which webcam should I buy for OS X?

[sprung_riddim]

i'm looking for a webcam that i can use to talk to someone with a PC. would things be really complicated if i went with a USB camera? do you have advice on a webcam that works and will last a while? recommendations?! thnx.

 

[tpjunkie]

as a new iSight owner, I'd definitely recomend it as a great webcam...the only thing is that its a little expensive although you can now get it for about 20 bucks cheaper with the student discount

 

[edesignuk]

Well, without knowing much about webcams for OS X, I would have to say if you went with iSight you couldn't really go wrong.

 

[MacManDan]

Re: which webcam should I buy for OS X?

Originally posted by sprung_riddim
i'm looking for a webcam that i can use to talk to someone with a PC. would things be really complicated if i went with a USB camera? do you have advice on a webcam that works and will last a while? recommendations?! thnx.

You can buy some USB webcams and they will work with 3rd party drivers.

A free USB webcam driver: http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/
A shareware (but better) driver: http://www.ioxperts.com/usbwebcam.html

You can use these drivers and use Yahoo! Messenger to video conference cross-platform. The quality is nothing to be proud of, but it works. There is probably other video conference software out there, but Y!M is cheap (<ahem> free). You don't have to pay $130 for an iSight if you just want to do some cross-platform video conferencing. It's a nice camera, but you don't really need it if it's not in your budget.

Before you purchase a camera, however, make sure it is fully supported by the drivers I listed above. I have a Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks (NOT the pro model), but I don't really like it. The quality really stinks, although it is VERY tiny and portable.

Here is the QuickCam for Notebooks: http://tinyurl.com/j3nv You can find it cheaper if you look around, however. I got mine for $25.