Customer Reviews

Microsoft LifeCam Show Webcam (Black)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This is by far the best "on the go" webcam I have ever owned. I can't tell you about the technical specifications, but I can tell you the picture looks great! I have another laptop that has a built in webcam and a desktop PC that I use a Logetech Quickcam and this webcam beats them in quality of picture and ease of use. The Logetech webcam has a a few more features but this also comes with fun and interactive options that will have your have family and friends laughing while they look at you via the webcam.

Installing the software did take quite a while (about 13 minutes) but once you are done installing the software, you plug in your webcam, answer a couple questions and you are all set to chat. I love the different ways you can set the camera up to your monitor. I use the clip since it fits my monitor perfectly. The stand it very sturdy and tall. The attachment discs will stick on any clean surface on your laptop cover. It also comes with an extra attachment disc in case you loose one. The magnet on the webcam is very strong and it will hold it's place securely. The webcam can also be easily adjusted to go up and down without "popping" or sliding off.

The sleek and small size of this webcam makes it easy to tuck into a laptop bag and the plastic case ensures you will not scratch or damage the lens.

The built-in microphone works perfectly and sounds crystal clear. I tried the webcam in low light conditions at first and it automatically focused and lighten the view and it was clear. I have attached pictures to the product so you can see for yourself how clearly the picture looks in low light conditions.

Length:: 6:29 Mins

Heath L. Buckmaster provides a look at the Microsoft LifeCam Show. This video shows what you get in the box then leads you through installation and an example of the video quality of this little gadget.

Background:

I installed this on two Windows XP Professional SP2 systems.
I followed the instructions to the letter, installing the CD FIRST, before plugging in the camera.
I am a 30 year software developer who has tested dozens of webcams over the past 5 years and writes videoconferencing software for Windows using DirectX.

1. The installer is obnoxious. On the first XP system, it displayed the progress box, with the progress bar filling and emptying, for 30 minutes, and it never finished. Twice during installing, the spoolsv.exe service (part of Windows....) crashed. I never could get the installer to work.

2. On the second system, it worked, but then, lo and behold, I am besieged by badgering to install Windows Live Messenger. I unchecked the box during installation, which tells it I DO NOT WANT that installed.
And STILL it drops a shortcut for Windows Live Call on my desk top, which, when I click it, tells me I should install Windows Live Messenger.
Delete C:\Program Files\Microsoft LifeCam\icepick.exe to nuke this app, and delete the shortcut, to get rid of this.

3. Every time you log in, you get the annoying tray icon application, and sometimes a popup window from the LifeCam application. Argh!!!! Logitech does this too. You have to dig into the registry, find the "Run" folder, and delete the entry for the LifeCam in there, to stop this.

4. The EULA license agreement you have to agree to, in order to finish the installer, specifically says that you are required to let this thing automatically connect to the internet and download software updates for itself. BULL TO THAT. Right there, I do NOT want this thing on my computer.

NOW, it gets out of the realm of invasiveness and annoying behavior, into real performance problems...

5. Managing video from this camera with generic applications like Amcap causes very weird behavior. Large black blotches all over the screen, sluggish PC performance. (this is a Core 2 Duo Dell Latitude that I just got 3 months ago, with a real NVidia video module in it, and 1 Gig of RAM... it is no slouch for performance)

6. IT CAN ONLY DO 15 FRAMES PER SECOND.
That, right there, rules it out as a decent camera in my book. If you want to do sluggish webcam chats with Yahoo or something, fine. But if you want any kind of smooth video, forget it. Any decent camera these days just HAS to do 30 fps.

7. CPU load is high. A simple 15 fps 352x288 capture to the screen, like in AMCAP, consumes 15% CPU on my Core 2 Duo machine. Compare that to only 6% for a Logitech QuickCam Pro For Notebooks, which produces every bit as good video, at TWICE THE FRAMERATE (30 fps).

Summary:
Video performance poor.
Installer shoddy.
Privacy/software updating invasiveness.
Obnoxious foisting of Live Messenger onto the user.

Stick with Logitech.

I am a big fan of video chat. I use a different video conferencing software for my work and for my personal use. It is always great to see my family over the webcam no matter what the quality of the video is. However, I have thought that it would be even better if I could enjoy high quality video over the messenger or any video conferencing software. I am using several different kinds of webcams now and some of them are built-in webcams in the notebook computer. The picture quality coming out from those webcams made by Logitech, Creative, and Apple (built-in iSight) are pretty much the same, not good. The Microsoft LifeCam Show is the first high resolution web cam I have used. So I had high hopes and it really gave me very nice pictures. However, there are things that you need to know before you make the decision.

The installation was simple and I did not have any problem with it. The thing I was impressed was the accessories. The desktop stand is the first thing I ever seen in a webcam and I immediately liked it. Since I use the LifeCam Show for my desktop and the LCD display is too thick to use a mounting clip, the desktop stand was a must for me. The LifeCam show is attached to the stand by a magnet and it makes it easy for me to adjust the angles. It comes with two more attachment discs that are basically magnets, so you can mount and unmount the LifeCam Show in other computers very easily once you stick the attachment disc on each display. The LifeCam show has two metal concaved surface in the front and back, so you have the options to stick the attachment disc on the front or the back of your display. The plastic carrying case is also a great idea to carry and to store the LifeCam Show.

The one thing that I do not like is the length of the USB cord. It is too short to reach to the desktop sitting on the floor. It seems like the maker of the LifeCam Show is tarketing it to the notebook users. So, to use it with my desktop, I had to use a USB extension cable. If you are a desktop user who puts your computer on the floor and the display on the desk, you might need a USB extension cable like me.

Since my main purpose of this webcam is for using it with a messenger and video conferencing software, I tested it on Skype, ooVoo, SightSpeed and NateOn (popular messenger in Korea) that I have been using. All works fine. However, I found something that could be a deal breaker for me. It does not give high quality video on Skype, ooVoo, and SightSpeed. The reason I guess is that the messenger (or video conferencing) software does not support it. Skype is supporting high quality video for Logitech high quality webcams, not this one. I found a Skype hack to force Skype to send a high quality video by using the LifeCam Show, however, it did not work. SightSpeed and ooVoo show familiar low quality video that I have always seen. I tried to tweak the settings, however, it was not successful. Only the NateOn messenger naturally supports it and I can see very crisply. NateOn is being used only by a small number of people in the States, though. I did not try on MSN messenger or Yahoo messenger since I do not use it. I can only hope that popular messengers will eventually support the high quality video from the LifeCam Show.

The one thing that I like the most is a built-in noise cancellation mic. It works as a USB mic and delivers very clean sound. And the sensitivity is pretty good. By using two computers at my home, I heard the voice through the built-in mic and it was very good. I would use the LifeCam Show for my USB mic for recording voice in other applications.

Unlike other reviewers stated, I was quite satisfied with the low light performance. Whenever I use any kind of video conferencing software, I had to worry about the lighting. With the light coming from behind, most webcams show very dark pictures. However, the LifeCam Show delivers bright pictures no matter what the lighting condition is. I tested at several places where normally generate dark video by other webcams, I got bright and clear video.

Also, the software that came with the LifeCam Show gave a fun time to my kids. They love to put funny effects on their faces while enjoying the video chat. You can decorate yourself as a pirate during the video chat and can make a raining effect in the background of your video. My kids were having a lot of fun with it.

Overall, the LifeCam Show is definitely a beautiful webcam and the finish of it is a top-notch. It is a 2.0 megapixel webcam and the quality of the picture coming out from it in low light condition is very good. With good light, this webcam can be used as a good digital camera. However, I might need to wait for the high quality video supported by most video conferencing software. That's why I give 4 stars, not 5 for this webcam.

Installed this on Windows XP WITHOUT using the software. Just plug and play, the software is not needed. Super sharp picture at a distance of about 6 inches to at least 12 feet (the depth of my room). The whole room is in focus. Works well in low light.


It has many really cool ways to mount it. The back is magnetic and it comes with 3 half domes, one that can stick onto anything, one mounted on a clip (which clips easily to a half inch width but struggles with three quarters of an inch) and one 11.5 inch "stick on a stand". The camera itself is a little smaller than 2.5 inches by 1.5 inches. The USB cord is about 2.5 feet long.


My kids are using this with Skype to show grandparents all the pictures they draw, the guinea pig, themselves, their new Christmas toys etc. As it is easily removed to say, show the newest Lego creation in detail, and then replaced it works very well for video phone calls. We have not had any trouble with the frame rate when using it for calling, the problem is usually more with the bandwidth of our connection than the webcam.

Overall I like this webcam. It does the job--my family can see me and my baby when we video chat. However, the picture might as well be black and white. I searched online for a solution and many other people have the same problem and there is no solution. Under "properties," "hue" "white balance" and "color enable" are all disabled and there is no way to adjust these settings, which seems to be the root of the problem. Ironically, I get the best color when we turn the lights very dim. If anyone has encountered this same problem and has a solution, I would love to hear it!

With the webcam war between Microsoft and Logitech, Logitech has so far been on top with its quality web cameras especially in low light conditions and video quality.

This time around, the Microsoft LifeCam Show is now available with it's thin and sleek design. The LifeCam show comes with a 1 ft. stand, a magnetic stick and also a clip on for laptops. Also, boasting a good number of fun features, easily outnumbering the amount of features found in Logitech's QuickCam software and even Apple's visual effects.

The ease of install is simply installing the program on CD, which I tested on one Laptop and it took around 10+ minutes (which is not bad compared to other webcam software programs that have to load all the special features).

The first test was through AIM (easy to use on AIM) and video quality showed quite a bit of artifacting and noise in low light room conditions and increasing the quality in full video was about the same when viewed from a laptop. On the opposite end, I tested to see how things looked when viewed on my 24" iMac and it was soft and not as clear compared to a similarly priced Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000.

I then did a test on two well known video-streaming sites which I did a broadcast using the Microsoft LifeCam Show and overall, a similar look as I had on AIM.

On good light situation, with proper amount of sunlight in the room, thinks looked a bit better and although you have control over brightness, saturation, sharpness, etc. I was not able to come up with very clear video.

Even using the Microsoft software, in a smaller screen, things look clearer but still too dark.

Then I started to do some mobile lifecasting with the product and I wish the wire was a bit longer, so when walking around or placing your laptop in your bag and just doing a lifecast, you really need to keep the lifecam closer to you (pinned to your bag arm strap or your shirt) rather than the extra line to hold the camera up while walking.

As for the special features, their are many which were quite fun (from rain, lightning, static images to moveable images and facial changes). I must admit though, that some of the effects that require body movement hung and I was waiting for minutes. Granted, I was testing this on a 3 year old laptop with only 2GB of ram but loading some effects took much longer than I would like.

And as for software, you get the Microsoft camera program, you get the ability to install Microsoft Live chat, etc.

Overall, the product is easy to use, it looks sleek and cool, a lot of effects to keep people happy, in fact my wife and my child loved the many effects included. But for many people who are looking for a camera for lifecasting or streaming broadcasts, the camera doesn't do well in low light conditions. You definitely want to have a lot of light nearby. But otherwise, the camera may be too dark for some. Also, I wish the cord was much longer for those who want to do mobile lifecasting and tend to keep their laptops in their bag while walking or for those who want to lifecast and need the additional length.

So, overall, it's a good camera but when compared to a Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 which is similarly priced, the LifeCam show doesn't function well in low light conditions even when you have tweaked the controls.

I am not using this webcam for the same reason that most people probably do. Instead of video chatting with friends and family, I set this up facing out my back upstairs window so that my mother and friends could enjoy a live view of the beautiful hills and wheat fields behind our house. I'd used a couple cheaper webcams beforehand and the results were never quite fantastic. When the opportunity came to get a better camera up, I took it, and was quite pleased.

The first thing I really like is the easy configuration. Really, not much configuration was necessary out of the box because the focus, brightness, contrast and color was quite accurate. It worked without any issues with Yawcam to broadcast the image and a wide range of resolutions were available.

It came with several different types of stands which made finding a way to set it up extremely easy, so I was quite pleased with that. Overall, it's a small, decent, and attractive piece of hardware. Although, for my use, someday I will find a small USB-capable point and shoot camera with a larger sensor and better optics.

UPDATE: Much to my disappointment several weeks back, it appears the summer sun was not kind to this little webcam. After a particularly bright day, I log in to the webcam server via my iphone only to find the image half covered in flat grey and the rest of the image entirely frozen. I went to the webcam and touched it, it was blazing hot, it had to be done for. I shut down the webcam server, so I thought, and went about my business. Well, it turns out, actually, I'd restarted the server and when it came back up, the camera resumed it's full functionality once again. Same thing the next day... overheats and freezes up, and just disabling and reenabling the camera in the software got it back up and working. I grabbed a small desk fan and placed it on the window sill next to the camera... lo and behold, no more freezing from overheating. It's still running flawlessly and producing a beautiful picture 24/7.

I have an 2004 Powerbook G4 that's running Leopard. I read Cowboy Frank's webcam review of the Lifecam Show. He thought very highly of it, and said it was a UVC webcam, so it would be compatible with Macs. I plugged in the webcam, opened iChat, and voila! It works! Just like that! Then I tried PhotoBooth. It works! Huzzah! I had a folder full of pics with warping, color inversions, and other video effects in minutes.

The magnetic nubs are cool--it accommodates changing the angle of the webcam. It takes a pretty decent tug or pull on the cord to shift the webcam significantly--I've got the cord bundled on the back of my laptop. The image quality is very very good, it's fixed focus lens is optimized at 21-60 inches, which I find perfect when I use my laptop on my lap. It does really well in dim lighting conditions, the pic still comes in clear and accurate with fading daylight from a window and no room lights. Action is a little blurred on my Powerbook, I don't think my processor can handle the webcam's full potential. It's much smoother on my new Dell desktop computer. All in all great webcam! That comes with its own accessories! Wahoo!

As web-cams go the "Microsoft LifeCam Show" falls in the middle of the pack somewhere. As is often the case with Microsoft hardware the basic design and intended functionality is very good. But as is also often the case with MS products, what is delivered falls well short.

What's in the box:

One of the best aspects of this camera is its physical design. The camera its self is oval and about 1 x 2 inches. It's about a quarter of an inch thick. On the front and back of the camera are magnetized sockets that receive steal balls on the various mounting hardware that comes with the unit. The camera comes with two stick-on mounts, one clip-on mount and a 12-inch tall desk stand with a weighted base. The USB cable on the unit is about 3-feet long. As long as the cord from the unit has plenty of slack coming to the unit the mounting system works well. If you plan on placing the camera more than three feet away from the USB port, or if the cable will be hanging more than 3-feet, you'll want to get an extension.

Software installation:

The instructions for the camera make it plain that the software must be installed before plugging in the camera. I installed the software on a 4-month old Dell 530 with 2-GB of RAM and Vista Home Premium with the latest service pack and updates installed as of 01/03/09. I inserted the supplied disk and it went through the initial steps of installation without issue. However, once it reached the point of actually installing the files after reaching the end of the progress bar the install started over and continued to re-install the files until I went to "Task Manager" and closed the installer. I tried several more times to install the software with the same result. I decided to reboot the system and see if the install had completed successfully before starting to troubleshoot the problem. Upon reboot the software was installed and the icon was on the desktop. It seems to be working as intended.

Using the camera:

Once the software is installed, it is fairly user friendly and straight forward. When plugged into a USB port the camera was quickly recognized and the image was available in the application's view window. The quality of the image is very nice. The colors are bright and true and the image is sharp and crisp (in the default 640x480 resolution). The camera does a good job of using low ambient light. I tested it with just the light from the monitor and the picture looked fine. The problem comes when the camera tries to pick-up motion. The frame rate is so low that the picture is stuttery and subject to motion blur even when the motion is quite slow.

This camera is alright for most applications, but I would have expected better video performance and ease of installation from a camera at this price.