Web cam for Macs?

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Are there any webcams that work with Macs (aside from offerings from Apple)? I have an older iBook without a camera built in, and I am in desperate need of a webcam. The one I used to use with my PC doesn't work with the Mac. Any that do? I'm hoping to spend no more than around $30. I don't need anything fancy, just barebones video broadcasting. There are tons out for in this price range, but I haven't come across any that are listed as Mac compatible. Any ideas?
 
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Have you seen macam? There's another, similar project but I can't remember what it's called.

If that fails, macally do a really cheap (and pretty bad) one (I think it's called the icecam?). There was also a couple products I saw awhile ago that where Mac specific, but they where pretty expensive, and in low supply (and I can't remember the names).

Sorry I can't help more, but there's not many options. You might be able to find an old iSight, but that would be pretty expensive (they weren't cheap when supply was plentiful and as soon as they stopped making them the prices skyrocketed)
 
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Bad luck !
its very hard to find one that will work. I tried the macally one. The quality of the pic is terrible. most wont work with Yahoo messenger.


BUT older Logitechs do work and well. But forget that site called "Maccam" etc...most of its info is not correct.

I use a state of art Logitech. On a PC it is the best web cam i have ever seen.
No matter what lighting etc..the automatic exposure is perfect. and th eauto focus spot on.... until i use it on a MAC !! then its a bog standard web cam that has a ok pic... but none of the Logitech fancy "Auto" drivers work !

I tried a isight...and i dont think it is that good !
 
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I tried a isight...and i dont think it is that good !

If you were disappointed with the iSight, you're really gonna be disappointed by just about every other webcam out there, regardless of whether it works with a Mac. I can't speak for the standalone iSight that's no longer produced, but the built-in iSights on the new Intel Macs are awesome! My co-worker has a webcam for her Windows computer, and the quality is atrocious in comparison to my built-in cam!

Webchats with other Mac users using iSights (like my wife and brother-in-law) are about as close to being there as the multi-thousand $$$ corporate video conferencing as I've seen. I was even able to get her brother's Apple TV working with his wireless network using iChat AV to see what was on his screen. That would have been painful, and only about a half-step better than just the phone with any other webcam.

Of course, if you don't have a Mac with the built-in iSight, your choices are limited. I would see if you can get a Firewire camera; that is more likely to work with a Mac. I don't know anything about them, but if you can find one (and I think the standalone iSight, expensive as it is, is a firewire cam) it might work.
 
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Are there any webcams that work with Macs (aside from offerings from Apple)? I have an older iBook without a camera built in, and I am in desperate need of a webcam. Any ideas?

I bought one at BestBuy called RocketFish or RocketCam. Can't really remember, as it was two months ago and now that I have my MacBook, I use the iSight. I paid $49 for it. It works/worked great. Said "Mac" on the box.

Okay, here is the BestBuy link.

Hope that helps.

William
 
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I bought one at BestBuy called RocketFish or RocketCam. Can't really remember, as it was two months ago and now that I have my MacBook, I use the iSight. I paid $49 for it. It works/worked great. Said "Mac" on the box.

Okay, here is the BestBuy link.

Hope that helps.

William

Just wanted to comment that I went out and purchased this webcam to give to my parents. They have my old Mac Mini, and I just tested it on my "spare" Mac Mini. If you download iChatUSB, it does, indeed work. It's not as nice as the built-in iSight of my Macbook, but it works fine, and will give my parents the ability to not have their son drive for 3 hours to visit them. :Mischievous:
 
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MacBook Pro | iMac(2.1 G5) | MacBook(2.16 C2D) | MacMini (1.67 CD) | iPhone 4 | iPad (3rd Gen)
Which web cam do you have? You might be fine with the one you have. You can find the drivers for a huge list of cams, here.
 
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Maccam is very "iffy" .

on a expensive laptop.. i would have at least expected th ebiult in isight to handle "backlight" well..... also you cannot rotate it.... so if you need to show something..you have to pick the laptop up and move it around.
 
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| '09 24" iMac 3.06 8GB | '09 iPhone 3GS 32GB | '09 ATV 1.16TB | '07 23" ACD | '06 15" MBP |
Ok, so what if someone goes out and spends 4K on a MacPro with a 23" HD cinema display....there is no iSight built into the standalone displays.

Brilliant idea to discontinue the only product on the market that will let a MacPro user use iChat.

Stupid Apple and their loss of logic sometimes.
 
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ok people i have now got a working webcam running on my mini mac , it is a logitech quick cam fusion but you need to get the ichatusbcam 2.2.1 drivers which only costs $10 and i have them running with mercury 1.8 and chatting to mate's on msn with no problem hope this helps everyone

Rob
 
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2011 MBP, i7, 16GB RAM, MBP 2.16Ghz Core Duo, 2GB ram, Dual 867Mhz MDD, 1.75GB ram, ATI 9800 Pro vid
10.4.9 Adds USB Camera Support for iChat; Xbox Camera Works

The important thing in that announcement is the knowledge that many USB 2 cameras are now supported. So I went over to MacMall to see that they have several to choose from.

So now the only problem is figuring out which cameras actually work and which gives the best results.
 

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