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Logitech's HD Pro Webcam C910 now ready for Photo Booth, iChat and FaceTime

by Steven Sande Jan 4th 2011 at 3:10PM

Although Apple includes an iSight or FaceTime webcam in almost every Mac, the low resolution (640 x 480 pixels for most machines, 1280 x 960 resampled to 640 x 480 for new MacBook Pros) of the cameras has lagged behind the webcams available from other computer manufacturers. Logitech markets a large number of HD webcams, but few of them have been compatible with Mac OS X. Until now, that is.

Logitech has announced a software update for the HD Pro Webcam C910, which is a 1080p-capable HD camera. Although the APIs used for Mac apps such as Photo Booth, iChat and FaceTime currently support only 640 x 480 streaming regardless of the camera used, the new Logitech software provides video capture in both 720p and 1080p. The software is also capable of capturing still photos at 10-megapixel resolution, and includes Logitech's proprietary Vid HD video calling capability.

The software allows integration with iPhoto and iMovie, and enables the C910 webcam to be used with Skype, Yahoo! Messenger and Gmail Voice and Video Chat. The HD Pro Webcam C910 has a suggested retail price of US$100 and is available at online retailers for around $20 less. If you already own one of these webcams and just need the software, it's available for download from Logitech. The release notes for the Mac software say that it will be updated to support other Logitech webcams in the near future.



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Although Apple includes an iSight or FaceTime webcam in almost every Mac, the low resolution (640 x 480 pixels for most machines, 1280 x...
 

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Emilio

I actually just happened to buy this webcam about a week ago because a friend of mine said it worked on a mac and it does, without this software.

Photobooth and ichat already work with it. Though it is the 640x480. though I havent had issues i have heard about screen going black but is dark in a dark room is it brighter than my macbooks isight

I dont have iMovie so I don't know about that

With Skype it works even better. though not widescreen it does use a higher resolution (i dunno what skype is capable of) i connected to my macbook and in Skype video prefs you can clearly see a difference between when picking the camera iSight and Logitech Camera especially in a dark room

The software download from logitech is not a firmware update for the camera or a driver installed in OS X, it is just there own video calling software (seems much like skype but i havent used it) and video/picture capture software. Video quality is best when using this software

January 04 2011 at 10:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alva Elver

Wait, did they change the hardware or is this just a crappy software fix?

I thought the issue was that while most Logitech webcams 'worked' on a Mac, the image was often dark / underexposed largely because the exposure and autobalance was software controlled (and no software existed for the Mac).

This is the reason they created the QuickCam® Vision Pro for Mac, all the hardware control is hardware based.

Is this a software fix, or is the hardware truly Mac compatible?

January 04 2011 at 6:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael

I just plugged my Logitech C510, and it works just fine with Photobooth and Facetime, but is not recognized by iMovie. It's half the price of the C910, and close enough in terms of quality that few would notice.

January 04 2011 at 5:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott

$20? Where do you see this? If it was that cheap I would have bought it.

January 04 2011 at 4:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Scott's comment
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