What camera to get for my dekstop?

[tomato]

OK so I have decided to give the extended Google service (Call) a shot, and I'm gonna have to get a camera kit for my computer.

What are you guys using? Any recommendations on something that's cheap and good and does the job (I wanna Skype and/or videochat from the Google mail client)

Just curious, what do you all use? Got pics so we can see the set up?

Thanks !!

[eTiMaGo]

can't really go wrong with Logitech or even Microsoft, they have models for all budgets, and even the cheaper ones are more than good enough for basic video chat. Be aware that not all might have a built-in microphone, so if you need that too, keep it in mind :)

[fnkngrv]

can't just go the el cheapo route man! It is the HD age! I am honestly surprised that I haven't seen something come out for 3D web cams yet!

This is what a good friend of mine bought. He bought two and shipped the other one to his brother in Iowa. They use them all of the time and I have actually seen them in action. Pretty dang nice in my book. Ryan (my friend) has his 80 inch projector screen hooked up as a secondary screen for his machine so that worked really well for him.

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-H5D-...sr=1-1-catcorr

[fnkngrv]

on another note if you are going with an SD camera make sure that you get a 2.0 megapixel...not a 1.3. Big difference from my experiences.

[tk-421]

Have you thought about using the camera on your phone as a desktop webcam over bluetooth? Might be a cool little project to try...

As far as the Logitech/Microsoft recommendations, they're fine as long as you don't plan to migrate to Linux at some point in the future... It's really tough to get some of those models working under that OS.

[tk-421]

Good to hear!

Originally Posted by tk-421

Have you thought about using the camera on your phone as a desktop webcam over bluetooth? Might be a cool little project to try...

Here's a project that's trying to get this to work, but it seems to be USB-only: http://www.placaware.com/?page_id=67

You can also do real-time video streaming and recording using Qik over Android. Pretty fancy stuff... http://qik.com/

[severous01]

well, do you have a digital camera? one you take stills or pictures with? a lot of times they have stand adapters on the bottom and you can do webcam with them via usb cables. i know my kodak will...i got it last nov on black friday special from best buy. it's got the option to webcam when in video mode and the cable is hooked up. all you need to do is install software (i didnt even have to do that...it just recognized it and did it)