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Cheap, mac compatible webcam

T

tafika

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I'm looking for a webcam for my mac.

The only thing that I can find from my search is iSight. And I'm sorry, but there is no way that I am spending that kind of money on a webcam.

I'm wondering, are there actually any webcams available that are affordable and mac compatible? Or, am I wasting my time looking?

If there are some... PLEASE point me in the right direction. Please?
 
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tafika said:
I'm looking for a webcam for my mac.

The only thing that I can find from my search is iSight. And I'm sorry, but there is no way that I am spending that kind of money on a webcam.

I'm wondering, are there actually any webcams available that are affordable and mac compatible? Or, am I wasting my time looking?

If there are some... PLEASE point me in the right direction. Please?

A few of the Quickcams by Logitech work (but not all so be sure to check before purchasing). I have both a Quickcam Zoom (model V-UW21) and Quickcam Pro 4000 (model V-UT16) that both work with my macs. If you want to use them with iChat though you also need to buy the ichatusbcam program for about $10. Otherwise they both work fine with my other messengers that I use and you can get them off ebay for less than $35 or even from Walmart and Staples.
 
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T

tafika

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Thank you very much. I will look into those.

You say you use your webcam with other messengers? Which messengers do you use?
Because I would prefer to use MSN (microsoft messenger) for this, but from what I can see I can only use iChat out of the 3 messaging programs I have (iChat, MSN, Yahoo)
Is there any way to use a web cam with MSN? If there is, it's doing a very good job of hiding from me.

Thanks for your help.
 
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tafika said:
Thank you very much. I will look into those.

You say you use your webcam with other messengers? Which messengers do you use?
Because I would prefer to use MSN (microsoft messenger) for this, but from what I can see I can only use iChat out of the 3 messaging programs I have (iChat, MSN, Yahoo)
Is there any way to use a web cam with MSN? If there is, it's doing a very good job of hiding from me.

Thanks for your help.
Generally I use IVisit and iChat with video. I think it works with Yahoo too but I use Adium now for yahoo, msn, and AIM and never use video with any of them so I'm not sure. The installer program comes with a capture program for short video clips with sound or plain stills too that work fine and can be sent thru adium messenger as files.
 
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Best low-cost Mac webcams

Microsoft's xBox Cam is a good USB 2.0 webcam choice, it's UVC compatible and JUST WORKS on OSX 10.4 and up without having to install any drivers. Has a good quality image at the bargain end of the price range listed at: http://www.mac-compatible-web-cam.com/ - only about $30
 
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Cheap Cruddy USB 2.0 Mac Webcams

Since my last post, I've tried and tested out some more cheap UVC complaint webcams - and god most of them below $30 totally SUCK. Boatloads of 'driver-less' supposedly Mac compatible webcams are arriving from overseas and those I've tried are problematic in one way or another: Lousy lenses, poor low-light sensitivity, awful color balance (especially in low-light), some claim to be USB 2.0 compatible, but the sensors are actually USB 1.1 so they have sluggish frame rates. And tho most work in most QuickTime apps: under Leopard, iChatAV or PhotoBooth will refuse to display anything at USB 1.1 speeds.

'Ya get what you pay for' means alot of disappointment and grief at the low end. MacAlly's latest IceCam2 has proven to be the ABSOLUTELY WORST fully Mac compatible cheapo cam I've tested; it's got both horrible image and color 'quality' and an awful, just NASTY sounding built-in microphone. It's worth paying up: Any web camera I tried in the $60 and up range proved superior across the board and worth the extra $$.
 
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Microsoft's xBox Cam is a good USB 2.0 webcam choice, it's UVC compatible and JUST WORKS on OSX 10.4 and up without having to install any drivers. Has a good quality image at the bargain end of the price range listed at: http://www.mac-compatible-web-cam.com/ - only about $30

Yeah it's pretty grainy though. I have one. But your quality is going to stink online anyway because most people don't have a high upload speed, so it works :)

Note that you'll need a separate mic, the 360 cam is just a cam, nothing more. I used some velcro to attach it to my LCD monitor.
 
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Yeah it's pretty grainy though. I have one. But your quality is going to stink online anyway because most people don't have a high upload speed, so it works :)

Note that you'll need a separate mic, the 360 cam is just a cam, nothing more. I used some velcro to attach it to my LCD monitor.


Hey I was wondering how you got your xbox 360 live cam working on a mac.
I have and i tried using it but nothing seems to be going on.
I have a mac osx 10.5 and i read that it works with the lastest macs.
 
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So the short answer is - thats why the iSight camera is more expensive. For a start it is Firewire and iChat's use of ports just means better quality even with 128 upload speeds. Ya pays your money and takes ya chance.
 

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