Customer Reviews

Logitech Webcam C500 with 1.3MP Video and Built-in Microphone [Retail Packaging]

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The quest for a good replacement webcam can come to an end with the mid level Logitech C500. The thing that appealed to me primarily were the simple features. With a two tone silver finish, the glass lens C500 is packed with an attached 6' USB cable, software CD, instructions and a two year product warranty.

The expandable clip easily attaches to my LCD monitor or it can free stand on the desk. I found that the webcam installs perfectly with or without the enclosed Logitech software. Just plug and play. It paired well with both Meebo and Google's Gmail "G Chat" without stalling or interruptions.

I was very impressed by the clarity and sharpness of image transmission. The microphone picks up even the faintest of whispers. The jury is out on the product's RightLight technology. I did not see that much difference in lighting over my older Logitech webcam. The manually operated privacy shutter is a nice add on.

The much hyped Logitech video calling network software package with its special effects and avatars is probably an okay add on for some but not for us. Personally I find it too intrusive. As I have mentioned earlier, its not required to get the webcam up and running. Other chat networks work fine without it.

Overall for the price and features, I find the Logitech C500 Webcam to be a step up over other internet communication tools in the same category. The C500 delivers on the basics and more.

Actually, if I had nothing else in the product line to compare this with, I would give it four stars for less than satisfactory video quality. But that would not be fair. You get what you pay for. There are other models in the Logitech line that have better video quality for a higher price. If video quality is really important to you, shell out more bucks for a better model. Otherwise, you'll be very happy with this one. For communication purposes, this is fine for me. If I were making stuff to post on YouTube, I would go for a model with the highest quality video.

I like the automatic face tracking. When it is on, the camera tracks your face. If your face moves, it pans to follow. It also zooms to keep your face at a good proportion to the field of view. In other words, whether you move closer or farther from the camera, it compensates by zooming in or out.

The physical shade is nice, but I also like the software's "privacy shade" feature. Basically, you can select a photo to be displayed when you don't want to be seen. There are other things that you can use to toy with your image - avatars and distortions. You can select automatic "fine tuning" (white balance, brightness, contrast, color intensity aka saturation, etc.). You can also adjust exposure and gain, or have the software set it automatically. I find the automatic settings to be quite fine - exactly what I would select myself or close to it.

There are other settings to tinker with and third party software tie-ins (YouTube, Skype, etc.).

Before this, I used webcams from the computing stone age, so the built in microphone is nice to have.

As I said, if you want to communicate with your friends and family, save yourself some bucks and get this one. If you want to post video, get the highest quality model. Online video is going to HD so you want to publish the best quality video that you can.

I had this sent to my sister, 800 miles away, to install on my mother's computer so we could set her up with Skype. I wanted something very easy to install and operate and it was a piece of cake. Everyone is impressed with the picture quality.

I've been meaning to get a Web cam for my PC for some time. My Macbook has one built in which is nice but I don't use the Macbook unless I'm out and about.

I've had a love/hate relationship with Logitech's electronics (mostly with mice and keyboards). Often they're hit or miss. One model of something might be great while the other is lacking and makes you wonder why they bothered.

With this Web cam, they actually did pretty well. The setup was largely flawless and real simple. The only real glitch was the fact that you need to plug the cam in to your PC and install the software afterward (since the software needs to be able to find it, obviously). During that time, Windows (I'm using XP SP3) does what it does and tries to do the Plug-and-Play thing. A bunch of balloons and some warnings later, I was through that and on to the software install.

The cam comes with Logitech's Vid video communications software (think IM via Web cam). The only problem...I don't know anyone who's got this cam or the software so it's largely useless to me. Nice idea but it assumes you've gotten over the whole "network effect" thing and have a bunch of people who've got the cam and the software installed.

Of course, given the price, if you're looking to create a connection with family or friends who've moved away, this is one of the best ways you can do it. But, you'll have to take my review with a grain of salt since I couldn't really review the Vid software.

The picture and sound quality is good enough for a Web cam. Supposedly this cam offers upwards of 5 megapixels (for photos) and maybe it does but I'm guessing the clarity of 5mp comes with a brightly lit environment. Don't get me wrong, the general picture quality is pretty sharp. It's just that in relatively dim environments (like my home office which doesn't get sun and is usually lit with a lamp, not some fluorescent light like a real office) the RightLight feature kicks in and brightens things up. This seems to come at the price of weird color artifacts (basically noise) that's only really visible at higher resolutions.

If you keep resolutions down to "YouTube" sized (320x240 for instance, though YouTube vids are usually a bit bigger than that), the noise is unnoticeable. But, go 640x480 and above and it's there. Maybe I'm too sensitive to it but HD this isn't and when you see all those fancy and ultra-clear picts on the box showing quality images, you feel annoyed when the product doesn't deliver that.

Still, don't get me wrong, for what it is (a Web cam) it's definitely better than some of the Web cam footage I've seen on YouTube and is comparable if not a bit better than the Apple built-in cameras. And, it's not like you should be assuming/expecting to use this cam to shoot movies or anything.

There are also some included extras with the software package that do some interesting stuff including avatars that mimic your facial expressions (albeit simplistically) and backgrounds you can apply to "pretend" you're somewhere else (or to hide your messy room). They work well but are just there for fun.

Other features include quick links/loose integration into YouTube and Microsoft's Movie Maker software as well as Skype in case you already use that.

So, should you buy it?

If you're looking for a nice Web cam that does the job and/or is a nice (not-so-expensive) way to setup a nice connection with friends or family who've moved across the country or to another city.

If you're thinking this is going to launch your online film making/Web movie career, I suggest saving up and finding a higher quality alternative.

Logitech Webcam C500 SI is not flashy and does not sport any bells and whistles; but lets face it, what do you honestly need in a web camera? You basically need the ability to have someone see and talk to you on line. On that note, the Logitech Webcam C500 does this perfectly. This inexpensive solution provides a great interface, allowing you to connect to those that are far away, as well as provides them with a crisp picture to see what you are doing. Don't be fooled into thinking you need HD quality videos for on line; the Logitech Webcam C500 is all you need.

I bought this webcam to keep in visual contact with my daughter who goes to college in Scotland. The picture quality is fantastic and so is the sound. I am going to buy a 2nd one to install on the 2nd PC we have in our house.

I bought four of these for family members as christmas gifts. They have good (not excellent) quality video and sound for skype calls. There is certainly a difference between these and the camera that's built into my laptop. They are much better! As others have said, you do not need to use the included software, just plug in and start calling. If you're looking for a decent quality webcam at an affordable price this one should suite you just fine.

The last cam I had was a Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX which I had bought a couple years ago for fifty dollars. I was never all that impressed with it but it did what I needed it to do so I decided to stick with it. Unfortunately the mic had recently gotten really distorted with static so I figured it was time for a new one. After reading a number of reviews for different cams, I decided to stick with Logitech and so I went to their website and was pleasantly surprised that they had a compare option right there so that I could more easily find the webcam that is best for me. They even had my previous model there (which was at that time my current model) so I quickly got busy comparing all the models in my price range to the one I had. It was no contest. The C500 had a long list of checked boxes where my (then) current webcam had very few. Something bothered me, though. My then current model was still fifty bucks, the exact same price as the C500. Why is that? Wouldn't the old model have gone down in price? Or wouldn't a good new model be more? I decided to hold off until the price dropped and, convenient enough, it did just two days later. It was on sale at Best Buy for 39.99 and that was my calling. Well to get to the review, the picture quality is far superior to that of my old cam, this one with higher resolutions, widescreen support and dozens of cool video effects. The mic is wonderful and has with it a background noise suppressor so the person you're talking to can only hear the sounds you want them to. I can't say this cam is better than Logitech's more expensive counterparts (I'm sure not) but what I can say is that for what it cost me, it's totally worth it. Even the fifty would have been a fair price.

It has good glass, gives good picture and resolution. Build quality is good. Picks up the sounds properly. The clip is robust and can be attached to LCD screen. Looks like will last for long time. I would prefer a bit cheaper though like 35 bucks for it.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the picture quality of this webcam. I haven't used a webcam in a really long time and the videos are almost as good as the ones taken with point and shoots. I would highly recommend this for those looking for video conferencing/video chat. An excellent product by Logitech.