20Jan Logitech C930e webcam
The few times i’ve actually needed a webcam, i’ve ended up using my laptop. So the Logitech C930e is kind of a first for me. I own a lot of cameras, but a professional webcam was not one of them.
In my hunt for the C930e I wandered around the internet, looked at a few reviews and sort of perused the webcam market. I know that back in the early 2000’s Logitech was well known for their keyboards and low end webcams, but it was kind of a surprise to me that they still dominate the same market.
There are three basic versions of Logitech’s 900 series webcams, the 910, 920, and 930. These three cameras represent the “consumer” grade version, “advanced user”, and “business class” models. From what I’ve gathered, the major differences appear to be in the lens angle (78 degree versus 90 degree field of view), ability to “video call” at 720p versus 1080p, and the 1/4 20 threaded tripod mount.
There are less obvious differences like the UVC 1.5/SVC (H.264) compliant codec in the 930, consumer “fun” features in the 910 and 920 , auto white balance, and linux support. While those are probably important things to consider for some, the only thing that really swayed me over to the Logitech C930e was the 90 degree field of view and the 1/4 20 mount.
These webcams are pretty light and my monitor is very tall so the 1/4 mount seemed like a good idea. After all i don’t want the webcam up a few feet above, looking down at me like some kind of disapproving parental figure from the top of a 27 inch monitor. Having the 1/4 mount gives me the option of attaching a weight or small tripod stand to hold the thing in place at chest or eye level.
You’ll probably start seeing the Logitech C930e in action in a few more weeks as I move the podcast from audio only to video/audio on google hangouts. Should be interesting to see how well a $110 webcam actually works.
On a side note, if any of you guys have any tips or tricks to setting one of these up (ie settings and so on), let me know. I am new when it comes to webcams, so I’ll be learning as I go.
