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Purchased December 15, 2008 $59.99
(I got it on sale for $39.99)
This is nicely shaped camera, at least I think so. It has fixed focus lens and a 640x480 (VGA) image sensor. It has some weight and sits firmly on your desktop. It is not usable on top of a flat panel monitor or notebook. It has a rather large "very bright" blue online indicator which I found detracting. I had to cover the indicator for the monitor simulation test because it was so bright it was effecting the exposure and color balance.
It has motorized tracking that works.... mostly. When I had the lights on behind me, the camera tended to pick one of those to pan to, ignoring my face. But, that seems to be the problem with most of the auto tracking cameras I have tested.
The image is a bit light and washed out unless you override the auto settings and force more contrast with the software slider.
During most of my tests I ended up turning off the auto tracking and using manual exposure settings.
It has a built in microphone but the sound is not delivered through the USB cable. There is a separate audio cable bonded to the USB cable which you plug into your computer's microphone jack.
For the price, it performs well and I think is worth the money. But don't expect the kind of image quality you get from the Logitech Zeis lenses. A good buy if you want motorized panting but not too concerned with image quality
 | Sample images showing how this camera performs under different lighting conditions |
Large images
640x480
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