Buying a webcam

[Munty]

Ok so I've finally decided that enough is enough with regards to the crappy quality images I'm currently able to upload... The webcam is awful but at least it's quick to take pictures so I tend to use that a lot more than our oooold 5Megapixel digicamera which takes several seconds longer to take a picture than my arm wants to stay still.

This has led to hundreds of ruined pictures of our son growing up (because let's be honest noone can keep a child still for more than 2 seconds under any circumstances) and absolutely abysmal quality images that I've been forced to use for every thread I've uploaded recently, here and on other sites...

Now much as I'd love a new digital camera with anti-blur and face recognition and whatever other crazy things they have these days to help me include both feet AND heads in the same shot, I have less than no money...

So I though a half decent webcam would be ok for now as it'll work for most of what I'm currently uploading (Mammoth tank build, X-Com laptop, etc) But having never had to actually buy a webcam before I've become instantly baffled by everyone in the world being complete liars...

So I come to you guys for a little help to separate the fact from the fiction. I haven't looked on any 'proper' websites yet as my first stop is and always has been eBay. This hasn't worked out so well though as the first result for a 'webcam' search was a 12megapixel camera whose description listed it as 'less than 1.3megapixels' and image showed the same crappy camera that I already have...

Now it might just be me but that says to me this guy is full of BS... The more I searched though the more outrageous the claims become. I've now found 30megapixel webcams for less than £5 and surprise surprise they all look the same...

Now I don't know if there's a possibility that there's a big company out there using one shell for their webcams and sticking different tech inside but the fact that they all (like mine) say 'magapixel' on the front instead of actually stating any number of pixels, suggest to me that that's not the case...

It doesn't end with the one's that look like mine either with a 12megapixel webcam for sale at a BIN of £1... Yeah ok, of course it is... What is wrong with these sellers? How are there so many people getting away with this stuff? Is there some sort of loophole in the megapixel terminology these days because I always thought it was pretty much a textbook term...

Anyway my main question is basically wtf at the above but my secondary ask is where should I look for a bargain bin camera? Digi or web doesn't matter but it's got to be at least 5+megapixels (I mean come on phones have better than that now!) and it has to be as cheap as possible.

If you aren't sure of my issues with the current hardware I have, click one of the links in my sig and take a look at the awful quality of those images. You'll see why I want a new one!

Cheers guys, any advice appreciated!

[Beta-brain]

Not having a flash to freeze the image and the users movements is the main problem with your photos even a low pix camera like my ancient Olympus is good enough for forum posting quality pics as long as I use the flash to freeze the image and my movements and the flash also reduces a lot of the yellow in shots caused by tungsten lighting, a flash will also freeze most infants even in full tantrum mode as well :D

I know nothing about webcams and I understand the budget you have but webcams don't have flashes do they? If your not actually using the webcam for live work even a webcam with loads of mega pixels won't freeze a shot or compensate for movement when taking the shot only a flash will really do that.

It would be a waste of money to buy a high pix webcam that still takes bad shots, you really need a flash, I bought my old used Olympus from ebay for £12 with the attitude that if it last 12 months for the price it's OK but it has lasted for 3 years so far :crossed:

[Munty]

Really, the flash makes that big a difference? Honestly I didn't think it had any other purpose than to light stuff up! That said, I just tried taking a picture with our digi of the same thing 4 times, once with no flash and once with each of the other modes. The three where I used the flash were just as undefined as the one without it but in addition they were practically all white. Way too bright to even show the same amount of detail as the first shot let alone anything more...

I'm trying to figure out what make this is and I don't see any recognisable names on it so maybe that's part of the problem, I know we've had it a pretty long time at any rate. Says on the front it's a Premier DS-5057 if that means anything to you, certainly doesn't to me. Either way it doesn't come close to delivering on the promise of 5 mega pixels due to the amount of time it takes to capture an image. I get 3 flashesby the time it actually does the job!

We have birthdays coming up for both myself and the significant other (and thankfully her Dad's been so crap for the last 20 years of her life he feels it necessary to throw expensive gifts at her at every opportunity!) so maybe it's time to ask for a slightly more up to date digi camera... Still it'll have to be mid range at the very best. If anyone knows what's out there some advice would be great ;)

[Twigsoffury]

you can pick up the fuijifilm A805 (same camera i have) for as little as 30$ used.


Hows this for "dark" picture quality?


http://i51.tinypic.com/242zww2.jpg

(taken through my 1600mm dobsonian telescope)

http://i52.tinypic.com/97lg5d.jpg

heres a random price

http://www.pawnmart.com/?itemid=154618888477

you'll pay out the Wazzo for it new though

http://www.pacificgeek.com/product.asp?c=222&s=965&ID=864188&P=F

[Munty]

Nice pics, thanks Twigs! I'd certainly prefer a $40 pricetag to a $200 so there's a lot to be said for used goods it seems :D I'm working on some really tiny bits of detailing right now that I'd like to be able to get some good shots of so I really would like to get hold of something soon but sadly I need money first so may be a little longer yet ;)

[Twigsoffury]

Nice pics, thanks Twigs! I'd certainly prefer a $40 pricetag to a $200 so there's a lot to be said for used goods it seems :D I'm working on some really tiny bits of detailing right now that I'd like to be able to get some good shots of so I really would like to get hold of something soon but sadly I need money first so may be a little longer yet ;)

check your local pawn shops, they usually offer a good deal on digital cameras, plus you get to fiddle with them in store.

[Munty]

I have no idea where my local equivalent would be to be honest... PAwn shops are more of an American thing but they don't really exist on this side of the pond (at least not in the same sense) I've honestly never thought about it before but I'm not sure what our equivalent is... There must be some kind of similar establishment over here but I can't for the life of me think what it would be :s

[patrica02]

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[Twigsoffury]

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Notified as spam.

:down:

[Beta-brain]

Really, the flash makes that big a difference? Honestly I didn't think it had any other purpose than to light stuff up! That said, I just tried taking a picture with our digi of the same thing 4 times, once with no flash and once with each of the other modes. The three where I used the flash were just as undefined as the one without it but in addition they were practically all white. Way too bright to even show the same amount of detail as the first shot let alone anything more...


The more light available the faster the shutter speed can be so less chance of camera shake and blurry shots, taking photos without the flash requires the shutter to be open longer to take in enough light so more chance of camera shake and blur.

Using the flash when shooting objects up close can be trial and error and sometimes I take a few shots at different angles to get one that's OK an old trick to soften/diffuse the flash is to put some tissue paper over it, as you say some shots can suffer from flash white out and reflective objects can also be a pain but if the camera has a zoom lens you can stand farther away from the object and zoom in on it to shoot it so reducing the intensity of the flash hitting it, (I do that for many shots especially reflective objects) nearly every shot I take is also cropped and scaled to the required size using Gimp which is free, so as long as the object is in frame and clear it doesn't matter ;)

[Twigsoffury]

oh yea, mega pixel just defines the size of the photo taken. like 4MP is 1600x1200.

The CCD is the important part. my moms Cannon is a 5MP but takes A HELL OF A LOT better picture then my fujifilm does (which is a 8.3mp)

http://www.circuitstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Charge-coupled-Device-CCD.jpg

same goes for webcams. its the quality of the CCD you want to pay attention to. and ISO speed basically means how long the apature stays open to get the image. You'll want a high ISO speed if your taking flashless pictures in dim lighting.


http://www.great-landscape-photography.com/iso-speed.html

So your camera you complain takes forever to take a picture, probably has a hellaciously low ISO speed. (you can probably fumble around in the digi cameras menu and manually set the ISO speed)

My fuji does ISO 1200 speeds. but my moms cannon can do ISO 1600.

the moon photos are in ISO-800 since well the moon puts out a rediculous amount of light through the telescope. but i need ISO-1200 for half moons or stars/planets and such.



I'm no pro photographer though.