Creative Live Cam Optia AF

Webcams, when coupled with instant messengers or sophisticated communication software like Skype, are a true revolution in communication. Why bother typing, or even simply talking, when you can have a face-to-face conversation? This upmarket webcam from Creative boasts top-of-the-range camera features in a package small enough to sit on top of your monitor, so you can broadcast high-quality video to the world from the comfort of your own computer.

Features
What sets this above cheaper webcams is, primarily, that it comes with an auto focus, much like your digital camera. This means that you should get a super-sharp picture, even if you move about a bit. The camera has two built-in microphones, which aim to focus on the speaker and eliminate background noise. It also comes with a hefty suite of software and is compatible with all the webcam-related Windows software you might care to throw at it.

Performance
Perhaps the most annoying thing about auto focus is that it takes time to select the right setting, which means that if you do move around, the auto focus will be racing in and out of focus as it tries to keep up with you. If you don’t like it and are the fidgety type, there’s a software-based manual-focus setting so you can choose an average focal length that works for you. The video image you end up with, once you’ve tweaked the settings for your personal lighting arrangements, is of a very high quality. On the audio front, the background noise eliminator is also useful, though we found that it lost a little overall quality when it was enabled. If you’re fussy about such things, you’re going to need to use the supplied earbuds and microphone, or a headset of some description.

Ease of use
Most modern webcams are easy to set up and use, and this is certainly no exception. Once the camera’s installed, it should be picked up seamlessly by all the software you have chosen to use it with, such as your instant-messaging software. If you want to do things like record snippets of video or take snapshots, Creative supplies software that can perform the job for you.

Value for money
If you’re serious about your webcam, then this is the kind of price you ought to be thinking of spending. The camera is feature rich, has a high build-quality and produces excellent pictures. If you’re only interested in having the occasional online chat, then the price might be a bit of an indulgence, but serious webcam chatterboxes should be expecting to pay the price for high quality.