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Consumer Webcams With High-Quality Sensors?

Posted by timothy on from the sounds-like-a-mandate-from-the-masses dept.

xmas2003 writes "Since 2005, I've had a live webcam watching my grass grow — another is currently watching a bird nest on my front door — five babies! While I appreciate the 802.11g wireless and Pan/Tilt/Zoom (10x optical) of the five-year-old D-Link DCS-6620g, it has issues, especially image quality. I've investigated getting a new webcam, but except for high-end/security-related gear from companies such as Axis, there doesn't seem to be much improvement in the consumer space, as most offerings are just cheaper and USB-connected for tethered video conferencing, etc." So where, the reader wants to know, are the high-quality, reasonably affordable webcams? (Read on below.) "I have an 18 Megapixel Canon 7D DSLR that shoots gorgeous 1920x1080x30p hi-def video. While I don't expect that in a consumer webcam, their recently released T2i uses the same chip and sells for $800. And heck, point-n-shoots are a couple of hundred bucks, and now many cell phones have cameras built in, so there're plenty of low-power, speedy CPUs in small packages these days to handle the signal processing. So why hasn't someone taken a sensor with good image quality, downsized to around 1024x768, and put it in a PTZ webcam package with 802.11n wireless for around $500?" Even if it's not that exact combination, what are the best options going these days for high-resolution webcams?

8 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. that site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    can't be from 2005

    1. Re:that site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      It would seem to me that the webcam hadn't yet been invented when that site was made...

  2. I think I just found a time machine by Mabbo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think I just found a time machine to 1997.

  3. and what do you do for pan-tilt? by Chirs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The original poster is looking for a replacement for a camera that has pan/tilt/zoom controls.

    1. Re:and what do you do for pan-tilt? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No problem: attach the 200$ camcorder to an alt-azimuth telescope mount. for $195, a serial to USB adapter for $10 and a Wireless router or storage box that runs linux for $50-$100, and you've just fulfilled all the wishes of the op with some room left in the budget. To control the Pan and Tilt, you can install INDI server on the linux box or write your own (web?) application that emulates the handbox and move it either interactively at different speeds or move it directly to any horizontal and vertical angle you enter.

  4. Re:trendnet IP-TV252W and IP-TV512P by Eggplant62 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Does it provide video of enough quality that it would stand up in court as reliable evidence of the creeps who might break into my house again this summer? I'm shopping for a reliable camera rig & recorder for just that reason and I can't believe how timely this article is to me.

  5. Re:Microsoft LifeCam Cinema by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Hope you're consistent and eat no food from Monsanto or Kellogg, or don't drive a car from a big manufacturer and so on.

    What's the point?

  6. Resolution != Quality by Guysmiley777 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The best sensor in the world won't do jack squat for you if you have crap-tastic optics. For pro-am digital photography the lenses are the limiting factor these days, the sensors are more than good enough. And it's not likely you're going to find a webcam with decent glass, sorry. For that form factor (teeny tiny camera) you're not going to get good quality or low light performance.

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    Coding with assembly is like playing with Legos. Coding an application in assembly is like building a car with Legos.