Apple iSight Video Conferencing Webcam with Autofocus

Average customer rating: 4.5

I found a great money-saving substitute
Apple comes thru again
Apple ISight
Great camera, lousy software, no mount for iMac G4.
Very Good

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Apple iSight Video Conferencing Webcam with Autofocus

Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B0007KX4VU

Related Categories:

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PC Video Cameras

Video Capture Devices

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Product Description

<b>Includes: 4 mounts: magnetic for anodized aluminum Apple Cinema displays, Powerbook and iBook, flat-panel iMac, eMac and desktop, 2 FireWire cable adapters, 1 FireWire 6-6 pin 1.8m cable, and carrying case.</b> Apple iSight - High-quality video conferencing technology has gone from the board room to your living room! This iSight webcam delivers an impressive 640x480 resolution at up to 30 frames per second. It also includes a built-in dual-element microphone for crystal clear audio. Together, they make talking over the Internet as natural as a face-to-face conversation! Durable aluminum alloy frame Lightweight - 2.3 ounces

Customer Reviews:

I found a great money-saving substitute.......2007-04-28

This is the only other FireWire base camera for the Mac or PC. Great Picture and comes with removable stand.

FIRE-I DIG CAM F/HOME/OFFICE MONITOR/2X FIREWIRE 6PIN/30FPS MAC ( 2035 )

Apple comes thru again.......2007-01-25

Video quality is excellent. The firewire connection and dsl or broadband provides some of the fastest responses in video casting with very, very little jerkyness. We recently had a video conference with our son and daughter-in-law from the birthing room in California after the birth of our granddaughter. Both of us were using PowerMacs and isight webcams. The video quality was great and I was able to take good digital photos of the baby directly from the screen. It was a great experience.

The connection was simple with ichat and AIM. I've also used it with gmail and skype with excellent results. I've used other video cameras of various quality, but the isight lens, auto focus, contrast and other features are the best I've seen. Firewire solves a lot of problems for both quality and data transmission/reception. It's very close to a real time, in the room experience.

I thought the cost was a little steep when I bought this unit a year ago, but the product is top quality and well worth the price.

Apple ISight.......2006-11-10

This is great for my son and his girlfriend - he's in Michigan at college and she's in Iowa at college. They can talk to each other all the time. Not quite as great as being together, but it does the job!

Great camera, lousy software, no mount for iMac G4........2006-11-05

I purchased two iSights so that I can videoconference with my mom and sister. The cameras work fine (but do get very hot if you keep them on for a long time). The only problem I still have is with the software (iChat). It works videoconferencing with my mom, but does not work videoconferencing with my sister. All of us use Macs. I have researched extensively in the apple support site, without success... changed firewall settings, router settings... none worked. The only way for me to videoconference with my sister is via Skype, which has poorer image quality.

The camera also lacks a mount for the iMac G4, so it has to sit beside the computer screen (not on top of the screen, where it is possible to look in the face of who you are speaking to).

Very Good.......2006-08-13

The Apple iSight is a very expensive webcam, but if you compare the quality of image, ease of use, and the elegance and versatility of the design to its competition (the magnetic mount is wonderful) I have to give a guarded thumbs up to the iSight. It is the superior product, but the price is high, and its not problem free:

1) It gets very hot, very quickly, and stays that way as long as you're using it (this has not caused any problems though.)

2) The microphone in my Apple iMac G5 Desktop with 17" M9843LL/A (1.8 GHz PowerPC G5, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) is clearer than the iSight's: People I connect to always ask me to change the iSight mic back to the built in iMac mic. Volume is the same.

( ADDENDUM March 23, 2007: The sound situation recently reversed and people began to say that my iSight's mic was much better, so I don't know WHAT to tell you about that one. I'm going to try and do some kind of test to clarify exactly what is going on but until then at least you know the camera gives you an option.)

The image is by far the best that I've seen of any webcam. I didn't experience the soft edges reported by a prior reviewer, but did get serious pixelation during some connections; however, that is more likely a problem of data transmission than a camera or software defect (I've also had problems connecting to PC/Logitech users via AIM, but I'm hesitant to blame that on the iSight, because iSight to iSight connections are very good.)

The software (which downloads from Apple when you install the iSight) seems to be glitch free, and automatically places the image right under the iSight, so you appear to be looking into the camera when you are looking at person you are speaking to.

Ease of use is typically Mac: plug and play. Effortless. The fact that its a FireWire connection leaves me with one more USB slot (which I needed) so I'm happy about that too.

A good product, but its expensive and there is some room for improvement (which is not likely to happen now that iSights are included in new Mac computers.) I would buy it again.

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