[clug] webcams for Linux]

[Michael Bennett]

At LCA2004, the guy who presented about virtual reality discussed his 
testing of webcams. His view was to go for a firewire webcam as they 
all followed the firewire standard and worked under Linux. With the USB 
ones you need drivers specifically for each model/chipset. Firewire 
webcams are meant to be more expensive however most of them are meant 
to have a better build quality and optics.

Seeya
Michael.

On 25/02/2004, at 7:35 PM, Jepri wrote:

> Tony and Robyn Lewis wrote:
>
>> Mikal wrote:
>>
>>> I like OV511s. Open source driver in the kernel, 640x480, 30 fps,
>>> cheap. A  sample image from one is at
>>> http://www.stillhq.com/cgi-bin/webcam
>>>
>>> Mine is a Genius (but the insert logs a "Lifeview RoboCam"). There
>>> isn't  an identifying number on it or anything, but you could always
>>> plug it in  at the shop to test it. You can also find a list of OV511
>>> based web cams  at: http://alpha.dyndns.org/ov511/cameras.html
>>>
>>
>> Thanks Mikal, but I'm still struggling.  Spent the afternoon surfing 
>> Aus
>> online shops and ebay, and trying to match the models up.  Seems like 
>> the
>> new ones on the market are not yet known to work with Linux.  Can you
>> recommend a shop in particular?
>>
>> And how cheap is cheap?  My current best bet is a Creative WebCam PRO 
>> for
>> about $106.  More than I wanted to pay, but might be worth it, if the
>> quality is good.
>>
>
> Tony, or Robin, or both:
>
> Optics is still one area where you get better gear the more you pay.  
> There is a certain cost to machining parts to a certain quality.
>
> The best I can recommend is that you head over to 
> http://www.dansdata.com and check out what he has to say about cheap 
> cameras.  His articles won't help you find a linux-compatible camera 
> but they will prepare you for the disappointment of slapping down $100 
> and discovering that all your photos look like they were taken at the 
> "Wonky mirror arcade" carnival sideshow.
>
>
>
>