What video camera should I buy for streaming live video for presentations? It needs to work as a webcam.

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dan | 3 years, 5 months ago

First, you want to find a camera with the 3CCD feature (also referred to as "three chip"). This will produce better colors and they also tend to work better in poor lighting conditions, which are typical of webcam scenarios. Second, you want to avoid any media other than MiniDV or internal hard drive. DO NOT use a camcorder that writes directly to DVD. These are junk. Finally, you should try to use FireWire but many new PCs can stream from USB as well (you just have to tell the PC that it is a "web cam", Windows seems to be pretty good at figuring this out now). I know for a fact that FireWire works on both Macs and PCs, but PCs don't always have a firewire port. This question isn't about connectivity, so I'll just stick to camera recommendations.

Looks like the Panasonic HDC-SD9 is a good match for you. Circuit City has it for $510

The Canon HV30 looks good too. It has even better low light performance, but it is not 3CCD (instead it has one larger sensor). It does have firewire and MiniDV, though.

source(s):
http://www.google.com/products?q=3ccd+camcorder&btnG=Search+Products

Looks like the Panasonic HDC-SD9 is a good match for you. Circuit City has it for $510

The Canon HV30 looks good too. It has even better low light performance, but it is not 3CCD (instead it has one larger sensor). It does have firewire and MiniDV, though.

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tyler_durdan | 3 years, 5 months ago

Check out www.aiptek.com . They were the originators of the PenCam but they have come a long way. Their video cameras are in the top 5 of sales right up there with Sony and the other big makers. Their new video cameras not only are video cameras but they can be used as a web cam. They are available in 3-8mps and HD. The best part is their video cameras are in the sub $300.00 range and average around $150.00. The other good thing is when your not using it for presentations it can be used for all kinds of other things. Here is the name of one of the cameras for a quick reference: Pocket DV5800 Black - 5 Mega Pixel Camera.

Also, make a call to their customer service about your needs, they are pretty helpful and could probably give you a more detailed answer. Their local office is in Irvine, California.

Another thing to consider is your bandwidth and you probably know this already. You can have the best video quality but if your bandwidth is slow even a low quality web cam will be jumpy.

Also, make a call to their customer service about your needs, they are pretty helpful and could probably give you a more detailed answer. Their local office is in Irvine, California.

Another thing to consider is your bandwidth and you probably know this already.  You can have the best video quality but if your bandwidth is slow even a low quality web cam will be jumpy.

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pinaypie | 3 years, 5 months ago

you should get a canon S5 IS . Awesome

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