Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro for Mac (Black)

The "Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro for Mac" title is misleading.It's not Mac only!In fact, it's the easiest webcam I've ever installed, on XP (Windows XP Pro SP3), and on Linux (Fedora 8 and Fedora 9).On XP, it has full native support. It's driverless. Windows XP will install it automatically. It has full native support in Windows, including image preview in My Computer, and image capture for changing your account's icon in Control Panel/User Accounts.On Linux, it was recognized instantly. It uses the "uvcvideo" driver. The "ucview" test program worked, and Skype worked.The webcam uses the new USB video device class standard. This means that it's generic, like a USB keyboard or USB mouse, and will never require a driver.Autofocus and autoexposure (light level) is done purely in hardware. There's no software to install. This is different from the earlier Logitech QuickCam 9000, which depended on Windows software to do the focus and exposure, which lowered the price of the webcam, but forced you to use Windows. The microphone is pretty good for a webcam, but you'll still want a headset for clear conversation. Frame rate is very fast and smooth, 30fps at 640x480.It's not without its disadvantages, though. It's pricey. The included stand is very wobbly, and falls down easily. When set on top of the monitor, gravity's the only thing holding it on, it will slide off easily. Unlike the older Logitech webcams with flexible plastic that could mold into place, this camera has stiff plastic, so it doesn't maintain as good a grip. No zoom. Frame rate gets much slower if resolution is increased beyond 640x480. At 960x720, it's 15fps. At the maximum 1600x1200, it's only 5ps. Anything above 960x720 is just hardware upscaling, as the true optical resolution of the webcam is 960x720.About the only operating system I haven't yet used the webcam with, is Mac :)

This is a great webcam. We use it with Skype and the beta FaceTime application, allowing us to chat with iPod/iPhone users over FaceTime. Image quality is great, and the camera does indeed adjust automatically for light level. Even in a very dark room we get a good image. Auto focus works well, too. Note that image quality depends in part on the computer the camera is attached to. We originally used this with a 10-year-old 1 GHz PowerMac G4, and the image quality, while not bad, wasn't as good as it could be. We recently upgraded to a more modern computer, and the image quality is vastly improved.Sound quality is decent. It's more than adequate for chat uses. People do not have difficulty understanding us when talking using the microphone. If you're an audiophile, even for something like chatting, you'll probably want to get a dedicated mike. The microphone can also be used by itself to record audio (using Audacity, for instance), which is nice.The camera is Mac-compatible, true, but all Logitech sells you is the camera. It's up to the built-in drivers in MacOS to use the camera. There's no other software provided by Logitech that would give you more features or "bells and whistles". So there's no software control: you can't manually adjust settings. There's a button on the side of the camera that does nothing. My understanding is on the PC version of this camera that button allows you to take still photos. It'd be nice if Logitech gave us software that provides more control.

I'll start by getting all the PROs out of the way. In terms of sharpness, picture quality, color, this is the best webcam I've ever used. Definitely better than iSight cameras. I just plugged this into my USB port and all of my video apps, instantly recognized it. Zero set up required. (I tested this with iChat, Skype, FaceTime, GoogleTalk, Yahoo Messenger, Quicktime Player) The autofocus usually keeps me in focus and my background soft. (sometimes I need to my my face really close to the camera and wait for it to focus on me) It automatically senses low-light environments, and boosts the brightness/contrast of your image so you are visible.Now for the bad news. All the great features only work some of the type. There is definitely a glitch/bug with this webcam that has affected several users (check out logitech's forums). There is no rhyme or reason of when the webcam works or not. I can open up iChat, and the webcam will work fine. I close iChat, and open it up 10 minutes later, and instead the image is 80% black...barely visible. Other times, I will just get an error message saying that no webcam is detected. Since the autofocus and light-sensors are all hardware based, there are no software updates or patches for this device. The only solution I (and others) have found is to unplug and plug the webcam into the USB port. You have a 1 of 3 chance that it will work fine. (the other choices being super dark, or not recognized at all) My webcam is plugged into the back of my desktop tower, so I have to crawl under my desk to unplug and plug it in. A pain in the butt.Also, this product claims to have 720p video recording. The resolution is indeed 720p (although picture quality isn't as good as a 720p YouTube video or 720p on an iPhone 4), but the real problem is that the webcam doesn't have the horsepower to shoot 720p at a normal framerate. So you end up with a stuttery, strobe-effect...which essentially makes the 720p video useless.There aren't many webcams available for the Mac (besides Apple's own iSight) This webcam is still the best in terms of picture quality and hopefully Logitech releases some type of fix from their website.