Searching for PRO-QUALITY WEBCAM

[scottbuck]

This relates to the muddled transitional zone between commercial video equipment and standard computer "chat" webcams. I've been looking for a product that everyone agrees "just has to exist..." yet no one (so far) knows how to locate. Any leads will be followed up, and specific suggestions will be Most Gratefully acted on!

I need to quickly locate and purchase a professional quality webcam for scientific research. (I'm looking for an already-available product which I can purchase by next week.)

Here are the features we need:
o USB output (standard webcam-format video)
o Mac-compatible
o reasonably-good quality optics
o variable focus or (better-yet) auto-focus
o optical zoom
o works well in low-light conditions
o external mic jack
o standard tripod mount (optional, but need this feature if possible)

STANDARDS: HD / 1080p output would be adequate and slightly better than we need, so the other criteria above are more important than any "magic number" for resolution However we will need fairly decent resolution. I'm certain that almost any modern industrial camera could fill these requirements IF it has an output compatible with USB webcam standards.

An alternative might be to buy a consumer camera which has regular HD output and find an HD video-to-webcam converter. Has anyone heard of one?

Feel free to send me e-mail directly if you know of such a device. Thanks in advance for your help.

Scott Buckley
President / Owner
Research Prototypes & Audio Prototypes
Portland OR

E-mail: prototypes2001@yahoo.com

[VTphotog]

You might try looking at the Remote Control forum here. There have been some hacks of Canon cameras which might let them do what you are looking for.

brian

[scottbuck]

Thank you very much! I will try that forum and see if anyone has product suggestions. Since so many people are using webcams for conferencing, communications, and even YouTube video production, there should be plenty of demand for high-capability products.

[VTphotog]

I have seen a number of them with quite a few of the features you are interested in, but not sure if any have everything. I took a quick look at Tiger Direct, and found nearly a dozen with autofocus, many of them 1080p, but didn't really look to see if they had zoom or tripod mount.
I have remote control software for my Pentax DSLR which allows me to take stills (the camera doesn't do video). More up-to-date cameras may have remotely controlled zoom, and likely video.

brian

[moxyl]

Like "scottbuck" i too am seeking a webcam with tripod and zoom .. no mike nor hi-def needed
A nikon 3200 or 5100 was NOT recommended, as they will shut off too quickly