Logitech 720p Webcam Pro 9000
by Logitech
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List Price: Our Price: $48.66 You Save: $31.33 (39%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $35.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech 720p Webcam Pro 9000
Customer Review: Expensive for a webcam but well worth it
Summary: 5 Stars
When the built in webcam on my notebook died, I opted for an add-on usb webcam. Naturally I looked to my favorite peripheral maker, Logitech for a replacement. Initially the price ($99) sounded like a ridiculous price to pay for a webcam especially when much cheaper models started at under $20 but believe me, this webcam is well worth the price of admission with an astounding feature set.
PROS
Astounding still image and video clarity - most webcams claim 1.3 megapixel sensors that often display poor and very grainy images but this Logitech in particular has a 2 megapixel sensor capable of taking 8 megapixel still images and hd quality video at 30 fps in 720p. I use this cam primarily for Skype and all of my contacts at amazed at how clean and clear the picture quality is.
Auto-focus - once this mode is set to on, the Webcam Pro 9000 will re-focus your image when you move closer to or father away from the camera itself. I will personally never go back to a webcam with manual focus ever again as this sure beats having to focus the camera each time I switched position. This mode can get slightly annoying though as it camera seems to also make micro adjustments for any movement I make at all.
Face tracking feature (up to two faces simultaneously) - This is a fun little feature that I haven't really found any practical purpose for but it's nice to have if that's your thing. Despite the fact that this camera has no wide range of motion, it is somehow able to keep focused on my face regardless of where I am positioned in front of the screen. Amazingly, it is able to do this with more than one face as well.
Auto Light Adjustment - Even when I'm sitting in a poorly lit room, the camera auto adjusts to give the best image possible even despite the poor lighting conditions. This feature is not a gimmick and works really well.
Cons
Very expensive for a webcam
Much larger than expected
Not designed with laptop screens in mind - though I have in fact been able to set this up successfully on a notebook screen, it is hardly ideal and is somewhat awkward.
Not very adjustable - this webcam does not have a very wide range of motion though I think this is compensated by the Carl Zeiss lens which has an extremely wide range of view. Because of the design of this webcam though, you absolutely cannot twist the unit left or right and you can only just barely move the camera upwards or downwards.
Even despite the high cost, I am truly impressed with this feature rich, and very high end webcam. Even if all supporting features were removed, I would still have purchased this camera if only for the astounding images and video feeds it produces.
Customer Review: Good Webcam - 4 Stars
Summary: 4 Stars
The father of 2 of my grandkids is in Mexico for the holidays and I wanted the grandkids to be able to come to my old law office and have a video conference with their father in Mexico. The father uses Yahoo Messenger 10 (I prefer Skype). Furthermore, I wanted the kids to have their conference using the big screen TV in my client reception area instead of a laptop. So I bought this Logitech webcam Pro 9000 because I wanted the best webcam I could find to mount on top of the TV. I then set the TV in PC monitor mode and away we went. I give it 4 stars. As for quality of image, the quality appears better than the standard 1.3 MP webcam already built into my laptop, but not that much better. It is above average, but not as great as I expected given the $80 price of this web cam.
But everything else about this web cam I give 5 stars. I love the auto focus (auto zoom), the auto bright features (where the cam adjusts to the darkness or brightness of the room). I also like the ease at which this web cam would mount on a big screen TV about 1.5 inches thick at the top. Set up on the computers (running XP and Vista) was very easy. And Yahoo Messenger detected the camera right away. This cam also has face detection abilities, something you usually find only on digital cameras. That means it will pan and follow your face and zoom in and out as needed to focus on your face. Another feature I liked was that you can manually aim this web cam using your mouse without manually moving the laptop or web cam itself. In other words you can "pan" about 45 degrees left or right or up and down and then zoom in or out as you please. As for the LogitechVid feature we have not tried that yet but will do so next video conference. It allows you to have free video conferences with anybody with an email address, regardless of whether they have Windows Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Skype etc. Basically you type in the email of the person you want to video conference with and Logitech sends them an email with a free download of the Logitech Vid software, which Logitech claims works regardless of whether the other person has a Logitech cam or not. The software was easy to install. I also like the privacy shade feature, which allows you to "mute" the web cam video when you want. But instead of turning the web cam off, it just throws up a still photo (some defaults are included but you can set your own photo if you want) that the other person sees until you click back to normal operation. You can also take still screen shots with this cam and I like that as well.
Bottom line is I give 4 stars. I deducted 1 star because the image quality is above average, but not as great as I expected for $80. All things considered, I do recommend it and would buy it again if needed.
Customer Review: High Def Quality Cam
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
In a nutshell, I'm pretty happy with this. It works great, the videos come out great. And there are easy share buttons at the bottom of the recording box for instant publication to You Tube or sending pictures or video through email. I think the Right Light technology makes a difference. The images with this webcam look better than the images from the comparable Microsoft LifeCam Show that I've been using.
High Points:
-Easy to use. Settings easy to change and changes quickly between recording modes.
-Great video quality. Very clear. Good video quaility in many different lighting situations.
-Logitech Vid works as described. Easy to set up and use.
-Webcam works great with other instant messanging software.
-Quality of the pictures are pretty good for a webcam. What you see on the screen is what you'll get. But it still doesn't beat a regular digital camera in versatility.
Mid Points:
-Sound quality in webcam mode seems to echo a little bit when the background is really quiet, so maybe it's echoing in my living room. Either way, it's just something I noticed with this one that I haven't noticed with other webcams that I've used. But it makes for pretty good acoustics.
-Picture quality is not as good in Face Tracking mode when using the webcam, it's noticeably fuzzy. I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't used the non-face tracking mode first where it wasn't fuzzy at all.
-Camera seems to bounce sometimes when moving around in non-face tracking mode. It's very subtle. Doesn't bother me, but again, it's not something that has happened with other webcameras. I think it's the auto-focus, which can be switched to manual focus, and I didn't notice the slight sporadic bounce then.
Low Points:
-In face tracking mode the camera shakes as you move around, even if you're not moving around a lot.
-Built in microphone was staticky when using Logitech Vid. I just set it to use an external microphone and that fixed the problem.
I also really like the size. Microsoft's LifeCam Show is smaller, but I had a hard time positioning it right around my high-def monitor. This one fits comfortably on the top or the screen and stays really well. I'm a Vista user and have had no problems using this whatsoever, but everyone's computer is built differently.
I would give it an extra half star for 4.5, but Amazon doesn't do halfs.
A definite good deal for what you're paying for it!
*thumbs up*
Customer Review: Changing my mind about webcams... This one is sweet!
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Yeah, Casa Duffbert's been stocking up on the tech toys recently. The latest gadget to get a try-out is the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000. I've tried other webcams in the past, and they've not been a permanent part of my environment. This one might just change that trend...
The QuickCam is designed to sit on top of your terminal or laptop lid using a rather cool design. The back swivels out and allows you to prop the webcam in just about any angle you can imagine. It took me less than five seconds to get it flat and stable on my Sony Vaio laptop screen, and it stays rock solid in one place. This beats those round ball webcams that always had to be set somewhere on the desk to be stable (you can tell how long it's been since I've been enticed to try out a webcam again). The software loaded up quickly, and then it was playtime. The camera shoots from an email-sized 320 x 240 video clear up to an 8 megapixel setting. When I took photos and captured video, the clarity and resolution were excellent, and I was amazed at the picture quality.
On the "fun" side, the software comes with some cool effect settings. You can set up avatars that will calibrate on your facial features, and then allow the character to mimic your movements. I also got a kick out of the "fun filters", which do some cool things to the video image. There's one that turns the video into a grainy black and white film, and it gives your vid capture a "noire" look. I could see how it would be rather striking for some sort of a documentary or a pseudo-serious video.
There are a number of services that the software automatically recognizes, such as YouTube and chat clients. Therefore, you should have no problem getting hooked into the latest video crazes out there. And the configuration and setting options are incredible. The camera can track and pan faces (one or more), so you don't have to worry about centering. Honestly, you'd have to be moving around a lot *not* to remain on the screen, as the width of the picture is quite wide. Add in automatic brightness control, contrast, etc., and even a non-expert like me can come off with a decent feed to show the world. Of course, I'm not giving the camera much to work with, either...
I plan on leaving this set up on my laptop with Skype running on a regular basis. I'll be interested to see how it performs in that realm. But as of right now, the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 has earned a spot on my cluttered desk...
Customer Review: The Best Consumer WebCam @ this time...
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent "build" quality. No cheapness about it.
If you are thinking of keeping in touch with family and loved ones using a webcam, this is a good model.
Just realize a few things before going into this project.
1.) The dream you have of enjoying clear, full screen, webcam "visits" with your Mom who lives far away, is just that. Dreamland, probably from watching too much sci-fi. Note: The picture quality you get on your own live, at home screen, is HD sharp. But things change (degrade) when you send and receive over the internet during a WebCam session!
Sure, you can expand the viewing window, but the picture quality goes from slightly fuzzy (that's the best), to completely unusable. (Huge chunky pixilization).
But let me tell you, to be able to sit around the dinner table using a webcam on both ends, and sharing "dinnertime" together with relaxed, pleasant conversation, even with a smaller viewing screen than you expected, is PRICELESS!!!
The screen size isn't that bad, just not the perfect, HUGE, High Def, screen that the Star Trek Enterprize has on the Captains Bridge.
OK? Get over it!
2.) Computers on both ends need to be newer, faster models. There will be
limitations on either side. Mom won't be able to use certain features because she doesn't have a dual core processor. Or the same software won't appear identical on both computers because she has Win XP and you have Vista. You may not be able to explain to Mom how to adjust her picture, because her software interface doesn't have the same controls.
(TIP: I use free LogMeIn software to control her computer from my house.)
3.) I tried ALL the main-stream free webcam programs, i.e. Skype, Windows Messeger, etc., etc. Nothing worked perfectly on both sides. (You need to use the same program on both sides.)
Perhaps this was because Moms computer WAS slightly lacking in horsepower.
(Both sides NEED high speed internet, by the way!)
This process took hours of installing, going through the Joining Up and Activating phase, experimenting, then uninstalling and loading the next program on both computers, to try again!...(by the way, I live in Hawaii, my Mom lives on the Mainland! So if I can do it over the internet, you may be emboldened to try it!)
The only program I got to work perfectly on both computers, was ooVoo.
So, YES! We now enjoy very nice WEB Cam visits!
The Logitech 9000 PRO has the best quality picture. Even allowing extreme close-ups.
Mom can now show me her TV remote, and I can see if the bateries are installed correctly.
Other webcams don't have the same sharpness to start with.
Just read the reviews!