Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam – Gray
Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam – Gray
Product Features
- High-fidelity microphone – For more natural, detailed audio
- ClearFrame Technology – for smooth, detailed video
- Auto Focus and Advanced high-precision glass lens optics
- 1080p HD widescreen sensor – for superior sharpness and 16:9 image quality
- TrueColor Technology – automatically delivers bright and colorful video, in virtually all lighting conditions
Product Description
The closest to being there. Experience the amazing clarity and detail of HD video. With brilliant color and crystal-clear audio, this webcam with a 1080p HD widescreen sensor and high-precision optics bring your far-away friends and family closer than ever before.
List Price: $ 99.95
Savings: 39.96
Your Price: [wpramaprice asin=”B0042X8NT6″]
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88 of 92 people found the following review helpful  Depends on what you want it for..., By This review is from: Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam - Gray (Personal Computers) Vine Customer Review of Free Product (What's this?) I'll start by saying that this is a very capable web camera. For standard web cam communication through services such as Skype or Yahoo, this camera will do everything you need it to and more. And the picture is great quality. As noted in some of the other reviews, there is more to be desired by the camera's low-light functionality. In low light, it tends to go into a full length focus at random intervals. So you'll have to wait a second or two for it to grab focus. Since this is not so much an issue if you have a light near by or in the background, keep one nearby. And the microphone is very worthy - clear, crisp sound. The camera certainly looks cool and is sturdy in structure - especially compared to some of the flimsy plastic competitors. I'm not a huge fan of the prop stand - it is not a clamp or stand. It is designed to just rest on top of an item of your choice, and also has a tripod bolt hole. It takes a bit of adjusting and it certainly won't hold onto the top of a laptop if you want to walk around. At the price, maybe they could have thrown in a nylon bolt, suction cup, or a true stand to make it more versatile. The software is very clean and organized, and simple to use. After a quick install, you are good to go. It even coordinates well with 3rd party apps such as Skype. You can take full advantage of the special effects (which are cool, but there could be more) and the different resolutions (low res to 720p). Full 1080p requires special software (not included) and is pretty resource intensive, so you'll have to have a pretty powerful system to keep up in regards to frame rates. 720 is crisp and smooth for me though. Lastly, the 3 year warranty is nice peace of mind. All in all, this is a great little camera, that may need to drop in price a bit before it finds a place in more homes, but I would recommend putting it into the side by side comparison for those looking for a high-quality web cam. 0 392 of 428 people found the following review helpful  For most users, better choices exist, By This review is from: Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam - Gray (Personal Computers) Vine Customer Review of Free Product (What's this?)
Customer Video Review Length:: 3:15 Mins I have been using a Microsoft Lifecam Cinema for several months now, with good results. The "Cinema" is quite similar to this "Studio" webcam, except that its highest resolution is 720P rather than the 1080P offered by the "Studio" webcam. First disappointment: the "Studio" webcam does not really provide 1080P video. A footnote on the box reads "1080P HD recording requires: commercial video software (not included); (...) Enclosed software supports 720P HD recording." In other words, you have to buy more software before you can capture 1080P video. I am unable to extract details of this software from the Microsoft support representatives. I must say, I find it rather puzzling that Microsoft did not include software that exploits the full resolution of their hardware. The "Studio" webcam has a problem with autofocus that is not present in the older "Cinema" webcam. It will hunt for the right focus, resulting in a hopelessly blurry appearance for about two seconds. Irritating. I have gone back to using my old "Studio" webcam. Because of the autofocus issue, it is a better product. I have attempted to attach a video clip which demonstrates some fun features of this webcam. Unfortunately, I was obliged to transcode this video to a lower resolution. I did this in order to get the video uploaded to Amazon.com. 0 76 of 80 people found the following review helpful  An Ambitious Webcam that Sadly Can't Focus, By YSC (NY) - See all my reviews This review is from: Microsoft LifeCam Studio 1080p HD Webcam - Gray (Personal Computers) Vine Customer Review of Free Product (What's this?) Let's get one thing out of the way: you probably can't use this at 1080P resolution with the software you currently have, unless you really go out of your way to prepare for this. The camera is capable, but the computer may not be able to process it fast enough. Moreover, MSN and Skype doesn't currently support HD resolution as high as these, and most of time you will just end up seeing VGA resolution on your chats. Those capability will come to be more widely available, but as of now you do need commercial software and expensive hardware to achieve full 1080p potential offered by this web camera. Pros: -It's very portable: much more portable than many other competitive HD cameras out there, particularly from industry leader like Logitech. The rubberized foot/mount is also much smaller than those from similar Logitech offerings. Some may claim it reduces stability, but I found it working rather well clamped on top of my LCD monitor or sitting on the desk without the much added weight and bulk of other "more stable" designs. -There's a tripod mount on the camera base. It seems like a minor point, but when you think about the capability of this camera, it's better than most of the DV cameras we had just a few years ago or even many of the digital cameras. There is in fact a good reason to consider using this little webcam as a studio camera, where the tripod mount can easily be appreciated. -Excellent image quality: the sensor of this webcam is clearly larger in size than most(and also claimed by the description without going into the specific size) as it performs very well in low light. Field resolution is also very evenly sharp across the field, excellent for a web camera. Now auto focus is another story (see cons), but in terms of low light sensitivity and general color saturation, this camera compares well with the best webcams out there, if not already the best. -wide angle coverage: its field of view is 71 degrees, or equivalent to a 24mm lens for a 35mm film camera. Wide angle on a webcam is very desirable and this one is not done at the sacrifice of image quality; and it is capable of focusing down to only 4". -Microphone is extremely sensitive and has a full range sound pick up. It can detect very minute sounds across the room. You can also hear the entire frequency spectrum like none of my other contemporary Logitech is capable of. However, it is not without faults (see cons). Cons: -Image sharpness: Not quite by the effects of Clearframe, which is what MS calls its image noise reduction technology, there's somehow a lack of sharpness. Don't get me wrong: the image is very saturated and clear, but when you put it next to a Logitech C910 for example, it is not difficult to see that image from C910 is sharper. Now that could very well be software sharpening effects from the Logitech, though *by comparison* the MS cam almost looks smeared. Some software control/adjustment would be nice and could potentially solve this. -The microphone--on the box description MS said that there is noise reduction. However, it is very easy to notice that the camera microphone picks up EVERYTHING. If there is really noise reduction applied, it surely didn't work at all. There is no software control that lets me adjust/switch noise reduction, a feature that would be sorely appreciated particularly if you are using this for video conference. -No 1080P recording capability with the enclose software--Granted, 1080P recording isn't quite ready for the masses and still require some expensive/powerful hardware, but to me it would make sense if the enclosed software should be ready to support it even if my hardware isn't. As of now the enclosed software only supports up to 720P recording, and in my experience it is more... |
