Why does my Aunt's Imac take better photos than my Macbook Pro

cwa107 said:

Look at the cameras, they're different units in different sizes, with different lenses. Of course there will be a disparity. Even between identical cameras, there are slight differences in CCDs. I didn't claim that they were the same. My point is that we're talking about a webcam, and not a still camera. And we're talking about miniaturized webcams, which in general are not known for their quality images. Obviously the OP doesn't think it's relevant, but I have a hard time being critical of the image quality when comparing the output of two devices being used for a task for which they weren't designed. I would expect them to be more consistent shooting motion video.

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taking casual pictures is using the webcam for a task for which they arent designed?
what "task" are u speaking of? i am using it exactly as how it was intended to be used

your argument is flawed . i am not comparing my webcam image with a high resolution digital camera image i am comparing two webcam images of the same caliber (or at least sold to us as the same caliber)

its not that much of a stretch to expect the isight camera in the macbook pro and the isight camera in the imac performs at the same resolution. how exactly am i using the camera for a task that it isnt designed for? LOL this is something you clearly have trouble understanding

MacNewbie said:

taking casual pictures is using the webcam for a task for which they arent designed?
what "task" are u speaking of? i am using it exactly as how it was intended to be used

your argument is flawed . i am not comparing my webcam image with a high resolution digital camera image i am comparing two webcam images of the same caliber (or at least sold to us as the same caliber)

its not that much of a stretch to expect the isight camera in the macbook pro and the isight camera in the imac performs at the same resolution. how exactly am i using the camera for a task that it isnt designed for? LOL this is something you clearly have trouble understanding

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Never mind, you're right. Clearly there's something wrong with the camera in your MacBook Pro.

While I agree with cwa that the iSight cameras aren't meant to offer remarkably high quality pictures and that some disparity among them is possible, the difference in the original post is quite drastic. I also disagree that taking snapshots is less a priority use for the iSight than video chat; while it might not be the case for all webcams, Apple clearly markets the the iSight for use with Photo Booth in addition to iChat, so comparable image quality among various Macs of the same model shouldn't be too much to ask.

Having said that, because your MacBook Pro is from 2007 and your aunt's iMac is brand new, it's very likely that, though unconfirmed, Apple is using better (or at least newer) cameras in the new line of iMacs, so there isn't necessarily anything wrong with your iSight. In addition, it's quite possible that Photo Booth in Snow Leopard has some sort of noise reduction algorithm (though I don't think that's the case after comparing pictures from Leopard to pictures from Snow Leopard).

Edit: If you're really interested in finding out the difference, try opening  > About This Mac and then clicking More Info…. That will open System Profiler, where you can find a bit of information about the iSight in the USB section under Hardware.

Plus cameras especially cameras that do not do multipoint adjustments take the overall picture and then adjust accordingly. If you take a look at both of your photos you will see one that has a good example of what black is, while the other photo does not and so the camera is going to compensate. Both have good examples of white is so that is going to be the same.

You really do need to have both photos to be of the exact same scene. Otherwise you are going to get quite a discrepancy between them.

For example for the second photo if you used your iMac photo again, but pointed it up the way you did with your macbook, you're going to see quite a difference and both pictures would be from the exact same camera.

MacNewbie said:

the fact that the camera in the macbook pro doesnt perform as well as the camera in the imac is the issue here.

i dont know why you keep saying "its a webcam" and that im trying to use it for a purpose other than it was intended. i am comparing one webcam with another webcam. nobody is expecting this webcam to take macro shots of very fine details. what IS expected is that it performs just as well as the same camera in the imac--and in this case it does not.

please read and thoroughly process things before you make unwarranted comments.

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They are both simple, low res, web cams.
One might have a better resolution than the other - but who really cares?
Or, one might have a big fat thumb-print over the plastic lens cover.
From your sample pix, I'd say they have different covers over the sensor - one might actually be a lens and have a different focal length and maybe reflectivity.

It's like asking "Why does my RAZR V3XX take worse pictures than my wife's RAZR V3?" Who cares? Their both 1M-pixal cell cams.

Personally, I put a piece of blue tape over the lens on my MBP and PCs - just incase I catch a virus that turns on the web cam without me knowing it.

cwa107 said:

Never mind, you're right. Clearly there's something wrong with the camera in your MacBook Pro.

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Yes for sure. Take it back to Apple and complain. Say it does not look right. I have a feeling what they will say, but give it a try.

BTW I agree with CWA and Murlyn.