Need a Hd Webcam for myself

wesdaman14 · May 9, 2009

I'm looking into a new webcam. My current one is only 1.3mp And its crap !
Ive seen one called the Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Webcam, And that its HD !
It also says it has motors so it can pan and tilt with the software. Anybody have any experience with a really nice webcam thats hd ??? Thanks for your consideration

XCreedX · May 9, 2009

Ken has a nice webcam ask him, it rotates and tilts.

nikokapo · May 9, 2009

HD is overkill for a webcamera, it's not easy to stream 720p quality images in real-time.

wesdaman14 · May 9, 2009

nikokapo said:
HD is overkill for a webcamera, it's not easy to stream 720p quality images in real-time.

No its not silly ! haha xD
I'm not really gonna stream video, im going to use it to record video like a cam recorder. i have a very nice Usb Mic, and my camera mic sucks, so i want to be able to use the computer as a all in one station.

bschott · May 9, 2009

I have that Orbit MP. Yes, it's nice. Does great video and audio recording. I used it for my Youtube videos and it worked wonderfully. It does have pan and tilt abilities, along with the ability to track movement or even function as a security camera, only turning on when it detects any motion. It can zoom nicely, allows you to change your output resolution (so you can do HD videos or low-quality web camming), and even allows you to manually control your pan/tilt.

If you have the money, it is worth the

nikokapo · May 9, 2009

wesdaman14 said:
No its not silly ! haha xD
I'm not really gonna stream video, im going to use it to record video like a cam recorder. i have a very nice Usb Mic, and my camera mic sucks, so i want to be able to use the computer as a all in one station.

Yes. It is. Maybe you just don't know how much a true 720p video weighs.

If you need it as a camcorder then get the 150 dollars camcorder somebody reviewed some months ago here in LPF.

bschott · May 11, 2009

nikokapo said:
Yes. It is. Maybe you just don't know how much a true 720p video weighs.

If you need it as a camcorder then get the 150 dollars camcorder somebody reviewed some months ago here in LPF.

No, he is right, it's not. Yes, 720p video is not good for using with web-cam applications, but this cam is not stuck on 720p all the time. The fact is the cam would work well enough and there is no media conversion needed. Sure if he wanted extra features of a camcorder, then sure it would be a swell idea, but if he is just looking to do youtube videos or some good quality video with no hassle, this is perfect. Depending on the type, you may need converter cables, a conversion card or some other adaptor to allow the memory type of the camcorder to hook up to your computer.

But as I explained, this cam does work for high def, regular, or web-cam quality graphics. It's not stuck at HD all the time. It works just fine as a webcam for me, then when I do youtube videos, it works well for the higher end video.

nikokapo · May 11, 2009

bschott said:
No, he is right, it's not. Yes, 720p video is not good for using with web-cam applications, but this cam is not stuck on 720p all the time. The fact is the cam would work well enough and there is no media conversion needed. Sure if he wanted extra features of a camcorder, then sure it would be a swell idea, but if he is just looking to do youtube videos or some good quality video with no hassle, this is perfect. Depending on the type, you may need converter cables, a conversion card or some other adaptor to allow the memory type of the camcorder to hook up to your computer.

But as I explained, this cam does work for high def, regular, or web-cam quality graphics. It's not stuck at HD all the time. It works just fine as a webcam for me, then when I do youtube videos, it works well for the higher end video.

You haven't seen true 720p HD videos, haven't you?
You do realize most webcams have 1.3mp or 2mp, do you?

What you stream via youtube is NOT true 720p. It's a downscaled version converted by the processing system of YT and the YT player.

bschott · May 11, 2009

nikokapo said:
You haven't seen true 720p HD videos, haven't you?
You do realize most webcams have 1.3mp or 2mp, do you?

What you stream via youtube is NOT true 720p. It's a downscaled version converted by the processing system of YT and the YT player.

Yes, I have and yes I do. I'm also well aware of what youtube does. I know you don't know me so I'll just let you know that I'm a major Alpha Geek. I have a degree in network administration, own 15 working computers (a few you can see in my case mod thread), have over 17 years professionally working with computers and IT (that's not counting the years spent with computers as a hobby prior to getting into the work force), and I'm quite knowledgeable in this area.

Here are the facts of the thread so far...

1) He wants to hear about reviews on this webcam.
2) He likes the features on this cam and heard it's HD
3) He wants to make HD videos
4) He never mentioned he was making youtube videos.
5) He never mentioned streaming 720p during a web-cam session

Now as for me

1) I own the cam he is interested in
2) It works well and the features are worth the price
3) It can not stream 720p. It can take 720p video recordings however.
4) It can drop it's resolution to allow different qualities of web-cam streaming video.
5) It isn't stuck at 720p (repeat of 4...just in case you missed it)
6) I mentioned that I use this camera for my youtube videos
7) I never said anything about 720p videos for youtube. I said I use this cam making youtube videos but you ASSUME I was using the 720p setting to make the videos. I never said that but you assumed that. Really, anyone that used Youtube knows that is a waste of time to upload true HD video. (concidering the size of the video you would be uploading, the conversion time it would need, and the fact that if the video is going to be dropped in quality anyway...what's the point?)

Alexizupinhea · May 11, 2009

Lol^^^

Anyways, I also have this exact webcam. I got it a year and a half ago FREE after rebate on black friday at Staples.

I do think it is quite a nice webcam. I did have some trouble using the HD recording though. I think it was just that my laptop is a little out of date (single core 1.8GHz, upgraded 2GB ram)... but I'm not sure what graphics card I have on it, but I can tell it can't handle recording the HD so well. I do however think it's a great webcam and is quite nice. The video quality is better than some other cheap cameras.. and it's easy to use since it records in .avi format (you may be able to record in other formats.. don't remember).

I'm not sure why HD doesn't record on my laptop, but I think I've recorded HD on my desktop, which has a better.. but still crappy graphics card (Dual-Crossfire Radeon x1600s i think - don't remember, haven't used my regular desktop in a WHILE being stuck w/ hw on my laptop).

Overall: I DO think it's a nice webcam... but I don't think it's the BEST THING EVER. It's convenient to use sometimes, but I think the quality isn't as good as say, my 7MP SD1000 Canon (records 640 x 480 30fps). If you need HD, or need a permanent webcam, get it. Otherwise, I'd say get a Canon camera to record your videos, and you can always set it up as a webcam if needed. I just personally don't think it's worth the money, but that's because I don't use it very much. However, I'm truly a cheap person, and wouldn't buy a webcam for over $100... and I probably wouldn't even have bought the canon (got both for free

).

nikokapo · May 12, 2009

bschott said:
Yes, I have and yes I do. I'm also well aware of what youtube does. I know you don't know me so I'll just let you know that I'm a major Alpha Geek. I have a degree in network administration, own 15 working computers (a few you can see in my case mod thread), have over 17 years professionally working with computers and IT (that's not counting the years spent with computers as a hobby prior to getting into the work force), and I'm quite knowledgeable in this area.

Here are the facts of the thread so far...

1) He wants to hear about reviews on this webcam.
2) He likes the features on this cam and heard it's HD
3) He wants to make HD videos
4) He never mentioned he was making youtube videos.
5) He never mentioned streaming 720p during a web-cam session

Now as for me

1) I own the cam he is interested in
2) It works well and the features are worth the price
3) It can not stream 720p. It can take 720p video recordings however.
4) It can drop it's resolution to allow different qualities of web-cam streaming video.
5) It isn't stuck at 720p (repeat of 4...just in case you missed it)
6) I mentioned that I use this camera for my youtube videos
7) I never said anything about 720p videos for youtube. I said I use this cam making youtube videos but you ASSUME I was using the 720p setting to make the videos. I never said that but you assumed that. Really, anyone that used Youtube knows that is a waste of time to upload true HD video. (concidering the size of the video you would be uploading, the conversion time it would need, and the fact that if the video is going to be dropped in quality anyway...what's the point?)

Whoa, man, wait a minute. What I said wasn't against you (nor anybody). I said that true 720p streaming is not easy even for today's standards. Doesn't matter if you have 17 years of experience in the field; although I am 19 years old, I know my stuff. No need to talk to me as if I didn't know what you're talking about.

For the youtube thing, if you want your users to specifically view the videos in HD then you could try Vimeo.

Cheers!

bschott · May 12, 2009

nikokapo said:
Whoa, man, wait a minute. What I said wasn't against you (nor anybody). I said that true 720p streaming is not easy even for today's standards. Doesn't matter if you have 17 years of experience in the field; although I am 19 years old, I know my stuff. No need to talk to me as if I didn't know what you're talking about.

Cheers!

Not so fast...

You haven't seen true 720p HD videos, haven't you?
You do realize most webcams have 1.3mp or 2mp, do you?

That sounds condescending and considering we were talking back and forth, I would take that as directed at my last post.

I'm not questioning your knowledge but you questioned mine, so I explained that I know exactly what you were talking about and explained my knowledge. If you took that as a challenge to your own knowledge, it wasn't. Sure you lack the same overall experience time, but you have started yours and probably have started on your college degree or are getting ready to. I'm sure you'll do fine in that by the way.

Anyway, the thread is pretty much over. I think the OP got his question answered and everything is smoothed out.

nikokapo · May 12, 2009

bschott said:
Not so fast...

That sounds condescending and considering we were talking back and forth, I would take that as directed at my last post.

I'm not questioning your knowledge but you questioned mine, so I explained that I know exactly what you were talking about and explained my knowledge. If you took that as a challenge to your own knowledge, it wasn't. Sure you lack the same overall experience time, but you have started yours and probably have started on your college degree or are getting ready to. I'm sure you'll do fine in that by the way.

Anyway, the thread is pretty much over. I think the OP got his question answered and everything is smoothed out.

What you say is true, you're right. I'm sorry.

mgc8 · May 12, 2009

wesdaman14 said:
Ive seen one called the Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Webcam, And that its HD !

Hello,

I have four Logitech Orbit cams, two the older model and two of the newest, HD-capable one. They all work fine, however you should take care as the naming system is quite wacky on these: some countries get the "Orbit", others get the same thing labeled "Sphere". Also, there is a difference between the MP and AF -- as far as I could see, the MP model is the older one that only has a 640x480 sensor and manages HD via interpolation. If you want maximum quality, get the Orbit/Sphere AF, that one has a 2MP sensor therefore is capable of HD-quality videos and 2MP pictures.

Keep in mind though that the aspect ratio on these is 4:3, so the resolutions will be 960x720 instead of 720p and 1600x1200 instead of 1080p (1920x1080). You get more lines but black bars on the sides. Also it is important to remember that at 960x720 the cam can only really capture 15fps, so it does some interpolation to achieve more, while at 1600x1200 the max is 5fps. I did a few tests and the 720p videos produced with it are great for casual use, however I wouldn't film a movie with it

What is really great about these cams is the pan&tilt feature, very rare among consumer "webcams" and certainly useful. As an added bonus, the cam also works perfectly in Linux, including the above-mentioned features.

Bottom line -- would I recommend them? Absolutely!

Need a Hd Webcam for myself

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