Microsoft LifeCam Cinema

I loved this camera. Really high quality back in the day. Had so much fun recording dumb videos.

THIS IS MY first Microsoft Web camera, coming from a long history of Logitech cams. My last cam was a Logitech 2 MP Portable Webcam C905 / QuickCam Pro for Notebooks, and before that the Quickcam 4000. I also had an archaic logitech camera back in the late 90's but they were ALL junk back then.IT IS VERY apparent that Microsoft had some good people working on this one. The camera is much smaller than I was expecting. Viewed head on, the cylindrical body is just a hair larger in diameter than a quarter. It is just over two inches in length, has a minimalist look with only a non-obtrusive flexi-stand, a mic on top, and a Windows Live 'call' button on top. the body is aluminum.THE MOST IMPORTANT part of any camera, is the lens. This is the first web camera I have seen with a light trap surrounding the lens. This staircase-looking feature has the lens recessed into the camera a bit, and helps absorb extraneous light. While Microsoft doesn't claim 'carl-zeiss' optics like Logitech, It is in my opinion that it is in fact a superior grade lens. There is also a protective glass on the front, keeping dirt and fingers away from the lens.THE IMAGE QUALITY of this camera is simply superb. The auto-focus is quick and smart, the "true-color + clear frame" technology truly makes a difference in the quality of video when making Skype calls. It is pretty good in low light, but I have myself lit pretty good with front lights, and an over the shoulder spot light that gives my shoulders contrast and puts a shine on my hair. The color is accurate. My only complaint is to manually manipulate the camera's settings, the "true-color + clear frame" technology must be turned off. I did experience a maddening auto-focus issue when first using it, but that was resolved by a firmware update (see below).THE LIFECAM SOFTWARE works just fine, but it lacks some of the bells and whistles of Logitech's latest software, like direct uploading to youtube. There are plenty of 'facial feature' overlays that in my opinion work better than the Logitechs. The application window cannot be custom re-sized, you have the default window size and that's it. Whatever size it opens as on your screen is what you are stuck with. it does resize when you change the resolution. It does not allow you to change the microphone away from the built-in mic. Forget about using your own mic when recording with the LifeCam software or making a video call in Skype. That is not a big deal because the built-in mic is fine; I found the sound quality to be perfectly fine for my youtubing and skyping.RESOURCE HEAVY. I am not sure if this is the case with other 720p HD web cams, but live processing of the video coming off the camera in 1280x720 takes 30% of my processor just to have the video idling there, and 75% of my processor to record in 720p HD. I have a Core 2 Duo E8400 (3GHz). Your machine needs to be kinda gutsy in the processor department. They are not kidding when they recommend a dual core 3GHz.NOTE about VIDEO CALLS and RESOLUTION. Most video calling services (like Skype) limit the resolution to somewhere around 640x480. You won't be making HD video calls to Grandma using a free video calling service and typical residential broadband internet. The upload bandwidth required for HD video is phenomenal.FIRMWARE UPDATE: Microsoft has released a firmware update for the LifeCam cinema, fixing a few issues including the finicky auto-focus. After the update the auto-focus is tamed and works like it should.[...]MY APPLE MAC friends are insanely jealous at my webcamming prowess with the LifeCam Cinema. Built-in web cams are convenient and minuscule, but they can't compare to something like this. I'm not sure about its UVC compatibility, but Microsoft would be market smart to port it to Mac and market this to the Apple crowd. Even the most dedicated Apple user would be hard pressed to refuse this Microsoft product.I should add a video review too, but not at this time.

I had a problem installing the software. I don't like to install software if I don't have to and I often use a spare computer for testing purposes. This camera came with a notice telling me to install the software BEFORE I first plug in the camera. I did this on my spare computer and it worked fine. Then on my main computer I plugged in the camera first. The camera works fine without any software but the included software is nice so I then tried to install it. It wouldn't let me, telling me "Setup cannot continue because the downloaded file was not digitally signed by Microsoft. Please try again later." So I downloaded a version of the LifeCam software from Microsoft's web site and was able to install that. Later I had problems with the sound synchronizing with the picture. To fix it I had to uninstall the software and go into the device manager and remove the camera drivers (that get installed when you just plug in the camera). Then I installed the software first, then the camera. Now the sound synchronization problem is fixed. I can't say for certain that any of these problems were due to plugging in the camera before the software. Maybe they tell you that you have to install the software first because they are afraid you will never install the software when you figure out you don't need it.The LifeCam software allows you to make a video and save it as a .wmv file. This is easier than using a video camcorder because you can instantly play back your recording, there is no need to first transfer the file to your computer. It was with this feature that I had the sound synchronizing problem. My computer is a 3 GHz quad core so computer speed is not an issue. When I was searching for a solution to the sound synchronizing problem I found that you cannot record in the higher resolution modes if your computer is not fast.Overall I am very happy with the camera. I use it mostly for Skype. The first thing that happened is that the person I was Skyping complained that the image "jumped." What is happening is that the auto focus keeps trying to stay in focus and when it moves the focus the field of view changes slightly. I disable the auto focus for this reason, and also because it basically sucks. It spends most of the time being out of focus. You can even see that it sucks in the Microsoft demo video they made (on YouTube). One problem is that it won't remember that I don't want auto focus. I have to disable it every time I reboot my computer.The picture quality can be very good with good lighting. The camera works well in low lighting (it is bright enough but the picture quality is not as nice). With good lighting you can tell that the lens quality is the limiting factor. A more expensive lens would improve the picture somewhat. Most people won't notice.There is a button on the camera. When you push the button it automatically brings up Microsoft's version of Skype (Windows Live Messenger). I don't have that installed. Once while using Skype I took the camera off of my monitor so I could point the camera around the room and I accidentally pushed the button and it caused me to be disconnected from Skype.The built in microphone works pretty good too.I have not been able to get more than 640x480 when using Skype. My Internet upload speed is around 1.2 Mbps which is the lower limit for 1280x720 on Skype. I have not Skyped with anyone with near this upload speed and it may be that both people need fast Internet. In the near future everyone will be Skyping with 1280x720 and this camera is up to the task - if you have enough cpu power.I am happy I picked this camera and do not have any regrets. Don't get it at BestBuy unless you are willing to pay 70% more.I would like to say "shame on you" to the marketing people who decided to make a "5x HD photo capture" mode. With this mode you can capture your 1280x720 picture and have it converted to 2880x1620. This accomplishes two things. It wastes space on your hard disk by making your files much bigger (without any benefit) and it makes it so the marketing people can advertise 5 Megapixel. You guys suck.