Excellent Quality Camera, useful software bundle
Pros:
Good quality, nice design, useful software
Cons:
Resource hungry
The Bottom Line:
I know you can buy cameras a lot cheaper but I think it is worth the extra money for the superior image quality.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
This is the first webcam I have ever owned, so it is difficult to compare it to others, however I am very pleased with the quality of this webcam. The video image is sharp and the "Rightlight" feature compensates extremely well with low light situations.
Setup was striaghtforward, just a case of putting in the CD, loading the drivers, then plugging in the webcam. An automatic update facility is also provided to check for the latest drivers and utilities on the internet.
The Logitech Quickcam software that is bundled with the device is very comprehensive, this automatically loads at startup although I understand from reading some forums that it uses a lot of system resources, even when the camera is not in use. I have disabled the software loading at startup as it is easily loaded either automatically by plugging in the USB webcam connection or by selecting the icon from the desktop / start menu.
The Quickcam software has 6 main options that I will briefly describe below...
QUICK CAPTURE
This is for using the webcam to capture video or take photos, the resolution can be upto 2 megapixels for both video (HD), and photos (1600 x 1200), although still images can be upto 8 megapixels with software enhancment. The framerate for captured video can be upto 30fps, which is better than TV (PAL) ! You can also send files via email and print images from here.
VIDEO EFFECTS
This feature is great fun, you can select "face options" such as moustaches, arrow through the head, pig nose and a crown. These will be placed on the appropriate position on your face and track your face as you move. This is good fun when talking to someone on the webcam, you can slip on a moustache (keeping a straight face) and watch the other persons reaction ! Also contained in here are avatars and other effects.
PRIVACY SHADE
This option lets you replace the live video with a pre-defined picture.
SETTINGS
This section has loads of options for fiddling about with the settings of the webcam. You can spend hours in here ! I wont list all the settings as I think it would make quite a boring read, but if you would like to know, im sure the Logitech website will provide in depth descriptions.
CHOOSE APPLICATIONS
This lets you choose which applications to associate with different tasks, eg video calling and editting applications.
RESOURCE GUIDE
The last option is for help and is basically a link to the website.
People who I have talked to on skype have commented on the (good) quality of the camera. It cost me around £50. I know you can buy cameras a lot cheaper but I think it is worth the extra money for the superior image quality.
