Webcam - General Discussion

[#1]

I've just gotten off the phone with Logitech. I have a Mac Pro and a QuickCam 9000. The picture is superb but I'm limited to 5 FPS by the native Mac OS generic UVC drivers. My research about the QuickCam Vision Pro for Mac shows that it is basically a rebranded QC 9000 and ships with no drivers. How, I wondered could I get up to 30 FPS as advertised if I'm still limited to the Mac UVC drivers?

The answer is simple. Logitech has a licensing agreement to create drivers for one camera for use with Mac. The QuickCam Vision Pro is it. The drivers as of today (July 16) are not included in the retail package at present because they are not quite complete. When they are finished, at the end of this month or the beginning of August, they will be made available for download from the Logitech site.

I hope this might answer some questions others might have.

[#2]

Thanks for this update. It is VERY helpful. I seen a lot of conflicting information on the web regarding the differences between the Quickcam Pro 9000 and the Vision Pro. Logitech says it is the same hardware so many Mac users are recommending that one should just purchase the 9000 since it costs $50 less.

Can you clarify your statement regarding Logitech's intentions around drivers? Are the drivers they are planning to release at the end of July/early August intended to work with BOTH the 9000 AND the Vision Pro, or just the Vision Pro? If it is the same hardware then how can they prevent 9000 owners from using these new drivers? I ask mostly because, in addition to saving money, I'd like to have the Windows drivers as well so I can use the 9000 with both my Windows Bootcamp partition and OS X. It seems that if I buy the Vision Pro then I would only have the Mac side when the drivers come out.

Any help you could provide would be appreciated. I know there are MANY others who have these same questions and Logitech support just points you to the Everything Mac forum post. But that doesn't help much in making these decisions. For example, there is NOTHING in the support forums that mention that Logitech will have native OS drivers for the Vision Pro. If they would JUST mention that they would end up selling a lot more webcams to Mac users.

Thanks,
-m

[#3]

Hi mwiggles,

My understanding was that the license from Apple was to provide drivers for 1 camera. That would be the Vision Pro for Mac. I was not told specifically but I understood that those drivers were camera specific and to me that implied that they would not work with the QuickCam 9000.

I think your best bet would be to follow the path I took and call them to explain your exact needs and see what the response is. Here's the number I used... 1 800-231-7717 It is listed under the contacts as Consumer Sales and the representative was completely conversant with the issue about which I asked which was an increase in FPS for the Mac. There's no substitute for knowledge from the source!

Good Luck! There has been lots of confusion about this issue. I hope you find a solution for your needs.

[#4]

Welcome to the Logitech Community Webcam Forum Welles and mwiggles!

I have asked Community Moderator pedroc to confirm the information that Welles has posted to the forum.


In the meantime, I request that everyone please try to keep the speculation to a minimum until this information can be confirmed.


Thanks.

Message Edited by Pegasus on 07-18-2008 04:39 PM

[#5]

As a side comment, I recently found out that the QuickCam® Vision Pro is not exactly the same as the QuickCam® Pro 9000.
 

mrubli sez in this QuickCam® Team Forums thread -

Both, the QuickCam Vision Pro and the QuickCam Pro 9000, are UVC compliant but the former one has some advantages since e.g. the auto-focus algorithm is in the hardware (the QuickCam Pro 9000 needs the Windows driver for that).

Please also reference the following press release (dated June 24, 2008).

Logitech Unveils First Mac-Compatible Webcam with Premium Autofocus Technology, Carl Zeiss Optics

Thanks.

Edit - Added Official Press Release information.

Message Edited by KachiWachi on 07-16-2008 10:11 PM

[#6]

Oho! Thanks KachiWachi! My concern when I started my inquiry today was based on partial and misleading information on the web which made me second guess my recent order (not yet delivered) of a Vision Pro. I'm increasingly reassured that my decision was a good one.

[#7]

Welles,

The Quickcam Vision Pro and the Quickcam pro 9000 may look similar on the outside but are very different on the inside.

The Quickcam Pro 9000 has Auto Focus and Rightlight Technology feature but this is all done using the Quickcam software. Now, the Quickcam Vision Pro also has Auto focus and Rightlight technology too but this is all done within the camera hardware- no software is being used.

Both camera use UVC drivers basically these drivers are being provided by the Mac OS.

The camera does not come with any drivers as Logitech currently does not make any drivers for the Mac OS.

I hope this answers your question.

Regards,

Pedroc

Message Edited by pedroc on 07-16-2008 07:08 PM

[#8]

Thank you Pedroc,

It does answer some of my questions for sure except that of Frame Rate. If the drivers are the UVC built into the Mac OS and the 9000 was limited to 5 FPS, how does the Quickcam Vision Pro accomplish 30 FPS (part of the advertising announces up to 30 FPS)?

I do appreciate you help in trying to alleviate the confusion surrounding the new cam for Mac. It is important for all of us who have Mac Pros as this will be the best web cam available for use with our machines.

[#9]

Welles,

The camera is capable of doing up to 30fps when doing video chatting but it will depend on the chatting application you decide to use.  Please visit the Skype website as it has some very good information you may want to read.

Regards,

Pedroc

[#10]

Thank you once again, Pedroc. I do appreciate your help. I have read the whole Skype site in the past but came away with an inconclusive understanding and ultimately picked the 9000 Pro as the compatibility chart listed it as UVC compliant. Maybe I should have gotten ecamm Network's iUSBCam. Well, I'll wait until my Quickcam Vision arrives in a couple of days and see how it works with iChat, PhotoBooth and so forth.

Cheers!
Welles