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Which Web Cam to buy for Mac Mini?

crowe-t

crowe-t

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 7, 2014
333
77
Satellite Of Love
I'm looking to purchase a web cam for use with my Mac Mini 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo. I'll be using the web cam for Google + Hangouts.

So far I'm looking at the Logitech C615 which looks to be the only model Logitech makes that works on a Mac.

How is the image quality of the Logitech C615?

Any other suggestions?
 
I don't know about Google Hangouts, but I've been successfully using a Logitech C910 and C920 with Skype, and have been pleased with the results.

I use an app called Webcam Settings to control it, but as I remember both Logitech cams worked OK with Skype on their own.

Facetime is a problem -- won't work there.
 
They work well. The issue, I think, is that although for a simple application like Skype (or anything else where zooming and panning and movement isn't required) they're fine, the Mac operating system cannot control them. There are no drivers, and Logitect doesn't supply any.

So my experience shows that

-- you just want a webcam with no tricks? Plug and go.

-- you want some tricks? Get a 3rd party app.

I hope someone else contributes. I'm reporting what's happened in one installation, two computers (Mac Pro 1,1 and Mac Pro 5,1) and Mountain Lion and Mavericks. Nothing else tested.
 
I use the Logitech C910 with my Mac Pro. Works great and the quality is excellent.
 
I have a C920, and it works on my Mac Pro. The one issue is that it seems to be limited to 720p under OS X, whereas it's 1080p in Windows. Kind of annoying, but the quality is excellent regardless.
 
Sirobin said:
I have a C920, and it works on my Mac Pro. The one issue is that it seems to be limited to 720p under OS X, whereas it's 1080p in Windows. Kind of annoying, but the quality is excellent regardless.
Click to expand...

Does the Mac operating system control the camera(ie - zooming, panning...)?

Does anyone have the C615? Is this a good web cam?
 
crowe-t said:
I'm looking to purchase a web cam for use with my Mac Mini 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo. I'll be using the web cam for Google + Hangouts.

So far I'm looking at the Logitech C615 which looks to be the only model Logitech makes that works on a Mac.

How is the image quality of the Logitech C615?

Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Most webcams work on a Mac. I am using older version of
Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 and another Logitech webcam
that did not specifically list Mac support. They work fine on Mac.

I use them for security using EvoCam.
 
I have the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 and it works great with the Mac. But since the Logitech software is Windows only, you need to get the OS X app called WebCam Settings.
 
I use a Logitech C910 and C920 webcam on my macmini and they both work just fine. I use skype a lot and haven't had any issues. I get good reports of video quality on the other end.
 
crowe-t said:
So the Logitech C910 and C920 do work on Macs? Interesting... Everything I've read says only the C615 work on Macs.
Click to expand...

N o o o o o ... D o n't d o o o i i i t t t ! ! !

Just bought the c920 based on reviews like these. I have gone through all kinds of crap to resolve this, to no avail. Before I get into any of that, just listen.

If you have a cam capable of 1080p, one day you will get curious and wonder what you can do. When you find that you bought a cam with certain capabilities that cannot be used because of codecs, you are going to get really frustrated. You MIGHT get lucky and be one of these people who get 1080p to work with quicktime and the c920, but it's not "fer sure". I'm one of those people and I can even see the Apple prores 4444 codec (which is thought to be the issue) in the movie inspector on quicktime. It still crashes it.

Yeah, I got some settings and all that so I can zoom and pan yada yada.... The color is off and the resolution is bad in quicktime. Your options for recording in 1080p are extremely limited and probably non existent.

You may not notice the quality issues now, but one day you will... and you will wonder what the point was in buying the c920. The logitech c920 is NOT an answer to your question. It is NOT officially supported.... so the question is still very much out there waiting to be answered.
 
crowe-t said:
So the Logitech C910 and C920 do work on Macs? Interesting... Everything I've read says only the C615 work on Macs.
Click to expand...

NOPE - big fat DOES NOT WORK - I just boxed up the c920 and am putting it in the mail Monday. c920 does NOT work with the newest mac mini!!!!!
 
RIZZO124 said:
I use a Logitech C910 and C920 webcam on my macmini and they both work just fine. I use skype a lot and haven't had any issues. I get good reports of video quality on the other end.
Click to expand...

I can't say that the c920 works for the mac, but I have a c910 and it works well. When it originally came out, Logitech advertised it as working with macs and is why I bought it and still use it today. The c910 comes with software for both mac and windows and will update to the last version of the software if you use the original installation disk. The software that comes with the webcam is limited on the mac, but usable. You can download a basic settings app from the Apple Store called: "Logic Camera Settings" and have some basic functions if you want something more to use with it.

Note: that the c910 is an older Legacy webcam, but still works with the current OS X El Cap, but I believe it is more so "safer" to use on the older OS X's. I have not used it as much on El Cap., but when I have, I have had no problems.

I have used it for facetime and skype with no problems and get HD quality. I have also used it to record video as a secondary camera for general HD recordings and does the job, but will not directly record into imovie or final cut pro x. It does work with Quicktime and other third party apps.

Not sure why Logitech discontinued their support for macs, but the c910 works well though now a legacy item. Both webcams are designed really for Windows, but the software on the original disk has a mac app that can be updated.
 
Last edited:
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