Very good video and sound quality. Plug-and-Play installation. Easy to test and configure on a Mac using Skype or Yahoo Messenger.
I'm glad I waited for this Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro for Mac instead a Windows cam. All I needed was a quality combined webcam / microphone for my G4 PowerBook - no need for special effects. This cam had to work well in low light conditions, and with slower internet connections when I travel.
I've been using it for 5 days with Skype on DSL, and both my US and international contacts are receiving very good quality sound and image.
Although it has no built-in stand, it can actually be set on a flat surface or gently clipped above the screen. Since there is no driver software, it is missing the face-tracking features of the Pro 9000, and there can be lags with a lot of movement. Not an issue for me since I'm using this in a static setting. It also is missing Logitech's RightSound, but my contacts are hearing me clearly. No snapshot button or digital zoom. HD video can be up to 1600 X 1200 pixels, which may be a little better than the 9000. I haven't tested video recording using third-party software. No travel pouch.
In all - not many extra bells and whistles, but an excellent choice for Mac users who want an instant set-up, quality webcam. Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro for Mac (Black)
If you have a Mac and need a webcam, this is the one to get. It is a bit pricey, but in my opinion is worth the cost. I am using it with Skype, it was very quick and easy to install. It delivers a very sharp image, has excellent auto-focus, light balance and reacts well to movement - even when trying to capture my fast moving toddler.
If you're wondering what the difference is between this and the very similar looking Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000, it is that the auto-focus and light balancing features are build into the HARDWARE of this camera, and are not dependent on software running on a Microsoft OS to be utilized. That is why it is "for Mac" and why it costs a little more. I chose this camera because it is the only one I found that offers these features when used with a Mac. If you don't care about auto-focus or lighting, you may use just about any camera with your Mac and it will work, just don't bother buying one that offers those features because they are typically software based, and that software will not run on your Mac.
This product listing is a bit misleading in that the Mac can't really take advantage of the high resolution of this camera. Apple software simply does not support such high resolution: as it says in the specs above, "Photo Booth and iChat support a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels."
Talia, your G4 iMac simply doesn't have enough horsepower , in processor speed or video resolution, to do satisfying video chat- with any video camera. You have to dig into the iChat specifications, but this is what Apple states for 1-1 video chat requirements: 320-by-240 pixel video resolution requires a minimum of 1.8 GHz G5, or 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo (one of the newer dual-processor computers). According to their specs, your computer would support a video resolution of 160-by-120 pixels- this is a video picture that is approximately 2 inches by 1.5 inches in size- tiny. If the chat window is any bigger, no matter what camera you use, the video will be choppy and poor quality because your Mac simply is not capable of processing the signals and displaying the video fast enough. I'm very sorry - there's not enough info here for you to have known that.
The specifications listed here are entirely inadequate for consumers to know how well this camera will work with their computer.
First thing is that this is new technology which works with the built in UVC drivers. I know Leopard includes them for Intel Macs, I'm not sure about earlier versions of the OS or Power PC Macs so users of older machines/software are advised to do a bit of research or even post on the Logitech forums. If you have fairly recent hardware and are running Leopard this camera gives the best picture I've ever encountered on a Mac.
I'm using it on my Mac Pro quad core. Excellent picture, as good a frame rate as the using software allows. For iChat that's about 15 fps which is enough for reasonably responsive image. Skype can be better, up to 30 fps but the cost is greater bandwidth needed for transmission. You will find that products which you might expect to work such as PhotoBooth don't or only give you about 5fps. That's because the software was written to use a built in web cam or FireWire and the UVC compliant camera isn't yet fully supported. You can take stills but not movies except with the jerky 5 fps limitation. You can use a third party little app called WebcamTweaker.app to capture movies from this camera.
Prior to this cam I was using a Logitech 9000 Pro which gave an equally good image but lacked the built in auto focus and light adjustments. It was limited to the 5 fps which this QuickCam for Mac has eliminated. We are only limited any more by applications which fail to make use of the abilities built into this cam. For me it was a five star purchase. - Skype - Mac Webcam - Webcam - Osx'
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