Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX
Purchase price - 53.00$. Category - mid level. 14 February 2008 I have this camera for about 6 months, but got to test it for the site in February 2008. QuickCam Communicate STX is a nice middle level camera with integrated microphone, it has some nice image and sound improving technology from Logitech, like RightLight and RightSound. Must say that my brother also had bought this camera in Walmart for about 25$, and after using a Logitech QuickCam Express for about 6 months, the difference in image quality is huge. The camera can be as easily put on a desk or a CRT monitor as well as on a LCD monitor or laptop, but I have to say that on plane surfaces it's not that stable. The mounting system is covered with rubber for better holding, same mounting system Logitech is using at almost all it's top cameras. The web-camera doesn't rotates on left or right, but it can be turn on 360 degrees around, and about 25 degrees in front and back. Has an automatic focus, works very good, even in low light, it also have this feature called Face Tracking, you can see it in the camera properties, but I am not using it, because it has its weaknesses. Images made by QuickCam Communicate STX are very sharp in bright light or low light, very impressive. Even in low light, image remains sharp, but a little noisy. Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX is using a 330k or VGA (640x480) sensor, you can make still images at 1Mp (1280x960) with interpolation, but they are not so good. The lens (about 3mm in diameter) are located deep inside, pretty hard to get to them, to damage. There is another interesting feature of this camera that I especially enjoyed: the privacy shade, basically a plastic protective shield that you can pull down to cover the lens when you are not using the camera. The microphone works pretty well, you can hear the sounds even from a 5-6 meters. Package contains a CD with drivers and manuals, and the camera, packed in a nice carton box with plastic window.
Sample images: Pros: * Snapshot button * Automatic focus * Integrated microphone * Privacy shade * Good mounting system * Good in low light Cons: * Does not rotate on sides * A little noisy in low light Verdict: One of the best webcam in middle range. If you have a budget of about 50$ for a webcam, go for it.