[Techtalk] Webcam suggestions?

[Andrea Schweer]

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Hi,

Tiera wrote:
> I'm thinking about purchasing a webcamera. I've looked at the
> "Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Deluxe". Has anyone used that one in
> Linux? How does it work?
> 
> Any other suggestions for other webcameras?

Unfortunately, webcams seem to be a particularly nasty topic because
manufacturers constantly change the actual hardware. So two webcams
which look identical and have the same model name can contain different
hardware -- and one can work flawlessly under Linux while the other
doesn't work at all. The only really safe way (if this works with the
customer protection laws in your country) seems to be this: buy the
model you'd like to use; try it out; if it doesn't work, return it. Here
in Germany, most shops allow you to return this kind of goods for up to
two weeks after purchase without any fees.

I've bought a webcam a while ago, and I had to return 3 models before
finding one that worked :(

My suggestion is to look at this list of USB devices and their support
status in Linux: http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/ to rule out those
models that are known to not work at all. Some distributions also have
databases of supported hardware; for example, Ubuntu's is at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsMultimediaWebCameras

If a webcam doesn't work directly when you plug it in (gnomemeeting or
camorama are good apps for testing), use lsusb to find out the
product/vendor id and google for that. I ended up with the Logitech
QuickCam Express Plus -- due to a bug in Ubuntu, I had to recompile the
kernel module, but now it works without any problems.

I hope this helps,

Andrea
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