Video Conferencing - Choosing A Camera

Video Conferencing with Digital Videocams

If you use a digital video camera for video conferencing, you will get sharper, faster images. But digital videocams are more expensive. They are, however, also more versatile and can be used for things other than video conferencing.

With a digital videocam, you can also record home movies and take pictures sans film—and your investment need not be limited to video conferencing.

The entry-level price for digital videocams is around $250 and can go as high as thousands of dollars.

Warning: Not all digital videocams can be used for video conferencing. Make sure that the camera CAN be used as a webcam. To be used for video conferencing it has to support USB or FireWire (a, typically, faster connection than USB invented by Apple, but found in many Windows-based PCs as well) output.

Which device you select for video conferencing will depend on your needs. If quality is critical (e.g., if your showing products or making client presentations), then choose a high-end webcam or a digital videocam.

If you need your camera to pick up the littlest details of a product, choose a FireWire digital videocam. FireWire enables finer, smoother images than USB-connected digital videocams or webcams can provide.

If your video conferencing system calls for having more than one person on camera (i.e., a conference room setting), you will need a camera that is tilt/pan/zoom-capable.

So before you make a purchase, look around a bit. Video conferencing technology is relatively inexpensive nowadays and a very wide variety of products are available for every budget and for every need.