Customer Reviews

IPEVO Point 2 View USB Camera

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Image quality is excellent.
I was surprised by it's depth of field.
The stand works extremely well. I use cameras like this for imaging small parts or damaged components on circuit boards.
The autofocus has some issues with macro shots but nothing really significant. If it really doesn't like the image scene you can put a piece of printed paper over your target, let it focus, and then turn off the autofocus.
Major complaint: no video capture software. The camera can source good video. The software provided has a live mode so it is processing live video but will not save it. They also don't recommend any third party software(Video conference stuff but no simple video capture). I just checked their website and they not only didn't respond about this issue but pulled my query. They appear to only have completely positive reviews. That is not surprising but means that one can't trust the reviews posted to give an accurate picture.
So it's a great little still camera that could of...

Greg

Got this for my classroom after seeing it used with an ipad. Setup is very easy and resolution was as good or better than the ELMO document readers used at school. Also highly recommended for teachers sharing specific book pages or excerpts, anchor writing work, and images from an individual book. And those beetles on a screen or smartboard!

I use this very light, small camera to project the image of my Apple iPod touch when I am doing presentations. It works much better than a $400 document camera I had been using.

I am a seventh grade history teacher and I use this camera every single day in class. My school does not supply teachers with Elmos or any other type of document camera but those versions are way too pricey to buy on my own. I bought this as an alternative and it works wonderfully! It's nice not to have to change back and forth through input types into the projector. The image is extremely clear and my students can read even 12pt fonts easily. The only thing it cannot do is show a full 8.5 X 11 document at once. You have to move the documetn up and down to show what you need a little bit at a time. I really find it is not a problem. This is a must-buy for teachers stuck still using overheads! No more marker all over your hands at the end of the day!

Fantastic product. I use it in my classroom with my eno board set-up. I was also able to use it as a webcam to Skype to other classroom (a bonus I didn't anticipate). Small and easily manipulated. Easy set-up on the computer and simple to learn. Clear picture. I did find it was best to switch off the auto focus b/c it constantly was adjusting itself due to movement in the classroom. I was able to quickly resolve the problem by setting the focus and then hitting the auto focus on the screen to get a clear image that doesn't continue to adjust. Beyond expectations!

I love, love, love this camera! I came across it completely by accident but what's funny is that I actually wasn't looking for a camera-- I was looking for a document projector for my classroom. Seeing as it was a fraction of the cost (document projectors can cost from the hundreds to thousands of dollars) I thought I'd check out the company site and youtube. After seeing all it could do I was hooked. I bought it on a Sunday night and received it on Tuesday morning. The product was super easy to set up and the results were amazing! The camera is easy to work, the picture it produces is crystal clear and the zoom feature is awesome. The camera is easily maneuverable and can also be handheld or clipped onto a computer (or other things). Not only does it take great pictures, but print shows up crystal clear as well, so if you have a projection screen hooked up to your computer or a Smartboard you can definitely use it as a document projector. I was hoping for "manageable" but what I got was so much more.

Like most others who have reviewed the P2V, I ended up with one of these as an alternative to very expensive document cameras. While workable for that purpose, and seemingly the only affordable / premade "webcam on a stick" in this surprising market void, it's not quite an ideal solution as it stands.

The auto-focus works decently (when triggered, anyway), and image / edge clarity is respectable and usable, just about as good as any higher-priced doc cam I've used. However, the images projected are dark and grainy under most room lighting scenarios-- just barely legible in many cases, particularly since the lights in my classroom have to be off up front for the projector to be visible. Most doc cams have some kind of lighting for this reason.

A single switchable / dimmable white LED built into the camera body probably could have solved this problem without adding any meaningful strain to the USB power supply. I really shouldn't have to bring an LED flashlight along for the ride, especially since getting the Ipevo to project a straight image off a piece of paper already requires more fussing and finagling than I'd like.

Also, considering this is meant to be a "transient camera" rather than a bolted-down permanent fixture in a classroom, the design is very poor for portability. There is no protection of any kind provided for the lens. The camera arm *could* fold fully into itself, but it does not. The base could / should have also had a molded indent to lock the top of the camera in place for protection during transport; it does not. The USB cable is hardwired into the camera, meaning you'll either need to do some very delicate disassembly / soldering or just buy a new one if it ever breaks from constant toting around; there should be a micro-USB jack in its place, but there isn't.

So instead of a self-contained, self-protective fold-up package that fits nicely and safely into my laptop bag-- or *any* bag, really-- I am having to hand-carry this small but incredibly awkward desk-lamp-like thing with a long USB tail, back and forth from office to classroom to office in addition to my laptop, books and marker collection, trying like crazy not to catch any part of the apparatus on every doorway and passer-by that I meet along my path. And no, Ipevo, I'm not dropping $40 for the special case that mitigates your inexplicable design flaws.

A more minor issue - the P2V software has to be set to mirror horizontally and vertically if you want the camera along the top edge of the document. It should be set this way by default. Anyone using a doc cam is probably going to want to have the camera out of their way so they can write on whatever they're projecting, right side up. I have other colleagues who hadn't figured out the "mirroring trick" and were having to pull the document off-camera to write on it, then put it back in place.

I have yet to try the Ipevo with my Linux laptops. It would be nice if it was enough of a "USB class device" for Ubuntu etc. to work, and I'm guessing a relentless hacker could probably get it working. Be aware that the drivers and software are only officially PC and Mac at this time, closed-source, and you'd certainly have no ready way of triggering the focus command from Linux. The drivers and software also come on a CD, which is pretty silly in the age of netbooks, but at least you can also currently download them from Ipevo's website if your machine lacks an optical drive.

Hopefully Ipevo will keep making these things and will solve all of these issues with a P2V2 in the near future. I'd happily pay $20 more for an Ipevo with a backlight, one that folded up / closed up properly and fully, and allowed quick removal / reattachment of a standard micro USB cable.

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For the price--this is a great little document camera! The video I posted here is a 30-second portion of an instructional video I created for an online class I teach.

I use a much more expensive Elmo document camera at work--but I wanted a camera to use at home. The color and detail is actually better on this camera than the more expensive camera I use at work.

I used Camtasia Studio software to capture the video directly from my computer screen. It is important to note that the IPEVO camera does NOT record video itself. To record the video you will need an additional software program that will record your computer screen.

The video I am attaching here was originally recorded with the IPEVO setting of 1600 x 1200 for the best resolution--but I only recorded a 800 x 600 portion of the screen. I used a +2 exposure setting in the IPEVO software window to lighten the overall video. I also turned off the continuous focus since that will make the camera focus back and forth between the paper and my hand. I produced the video as a windows media video (.wmv).

I converted a copy of the video down to 400 x 300 to upload here. I'm not sure what will happen to the quality when it goes through whatever process Amazon uses for their video reviews. The original video is crystal clear!

Overall, I am very impressed with this camera!

I bought this camera to use s a document camera for my classroom. It does the job perfectly, and for $69.99, what a value! I will be recommending this to all of my teacher friends, who have a limited budget.

The Ipevo Point 2 View USB Cam is great for classrooms. The resolution is sharp and clear. All you need is a projector and a laptop/pc to use. The price is outstandingly great.