Logitech 720p Webcam Pro 9000
by Logitech
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech 720p Webcam Pro 9000
Customer Review: The best webcam out there. Period.
Summary: 5 Stars
Logitech competes with itself. Altough webcams are near commoditity items these days, Logitech keeps raising the bar. With th QuickCam Pro 9000, they have produced an affordable, very high quality webcam that could make web conferencing an everyday, comfortable reality.
There are only a few facts that matter about this product:
1. Lens resolution is tack sharp.
2. Autofocus works very well.
3. Audio from the built-in microphone is astounding.
4. The stand is easy to configure, stable and holds it position.
5. The Logitech software is less buggy than in the past.
Each high-end iteration of Logitech webcams has gotten better. I want to say this one is truly superb but fear that people might think I am just blowing smoke.
My hair is thin an unruly. With the QuickCam Pro 9000, every blowaway strand is visible onscreen. (There goes my old-age career in Hollywood.) The autofocus is exactly that: autofocus. No need to involve yourself in the process. Compensation for varying lighting works well and works automatically. Color rendition is excellent.
The audio quality is, in my opinion, spectacular. On my middle of the road laptop, the audio was surprisingly full and rich, not at all the somewhat tinny sound associated with earlier Logitech and other webcams.
The camera mount is a no-brainer and requires no concious thought to set up.
The Logitech software is less buggy than in the past. It installed under Vista Ultimate with only one error: the special effects wouldn't load, which is no great shakes for me.
By the way, always make sure that you download the latest software from the Logitech website. Never use the CD provided. It is always behind.
The results this webcam delivers are so good that I suspect many people will no longer feel any hesitation in videoconferencing as a substitute for travel or face-to-face meetings. With adequate bandwidth, the visual quality is high, the audio superb and the frame rates high for a more lifelike appearance.
Whether you want to confer with your colleagues, friends or staff or just want to see the grandkids, the QuickCam Pro 9000 is everything you could ask for.
Jerry
Customer Review: A huge upgrade from my old Logitech camera... :)
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I will vouch for anything Logitech. I am not saying this because I am a vine member, but because I have a lot of things that are Logitech, and they are all great products (including microphones and keyboards). The only thing I was disappointed in from Logitech was my old webcam the "Pro 5000". Maybe I was just disillusioned because I thought it would work like a real camera, but either way it didn't perform up to snuff for the price I paid for it (its retail was $80.00).
When I received the "QuickCam Pro 9000" I was very leery because of my past experience (right or wrong). I read the fancy description of the box about its lenses being designed by Carl Zeiss. He is makes lenses for space exploration, so I thought "Well, maybe this is higher quality than my last one..." However, I was not holding out hope.
As usual the set-up was very simple; just put in the disc and install the Logitech software and then plug in the webcam. So, I did that and then started using the camera immediately. I am sad to say that I didn't think it was a whole lot better than the Pro 5000, except a couple details.
1. The sound quality is far better than it was on the Pro 5000. Things were a little bit better synchronized with my face and it just picked up my voice better overall.
2. The picture quality is less grainy. The picture quality on this camera is top-notch, not at all grainy like the Pro 5000. I was very much impressed with the visual quality of the ProCam 9000 .
I wish I could've taken back my old camera and paid the extra $20.00 because the sound quality and picture quality are that much better on the Pro9000. The other features on this one are basically the same as their other cameras because it comes with the same software is the other camera. Still, if you are looking for a decent webcam that is $100.00 or less, I would say that you cannot go wrong with this one.
God Bless & *enjoy* ~Amy
Customer Review: Easy and Intuitive!
Summary: 4 Stars
My Dell laptop has a built-in web cam, but the resolution is only 640 X 480, which is fairly standard. It's a bit blurry and the color is off. It fine for basic communication, but I wanted something better. A friend has a `Logitech Quick cam Communicate STX' and I was surprised at how clear and non-blurry it was. I like Logitech, but wanted something a little sleeker that would just fit on my screen. The Pro 9000 is the answer and its easily rests on top of your screen or on its own stand.
Instead of the typical 640 X 480, the High Definition Video resolution is 1600 X 1200 (pixels) which is very good quality and much clearer. That's 30 frames per second! Now when you move about quickly, there is some minor blur, but for just sitting and chatting, it's great. The settings are easy to work and you can adjust the color, hue, white balance, etc. to your liking or your room lighting (fluorescent lights mess with the colors). It even has a `focus' feature that will follow you as you move around. A red square in the settings focuses on your head and if you move your head down to your keyboard or from side to side, it actually follows you. There is also a cool zoom feature that will zoom in and out on your face automatically. The auto-focus is very clear and the lense is made from an established company called Carl Zeiss - I guess they've been making lenses, telescopes, etc. for decades.
For still shots, the camera takes photos as high as 8.0 megapixels (like my camera). There are also a lot of extras that I don't use, like the avatars (shark, stick figure, etc.) that calibrate to your face. You can actually become a shark and it moves with your real movements. I think kids would like this. There are also filters to personalize your camera for viewing or for prints.
The best part is that it's easy to set up and use. Remember though, that the quality of the video transmission is only as good as the lesser of the two viewers. If you're talking to someone on a lower end laptop, the transmission quality is less. However, two of the same web cams will give you both the same quality. The extras are okay for kids, but it's the quality of the video that I was after. Plus the price is good.
P.S. I use 'SKYPE'.
Customer Review: A vast improvement over the laptop cam
Summary: 5 Stars
My laptop has a built-in camera, but since the laptop is across the room and connected to a flatscreen, I wanted a portable webcam that I could center above the TV for Skype calls. When I first launched Skype, the video picture was dark, and way off center. It took me a minute to realize that I needed to select the camera I wanted to use, since the default was the laptop camera. I found the pulldown menu and selected the Logitech 9000. WOW! What a difference. I suddenly had a tv studio in my living room! The software allowed me to adjust for light, although the auto adjust feature worked fine. I could also zoom in, tilt and pan the image using the video control panel. Note that this camera does not have a PTZ motor and does not physically move. This is all done with the image by the software. If you are sitting close to the camera, those features would be more limited. The nice thing about this is that I can sit on the sofa across the room and zoom in for a better picture to my video callers. I even tilted up and zoomed in on the people in the kitchen with amazing clarity. I haven't had a chance to test the audio quality of the built-in microphone from across the room, so I don't know if I will get a room echo or clear sound. I have used the camera and mic on my office computer, up close, and it worked perfectly. In fact, the person I called commented on the sounds of me shuffling papers, drinking an ice tea, and typing on the keyboard, so the mic picks up everything.
In addition to being a great camera and microphone, the Logitech software comes with a number of fun animated avatars, (such as an alien, a cat, and a robot, etc.) you can use if you don't want your face to be on camera. The camera software will analyze your facial features and then impose them on the avatar so that it moves when you do. It's not perfect, but it is a funny effect when you talk, blink and tilt your head to make the animation move. Kids will love it. You can also use any number of supplied images in place of your face, or add your own. I dropped in the classic 1950's tv test pattern as a test and it works great. These gimmicks will be fun for a while, but as video calls become more typical in our household, I'm sure this quality web camera will become valuable asset.
Customer Review: impressive image quality, software is a little bloated
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Compared to my existing QuickCam for Notebooks, the Webcam Pro 9000 has much better optical performance. I can tell that the Webcam Pro 9000 is autofocusing, versus the fixed focus design of my cheaper webcam. The resolution and low light performance both seem excellent. It is the highest quality webcam I've ever used, image wise.
The Webcam Pro 9000 is a bit bulky. Its mounting system in particular is bulky and does not work very well for laptop screens. I recommend this camera for desktop systems where you'll appreciate a hefty mount that can grab on to your LCD monitor.
One of the new things about this webcam is the inclusion of the new Logitech Vid videoconferencing software. I went to install it on my laptop with a 1.73 G Pentium M processor and 1 GB of RAM and was told my system did not meet the hardware requirements. I installed it anyways, hoping to give it a try. Unfortunately, I was unable to convince any of my friends to download and install Vid so I could have someone to connect to. Many people are happy with Skype, but we would definitely welcome a video conferencing application which is more simple and dummy proof to use. With Skype, we are always messing with settings trying to get it to work on grandmas system thousands of miles away. Something that "just works" would be great.
Compared to my older QuickCam for Notebooks, the Logitech programs and drivers appear to have become much larger slower. I've noticed much longer load times and overall bloat in the utility programs. Stability seems ok though.
Pros:
- Image quality: very good. This is the reason to buy this webcam.
- Audio and low-light performance seem very good as well.
- A new video conferencing application to try out, Logitech Vid, included for free.
Cons:
- Bulky mounting system, which may be a pro for desktop machines.
- Software install is a bit bloated.
- Product not really suitable for laptops (IMHO).