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Anyone else a little disappointed with the FaceTime HD camera?

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Original poster
It's probably my only gripe with this laptop. Don't get me wrong, it's one of the best things I've ever bought. But after having just spent some time Skyping with friends I find that for it's stunning display, aluminium design, incredible hardware and solid speakers. It's just a bit of a let down, like they almost forgot to upgrade it or something.
I don't expect a ridiculously fantastic camera like the back facing iSight on my 5S. It doesn't need to do that. But I'd like to be able to record high quality 1080p60 with good low light ability.
Maybe Apple will update the rMBP and iPhone this year both with improved 1080p FaceTime cameras. 🙂

Anybody else had any thoughts on this?
 
If you really need a better camera you could look at getting a USB one and clip it on when in low light situations.

Doesn't address your complaint though... sorry.
 
With you on the low light ability, not so bothered about 1080p/60. Upload is still pretty poor on many residential/SOHO internet connections, and at larger companies they tend to either have dedicated video conferencing equipment (or really care little about video quality, its just used to more quickly get the message across). Therefore I'd much rather have an excellent SD/720p camera. If you want to create 1080p/60 video content IMO your always going to be better of with an external, whereas for general usage other aspects like low light performance are much more important.
 
Trvlngnrs said:
If you really need a better camera you could look at getting a USB one and clip it on when in low light situations.

Doesn't address your complaint though... sorry.
Click to expand...

Sort of defeats the purpose of having a FaceTime 'HD' camera if it's of such low quality that I need an external one. There's really no reason why Apple shouldn't improve it, it's the only thing really lacking on the system. While I don't mind not having 1080p I feel like it's a sort of good standard and 720p is cutting it a bit short. Why not go the full way and up both the resolution and low light/general quality?
Not looking for a crazy 16MP sensor, but a decent 2.1 or 4MP with large pixels and decent processing would be perfect. VoIP is only going to grow and with it video calling.
 
SCOLANATOR said:
Sort of defeats the purpose of having a FaceTime 'HD' camera if it's of such low quality that I need an external one. There's really no reason why Apple shouldn't improve it, it's the only thing really lacking on the system. While I don't mind not having 1080p I feel like it's a sort of good standard and 720p is cutting it a bit short. Why not go the full way and up both the resolution and low light/general quality?
Not looking for a crazy 16MP sensor, but a decent 2.1 or 4MP with large pixels and decent processing would be perfect. VoIP is only going to grow and with it video calling.
Click to expand...

If using FaceTime itself, the video is pretty good enough for me.

However on Skype, the quality is lackluster and leaves much to be desired. If I'm not mistaken, HD video on Skype is possible only if your internet connection is fast enough and you're a Skype Premium subscriber.
 
yjchua95 said:
If using FaceTime itself, the video is pretty good enough for me.

However on Skype, the quality is lackluster and leaves much to be desired. If I'm not mistaken, HD video on Skype is possible only if your internet connection is fast enough and you're a Skype Premium subscriber.
Click to expand...

I throught HD Skype was available to all? But anyway FaceTime looks better with my 5S's front facing camera than my Mac's.
I have a 152Mb fibre connection and my friend had a 76Mb fibre connection so it was definitely not bandwidth restrained.

Just a shame the current versions of Skype on Mac, PC and iPhone are so bloated and a little sluggish. All I need is a list of my contacts so I can click either message/voice/video call. I have no idea how they managed to make the new iOS version so fancy and overly bloated.

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Trvlngnrs said:
I agree, I was just tossing out a work-around in case it was limiting you in a business or something.
Click to expand...

Thanks, fortunately it's just for speaking to friends, but in a year or two time it might well be a necessary part of business so I hope Apple pick up their game. Isn't the whole world going crazy narcissistic for 'selfies'?
 
I have a feeling they'll address your concerns during the next major update.

"It's the best camera we've put in a macbook EVER"

Makes it more exciting.
 
I don't see a great camera being put on a laptop. The screen is simply too thin to support a decent sensor, not even counting optics.

iPhones and iPads are much thicker than the screen on these notebooks and as such have room for these better cameras.

I'm sure 1080p will come in the next revision but I wouldn't expect much better quality or low light performance.
 
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