Creative Labs VF0280 Live! Cam Optia AF 2.0 MP Web Cam with Auto Focus

I have an Apple MacPro system running MacOS X 10.4, and I wanted a setup that allows me to use Skype with video and sound. Initially, I thought I need to get a video camera, a microphone and speakers separately.Since the Optia AF has not only a video camera, but also a built-in microphone, I decided to give it a try. I was more than impressed with the ease of use of setting it up: just plug it in a USB port, start up Skype, tell it to use the USB video camera and the USB audio device and everything works perfectly. No need to install any software, it worked out-of-the-box. The camera works great with iChat and PhotoBooth applications too, again without installing additional software.Autofocus is fairly fast in a well lit room, and if you don't move suddenly in front of the camera. As you start moving the camera tends to hunt the focus a little bit, but that's something I'd expect from such cameras.Colors are fairly saturated and the image has good contrast. I like the colors a lot better than those generated by the tiny cameras embedded within the latest generation of iBooks, when used in similar light conditions. The Optia AF is also much better in low light than those cameras, with less grain and better colors.Sound quality is very good. I don't get any echoes even with the computer' speaker close to the camera's microphone. The sound on the other side is natural, without artifacts. The camera's built-in microphone is great, since my desk space is not cluttered with one more thing I need to worry about (wires, additional USB port or line-in, etc).The camera fits very well on an Apple Cinema display, and could be easily oriented to frame you. When the camera is in use, a blue light turns on to indicate it. The camera can be rotated in a position that prevents it from turning on, thus providing privacy when you need it.The only feature missing is the ability to zoom in or out manually, but I don't think it's crucial. The camera's focal length is chosen very well for Skype-type applications (it appears to be the 35mm equivalent of 35mm cameras).I don't have experience setting this up on Windows, but if you're on Mac, I'd highly recommend this camera.

I've had this cam for about a week now, and at first I had a few troubles with Vista, this was because I used the disk that came with it. My best advice to you is to download all the current software and drivers from Creative first, and follow the instructions. At this time the only complaint I have about this item is when I use it with Vista, the image may appear to be to dark when the cam is activated (this is easily corrected by changing Hz from 60 to 50 and back to 60 in advanced settings, then clicking apply).I spoke with several Creative customer reps and currently there is no support for Mac OSX, but don't let this hinder your purchase of this item, it will work right out of the box, almost as well as it does in Vista 64-bit and 32-bit, it just lacks the software. The software available to Windows users is great, I especially like the facial recognition logon, trust me you will be impressed. I only had to have the users log on normally, and do the setup, from that point on, users only had to look at the camera to log on, no more passwords.I only had regrets about my purchase when I used the included software, other than that it was an excellent purchase. Just remember to download the current software for Windows, and tweak the camera to your liking. It works great with my instant messengers like Yahoo! and MSN, but only one application can have access to the cam at anytime. Macs don't require any software to work.Good Hunting!

The idea is great, the reality is that you may never get to see how good (or bad) this webcam is.This is the most difficult software package i have ever had to deal with. After a 45 minute load time, you have 95% chance of getting a bad install and nothing is going to work. Install, uninstall, reinstall, nothing will help you. 12 hours later and the same error messages, over and over. To add interest, it destroyed the drivers for my scanner and printer. Oh joy, hope i can get those working again.If you do get the install to work, you will be disappointed by the weak clip, which is intended to hold the cam in place atop your computer. It does, but just barely. Don't move your screen, or you will have a meeting of keyboard and cam.As usual they have taken a great idea, cool looking design (it really is cool looking), and paired it with a POS software.If you buy this, good luck and may the force be with you, you'll need it.

My reasons for selecting this camera were because of the time lapse and motion detection features. I wasn't particularly interested in using it as a web cam. On the third or fourth try I finally got the time lapse mode to perform but could not see any way to change the interval from the default period of 30 seconds. My major complaint with this product is the total lack of an instruction manual with any useful information content at all. So you are stuck trying to figure it out by trial and error. Apparently the manufacturers approach is "you bought it, you figure it out". I plan to return it for a refund.

The camera itself isn't too bad but the supplied software has "issues". If I am doing a Skype video call and start playing with the audio FX, sooner or later my system will freeze and have to be powered cycled.Also the video FX background replacement just doesn't work very well. I really wanted that.The animated avitars are pretty lame and unresponsive. The marketing information makes it all look quite a bit better than the reality of the product, at least at the current software levels.