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Review updated: December 17, 2006
The original Fusion has been redesigned. You can tell the new camera by the square box with a clear top. The old packaging was all transparent plastic somewhat rounded. While on a trip recently, I found I had left my portable camera at home so decided to try out the new Fusion. Logitech has included their new Right Light technology with the new camera. The original release of Right Light, which is included with the new Fusion, had a bug which caused the camera to use close to 100% of the CUP process. My notebook was not in the best of shape and it became difficult to work on with the camera running, so I returned the camera and picked up one of the old models. Logitech has now released a software update (v 10.04) which has solved this problem. If you get the new camera I strongly suggest downloading the update but be aware it is 125 megs.
There are a number of other new camera models that have hit the shelves recently, as soon as I purchase those, and my funds recover, I will pick up a new Fusion and review what ever updates they have included in it. (This may be mid summer, as my funds are limited)
When I first got my fusion in 2005, I was disappointed in its color, but after removing it from my office, which has some really bad lighting conditions for webcams, I changed my mind. The image is quite good when the lighting is of good quality and there are no back lights behind the subject. Bright daylight is no problem and I am now quite impressed with its color, sharpness and light handling capability. Over the last year this has come to be my favorite camera.
A reader wrote me last year and said he found that his Fusion was fuzzy when he was using it through a USB 1 port. Switching the camera to another computer with a USB 2 port solved the problem. I have now confirmed this USB 1 vs 2 problem. It appears that in order to get a reasonable stream over a USB 1 connection, the data is highly compressed. The effect is that portions of the image appear to be fuzzy as if a very high JPG compression had be applied. Bottom line on this issue, You really want to use these new cameras over a USB 2 connection and with a fast computer.
The included software allows you to capture images at the full 1.3 mega pixel size which ends up at 1280x960. You can grab a 2304x1728 (4 mega pixel) image with interpolation (software enhancement), but you begin to see the problems with the fixed focus lens at these extra large resolutions. Click the numbers for samples.
To use the included movie capture you have to have a current Indeo codec which, if you don't already have it, costs an additional $15, down loadable through Microsoft's website. (click on the more info link when you get the error) Otherwise, no video capture is possible without a 3rd party capture program.
The QuickCam Fusion's auto face tracking seems to work a bit better than the original QuickCam Orbit's. The first release of Logitech's Avatar software had some problems tracking my face due to my beard. This problem was resolved in early 2006, so make sure you download the latest software if you pick up one of the older camreas.
The camera mounting system is a good design and is heavy enough to hold the camera in place. It works well on flat panels, notebook screens, a shelf or desktop. You bend and twist the slightly flexible base into a shape that fits your particular situation to balance the camera. There is a small lip at the top of the mount to hook over your screen. Then you can tilt the camera up or down on top of this mount as needed. The camera has a very thin cable, compared to most of the other cameras, a very nice feature in my opinion. My only complaint on the stand is there is no way to swivel the camera side to side. My flat panel screen is not squarely oriented toward my chair; therefore, the camera has to sit at an odd angle and tends to tilt slightly to one side. There is no tripod mounting hole available.
The camera's software adjustments are initially a bit confusing. There are 2 screens with brightness and contrast adjustments, one in the driver settings and one on the video settings screen. These seem to be tied together, but at times I can't get the ones in the driver window to do anything. The video settings are only available through the Logitech task bar tray icon, not through my Webcam program's video source settings like all the other controls. When I go through my webcam program is when the brightness and contrast controls don't seem to work and I have to open the video adjustment window though the taskbar icon. I'm finding I like the image better if I use the manual brightness and contrast settings rather than the automatic, decreasing the brightness slightly and raising contrast just a bit from where the automatic setting wants to place them.
When everything is adjusted right and you have decent lighting, the image is great. In the beginning I was disappointed in the fixed focus lens, but have found over the last year of use that the fixed focus is not a problem unless you are trying to shoot very close range (under 2 feet).
The camera preforms very well streaming with a 640x480 image, with smooth, non-jerky, 24 frame motion. It is quite suitable for full motion video capture on a computer that can keep up. The file sizes, however, can become quite large very quickly, so use caution. The available compression options I have on my computer were limited. I cut a 5 second 640x480 segment using VisionGS webcam software, which ended up a bit over 3.5 megs. Not something to send over an e-mail.
(Note: 02-20-07. Logitech has redesigned the Fusion and the new release aparently does not include a headset. The new box is square with a clear top. The older box was all plastic with rounded sides.) The included headphone is basically a low end stereo set with a boom microphone. Not a bad device for online chatting, but not of suitable quality for listening to really good music or gaming. The quality is about that of a $15 headset from my local computer store, or one that would come with an inexpensive portable CD player. I'm not complaining, the headset is comfortable, I can wear it with my cowboy hat, and it should do fine for video conferencing and online chatting with your family and friends. It should sound much better than room pickup from the microphones mounted on the cameras.
Bottom line, I think the QuickCam Fusion is a winner. While the new QuickCam Ultra Vision has a much better image, the Fusion is still my favorite for best overall.
Screen shots of camera configuration settings
Advanced
Source Settings
Zoom Tracking
Video
Audio
 | Sample images showing how this camera performs under different lighting conditions |
Large images
640x480
704x576
1280x960
2304x1728