What is the best third party webcam adjustment software for the Mac? BTW, I didn't try the Logitech software, since it says it requires a minimum of 10.13.
I'm using this on a MacPro2,1 (flashed from 1,1) with USB 2.0 only, running 10.11.6 El Capitan
I tried using an original Firewire iSight but it occasionally behaves in a very flaky manner in El Capitan, and the quality is terrible by today's standards anyway. I bought just basically out of nostalgia. The device itself looks better than most webcams out there though, and it matches my 30" Cinema Display nicely. Why are most modern webcams so ugly?
Lenovo Essential FHD
The Lenovo Essential FHD webcam is true plug-and-play. I just plugged it into the Mac Pro and it immediately worked. In bright light its quality is OK, but in low light it's quite grainy, and there is slight green cast to skin tones in artificial light. It's fine for Zoom, FaceTime, and Photo Booth and what not but it's not good for anything requiring fine detail or low light. It appears to be fixed focus, so it never hunts for focus. I think I paid about 35 bucks Canadian plus tax or something like that for it direct from Lenovo. Mic is actually pretty decent. Not awesome of course, but better than I expected.
Pros:
Cheap!
True plug and play on my Mac
Image quality fine if sufficient lighting
During the day, bright windows will blow out that area of the image, but not the rest of the picture.
Decent microphone
Supports up to 1080p30
Never hunts for focus
Has tripod mount
Built in privacy cover (removable)
Mount fits well and is stable on my very thick 30" Cinema Display.
Can rotate sideways up and down and sideways
Cons:
Quite grainy in low light
Slight green cast in low light
If the background lighting is very low at night, the auto-exposure overexposes my face. The solution to this is turn on the lights in the room.
The downward tilt range isn't very much
In a dim picture, a bright window will get completely blown out.
The 95 degree field of view is wider than I prefer.
Comes with no software at all and I couldn't find any on their website, even for Windows.
This is what it looks like in my room with a bright window behind me, during the day, with no adjustments.
Logitech C922 Pro
I just got it (CAD$90) and one thing I've noticed is that while it's plug and play, it's not quite as seamless. When I first plugged it in, it wouldn't work until I rebooted. (Both the camera and the keyboard are plugged into the back of the Cinema Display. Could it be a power draw issue?) Also, it caused a weird bug where my Apple wired keyboard stopped working until I unplugged it and replugged it back in. Low light quality is much improved as it is much less grainy, and skin tones are better in low light. It also supports up to 1080p30. 720p30 also worked, but I didn't see a built-in option in the Mac settings to get 720p60 which its hardware supports. To my surprise though, the mic quality is noticeably worse than the mic on the Lenovo. It's missing some of the higher frequencies so it sounds somewhat muffled, as if I'm talking through a duvet. The worst though is that if there is a bright light in one spot of the image, it may wash out adjacent parts of the picture. See screengrab below. It also auto-adjusts to dim the rest of the image and if there is a bright window in the frame, it auto-dims too with its default settings. It's autofocus, so it occasionally hunts for focus, but usually only when you leave the frame, and it focuses quickly when you're back in frame.
Pros:
Not too expensive.
Autofocus appears reasonably accurate and fast
Good low light detail
Good low light skin tones
Supports up to 1080p30 and supports 720p60 (although the latter is not an option with built-in software).
Has tripod mount
Comes with free tripod
Mount fits well and is stable on my very thick monitor.
Can rotate up and down
The 78 degree FOV is preferred over 95
Cons:
Somewhat finicky on my ancient Mac Pro
Bright light in one part of image will cause washout of other adjacent parts of the image
Bright light in one part of image will cause too much dimming of other parts of the image
Mic is worse than expected
Occasionally may hunt for focus
Cannot rotate sideways
Mac software requires 10.13 or later, even thought the camera itself is supposed to work with 10.9 or later
This is what it looks like with a bright window behind me, during the day, with no adjustments.
I'm sure I could get the exposure right if I could install some third party software, but what software would be recommended? (Remember, the Logitech software requires 10.13 or later.) However, I ended up returning it because even though the low light quality was much better than the Lenovo, there was significant lens flare / leakage with a bright light source in the frame. You can see that light streaming in multiple directions from the top of that window in the picture above. This light leakage can affect anything in its path. Plus, the camera doesn't seem to have the option to rotate left and right, only up and down.
I'm using this on a MacPro2,1 (flashed from 1,1) with USB 2.0 only, running 10.11.6 El Capitan
I tried using an original Firewire iSight but it occasionally behaves in a very flaky manner in El Capitan, and the quality is terrible by today's standards anyway. I bought just basically out of nostalgia. The device itself looks better than most webcams out there though, and it matches my 30" Cinema Display nicely. Why are most modern webcams so ugly?
Lenovo Essential FHD
The Lenovo Essential FHD webcam is true plug-and-play. I just plugged it into the Mac Pro and it immediately worked. In bright light its quality is OK, but in low light it's quite grainy, and there is slight green cast to skin tones in artificial light. It's fine for Zoom, FaceTime, and Photo Booth and what not but it's not good for anything requiring fine detail or low light. It appears to be fixed focus, so it never hunts for focus. I think I paid about 35 bucks Canadian plus tax or something like that for it direct from Lenovo. Mic is actually pretty decent. Not awesome of course, but better than I expected.
Pros:
Cheap!
True plug and play on my Mac
Image quality fine if sufficient lighting
During the day, bright windows will blow out that area of the image, but not the rest of the picture.
Decent microphone
Supports up to 1080p30
Never hunts for focus
Has tripod mount
Built in privacy cover (removable)
Mount fits well and is stable on my very thick 30" Cinema Display.
Can rotate sideways up and down and sideways
Cons:
Quite grainy in low light
Slight green cast in low light
If the background lighting is very low at night, the auto-exposure overexposes my face. The solution to this is turn on the lights in the room.
The downward tilt range isn't very much
In a dim picture, a bright window will get completely blown out.
The 95 degree field of view is wider than I prefer.
Comes with no software at all and I couldn't find any on their website, even for Windows.
This is what it looks like in my room with a bright window behind me, during the day, with no adjustments.
Logitech C922 Pro
I just got it (CAD$90) and one thing I've noticed is that while it's plug and play, it's not quite as seamless. When I first plugged it in, it wouldn't work until I rebooted. (Both the camera and the keyboard are plugged into the back of the Cinema Display. Could it be a power draw issue?) Also, it caused a weird bug where my Apple wired keyboard stopped working until I unplugged it and replugged it back in. Low light quality is much improved as it is much less grainy, and skin tones are better in low light. It also supports up to 1080p30. 720p30 also worked, but I didn't see a built-in option in the Mac settings to get 720p60 which its hardware supports. To my surprise though, the mic quality is noticeably worse than the mic on the Lenovo. It's missing some of the higher frequencies so it sounds somewhat muffled, as if I'm talking through a duvet. The worst though is that if there is a bright light in one spot of the image, it may wash out adjacent parts of the picture. See screengrab below. It also auto-adjusts to dim the rest of the image and if there is a bright window in the frame, it auto-dims too with its default settings. It's autofocus, so it occasionally hunts for focus, but usually only when you leave the frame, and it focuses quickly when you're back in frame.
Pros:
Not too expensive.
Autofocus appears reasonably accurate and fast
Good low light detail
Good low light skin tones
Supports up to 1080p30 and supports 720p60 (although the latter is not an option with built-in software).
Has tripod mount
Comes with free tripod
Mount fits well and is stable on my very thick monitor.
Can rotate up and down
The 78 degree FOV is preferred over 95
Cons:
Somewhat finicky on my ancient Mac Pro
Bright light in one part of image will cause washout of other adjacent parts of the image
Bright light in one part of image will cause too much dimming of other parts of the image
Mic is worse than expected
Occasionally may hunt for focus
Cannot rotate sideways
Mac software requires 10.13 or later, even thought the camera itself is supposed to work with 10.9 or later
This is what it looks like with a bright window behind me, during the day, with no adjustments.
I'm sure I could get the exposure right if I could install some third party software, but what software would be recommended? (Remember, the Logitech software requires 10.13 or later.) However, I ended up returning it because even though the low light quality was much better than the Lenovo, there was significant lens flare / leakage with a bright light source in the frame. You can see that light streaming in multiple directions from the top of that window in the picture above. This light leakage can affect anything in its path. Plus, the camera doesn't seem to have the option to rotate left and right, only up and down.
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