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Logitech QuickCam Fusion |
Logitech QuickCam Fusion,September 12, 2005, $99.99 Originally I was disappointed in this camera, but after removing it from my office, which has some really bad lighting conditions for webcams, I have changed my mind. The image is quite good when the lighting is of good quality and there are no back lights behind the subject. Bright daylight is no problem and I am now quite impressed with its color, sharpness and light handling capability. The specs claim the camera has a 1.3 mega pixel image sensor, but when running it with my ConquerCam software it will only register up to 704x576 which comes to 405,000 pixels. The included software allows for selecting a 1.3 mega pixel size which ends up at 1280x960. You can grab a 2304x1728 (4 mega pixel) image with interpolation (software enhancement), but the image is a bit disappointing. To use the included movie capture you have to have a current Indeo codec which, if you don't already have it, costs an additional $15, down loadable through Microsoft's website. (click on the more info link when you get the error) Otherwise, no video capture is possible without a 3rd party capture program. Trying to get the avatar video effects working has proven to be a real problem. At this point I have not been able to get the alignment process working which is necessary to get the avatars to function. The program keeps telling me it can't track my face. This alignment process shows a small window with the live camera image in it and a small red box which you are supposed to center your face in. The instructions say to make sure your eyes line up with the red dots, but I can't find any red dots in the window. The QuickCam Fusion's auto face tracking seems to work a bit better than the QuickCam Orbit. However, the Fusion seems to be constantly readjusting itself by zooming in and out. But, as soon as I move around a bit, it wakes up and comes back to me.
The camera's software adjustments are initially a bit confusing. There are 2 screens with brightness and contrast adjustments, one in the driver settings and one on the video settings screen. These seem to be tied together, but at times I can't get the ones in the driver window to do anything. The video settings are only available through the Logitech task bar tray icon, not through my Webcam program's video source settings like all the other controls. When I go through my webcam program is when the brightness and contrast controls don't seem to work and I have to open the video adjustment window though the taskbar icon. I'm finding I like the image better if I use the manual brightness and contrast settings rather than the automatic, decreasing the brightness slightly and raising contrast just a bit from where the automatic setting wants to place them. When everything is adjusted right and you have decent lighting, the image is great. My only disappointment is the fixed focus lens. At the higher resolutions this becomes a problem. I'm not really sure why Logitech decided to remove the lens focusing capability, but for smaller images it does make the camera easier to work with for the novice. The camera performs very well streaming with a 640x480 image, with smooth, non-jerky, 24 frame motion. It is quite suitable for full motion video capture on a computer that can keep up. The file sizes, however, can become quite large very quickly, so use caution. The available compression options I have on my computer were limited. I cut a 5 second 640x480 segment using VisionGS webcam software, which ended up a bit over 3.5 megs. Not something to send over an e-mail. The included headphone is basically a low end stereo set with a boom microphone. Not a bad device for online chatting, but not of suitable quality for listening to music or gaming. I would expect to pay about $10 at my local computer store for an equivalent set. Bottom line, I think the QuickCam Fusion is a new winner and, for the moment, will take over the place of the QuickCam Pro 4000 as best low light camera. The Fusion pushes to the top as best overall camera.
Product Specifications
Minimum System Requirements (PC)
Screen shots of camera configuration settings Advanced Source Settings Zoom Tracking Video Audio
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