cameras but they have discontinued it. This is what we use at Mozilla when we want to do webcasting or use iChat in our meeting rooms (which each have one). In my opinion, the resolution on them is a little low at 640×480 anyway.

I have a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000 with a 1.3 megapixel video resolution but, of course, there are no drivers for OS X for it. (And, yes, I know of the third party projects to make drivers for other web cameras but they still don’t support the VX-6000).

I’m looking for two suggestions:

  1. A webcam that does at least 640×480 that works easily in OS X and is less than $100.
  2. A good webcam with a 1+ megapixel video resolution that works in OS X.

We do a certain amount of chat at Mozilla and I work from home a bit of the time. I’d also like to do the occasional talking head thing here on my blog.

Then I can all over the intarweb like Asa or Chris Messina.

Update from 11/1: I wound up getting a Live! Cam  Optia AF from Creative Labs. This is a two megapixel webcam that works out of the box on OS X and comes with Windows drivers/software (which is useful since I use Bootcamp to boot into Vista as well).

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Comments

12 Responses to “Mac OS X Camera?”

  1. Wavatar Zach Lipton on October 19th, 2007 3:42 pm

    Hey Al–If you happen to have an old MiniDV camcorder laying around the house, you could always connect that up and use it from within iChat instead of a dedicated webcam.

  2. Wavatar mrz on October 19th, 2007 9:03 pm

    I haven’t had any problems with any of Logitech’s USB webcams. Works fine with iChat & Skype.

  3. Wavatar Anne Onymous on October 19th, 2007 9:43 pm

    Al, current Logitech webcams are compatible with Mac OS X without the need to install drivers. I wouldn’t install drivers from Logitech anyway…

    I bought a Logitech webcam recently for a Windows-using friend and tested it on my Mac Pro running Tiger, Leopard Seeds and XP. No issue on Mac OS X.

  4. Wavatar jm_one on October 20th, 2007 6:14 am

    arent the hi-res webcams like even the one form MS using 640×480 during live chat? from my understanding higher res is only usable when recording. That said they sell miniDVs here for 99€. ok, it s Euro.. but we have 19.5 VAT so that should eat a considerable amount out of the currency difference.
    That said, Logitech devices are pretty fine and come with Mac OS X support. But without offfical linux support of course…

  5. Wavatar robcee on October 21st, 2007 8:08 am

    to echo mrz’ and ms. onymous’ comments, the later Logitech cameras (with the Vista labelling) work with most versions of OS X. I guess there were some issues with 10.4.9 (or is it .10?), but they should do the trick. Check out MacInTouch for details.

    I wish Apple’d issue a newer version of the Firewire iSight. They’re great cameras.

  6. Wavatar Chris on November 3rd, 2007 1:50 am

    aw, i saw the Live cam and it’s good but big!

    I’d recommend Logitech’s Quickcam Pro for Notebooks.

    Performance

    * Carl Zeiss® optics: Get more detail and clarity from Carl Zeiss® optics. Logitech’s glass lens designed in collaboration with Carl Zeiss®, the global leader in camera optics.
    * Premium autofocus: Your images stay razor-sharp, even in close-ups.
    * HD video: Video calling and sharing has never looked so real at 960 by 720 pixels.
    * Higher megapixel performance: A true two-megapixel sensor.

    The rest is windows stuff, though you said you use it sometimes, so check it out at Amazon where they sell it for $82!! no tax, no shipping. it retails for $99.

    http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-QuickCam-Pro-for-Notebooks/dp/B000RZNI4S/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3965125-7939303?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1193814080&sr=8-1

  7. Wavatar Boomer on November 4th, 2007 6:41 am

    I have recently purchased a Logitech Ultra Vision and am having issues with no audio. Video works fine and looks good, but the lack of audio means I have to use an additional mic, not great. Any ideas??

    mac mini intel mac os x 10.4.10

  8. Wavatar John on November 13th, 2007 6:14 pm

    I recently purchased a Logitech QuickCam Orbitz. Around $115.00. It claims only Windows support. I have Vista 64 Ultimate, dual-boot on my Mac pro. It had issues with the audio. Had to go into Audio-Midi set up and select “unknown audio device” as ths default input, and tone the mic setting all the way down to loose the feedback and over sensitivity. The video looks fine in photoboothe and in iChat but can’t cope with fast moves. Lots of trails….My buddy has an iMac and we hooked up on iChat. He said even with the full screen option, the video was perfect unless I moved fast. I would be happy to find a driver or software to control the camera. Even in its native Vista, it still produces “trails” and a delayed effect. Whats up with that ? My Mac Pro has 4 cores runninh at 2.66 ghz with 6 gig of ram to “feed” them. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks :)

  9. Wavatar Nordic on November 15th, 2007 7:13 pm

    I believe the trails are because of the slower sampling rate. They might go away with a lower res higher rate (I’ll try with my Orbit, diff computer).

  10. Wavatar TJ Ferreira on December 5th, 2007 2:35 am

    What OS X version and what Mac are you connecting the Optia AF to? I purchased one and connected to my G5 2GHz Dual system running 10.5.1 and although it works with all apps, the video is choppy as heck. Not life-like video like slow motion instead. I launch Quicktime Pro 7 and record, my voice does not match my lip movements and video is choppy. Are you having the same issue???

    tj

    tj@macsociety.com

  11. Wavatar Al on December 5th, 2007 2:53 am

    I had a 10.4 system but I’m running 10.5.

    This is on a Mac Pro (two dual core intel cpus).

    I’m not running Quicktime Pro so I haven’t tried it there.

  12. Wavatar Steve on May 31st, 2008 10:39 am

    I think many people using their Macs with Logitech cameras may not realize they are not getting as sharp an image as they should because the built-in auto-focus requires the installation of Logitech software that only is made for Windows. Because the lens is so wide angle and the depth of focus is broad, the image looks decent. But it is not really sharp. The Logitech should deliver razor sharp images.

    I called Logitech tech support and they claim that the reason there is no Mac software is that Apple will not let them provide it. Very strange. If this is true all of us ought to get on the bandwagon and petition Apple to change their policy. This is especially true as there are no standalone Apple cameras on the market.

    Does anyone know of any first-class web cameras that provide Mac software? Simply working on the USB connection is not enough. Access to a camera’s full features will only come with the supporting software.

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