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Purchased December 7, 2012 $39.99
Creative seems to be coming back into the consumer market with webcams. I found 2 models at my favorite computer store the other day. For the last 5 years they seem to have only sold to device manufactures. Most of the cameras built into computers for the last few years were actually built by Creative.
This is a decent camera for the price. Should be good for portable use. Small, is easy to drop into a notebook case. Unlike the earlier Creative cameras, it does not come with a carrying case.
I was surprised when I opened the box to find the camera was simply wrapped in a small bubble wrap package and dropped into the box. It bounces around quite a bit if you shake the box. The box contained only the camera, a small quick setup sheet, and nothing else.
This camera comes with no software. Any software available for the camera can be downloaded from Creative.
The box claims a frame rate of 30fps at 720p, however while the camera itself may be capable of that, the USB 2 bandwidth can not stream a full 720 at 30 frames, it looks more like 12 to 15 fps at full 720 HD. It does much better at lower resolutions.
I find the image to be a bit grainier than the Logitech cameras of the same price range. The picture is unusable with my low light test. Trying to push the available brightness control available via the UVC slider only succeeded in making what little image was barely visible, totally disappear into the darkness. (see test shots)
I am a bit surprised at how well the camera adjusts color under fluorescent and LED lighting, 2 of my new tests. The color actually looks a bit more pleasant under LED than incandescent.
In regular room lighting and at the smaller resolutions it does quite nicely in both lighting and frame rate.
The stand is very simple and fits all my monitors nicely, including notebooks. There is no side to side swivel available.
A good pick and a decent price.
 | Sample images showing how this camera performs under different lighting conditions |
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