Good Camera... Bad Drivers/Software
Written: May 31 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: cheap, usb, nifty "monitor" software, decent image qualtiy
Cons: severe lighting and contrast problems
The Bottom Line: Buy it as a toy... Not as a tool
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| neilj9000's Full Review: Creative Labs Video Blaster WebCam 3 |
The WebCam 3 seems like a great webcam at a first glance. 640X480 resolution, full color, usb, $39. I decided to buy the thing and give it a shot. Now that I have it, I can say that although this isn't bad, it did not live up to my expectations.
The camera has a good basic feature set. It has 640X480 resolution, 30 fps, USB connectivity, a nifty "shutter button" on the top of the camera to activate it, and it looks cool. You can also use this shutter button to take snapshot pictures at 640X480 resolution, enough for emailing a simple picture. Installation is quick and easy, thanks to to USB connection and the helpful manual included. The camera is manual focus. There is a small ring around the lens that you must turn in order to focus the camera. The software also has a "zoom" feature, but I hardly ever use it. I'm sitting right in front of my computer; I don't need a zoom.
The image quality of the camera is very good--when it works. The software/drivers included are extremely finicky. There is a huge flaw with the lighting/contrast feature of the driver. Image contrast is completely unpredictable, and can vary from good to pitch black. For instance, I would start the camera software and barely be able to make out my face. Then I would close the software, and reopen it. Then the picture would look all red. Close it again, and re-open it. Dark again. Close it and reopen it. Finally, I would get a good picture. I've sat for hours tinkering with the manual settings, trying to fix the problem without closing the program, to no avail. Manual settings can't seem to do the trick. I've tried the webcam on two other computers, and both have the same problem.
Despite that problem, the camera software has some nifty features. You can do live videoconferencing with somebody else who has Microsoft Netmeeting, or you can record videos on your computer. Beware, the videos that you record are extremely large. A few seconds can quickly take up 10 megabytes. The camera has to record in real-time, so using high compression just isn't an option. If you want, you can compress the movie after you have recorded it, but it will take some time. The still image function is O.K., but the quality is still rather low. 640X480 is enough for e-mailing, but they don't have enough detail to produce decent prints.
Another really great feature that the camera has is a webcam "monitor". When you turn the "monitor" on, whenever the camera sees motion, it begins to record until the motion stops. If you so desire, you can set the software to play a sound when motion is detected. This is a great feature if you're wondering what your pet does when you're not at home.... or if you're a college student, you can catch your roommate sneaking around in your stuff.
Overall, the camera and its software is very good. However, I can't reccommend this simply because of the crazy lighting problems. This might be cool as a toy, especially because of the "monitor" software. However, if you plan on doing some serious videoconferencing, do yourself a favor and spend an extra $50 for the 3COM HomeConnect model.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
neilj9000
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 1 member
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