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iSights come standard on every new Mac except the Mac mini, but there are various reasons why you’d want to look elsewhere for your webcam needs. Perhaps you need a higher resolution, more placement flexibility, or even a better microphone. These just begin to indicate why I took a look at the Blue Eyeball 2.0 and the IPEVO P2V.

IPEVO P2V

Provides: Video recording
Developer: IPEVO
Minimum Requirements: 1 free USB 2.0 port
Price: $69.00
Availability: Now

What happens when you mix the Pixar lamp with a webcam?  You get IPEVO’s P2V, or “Point 2 View,” webcam.  It’s a webcam that boasts some pretty nice video specs, at least on paper, along with a sweet articulatable arm for easy placement.

The P2V uses its own app to enhance the overall usefulness of the webcam, so you’ll need to download it from IPEVO’s site. The app allows you to use the full resolution of the webcam, which is 1600x1200.  That’s a pretty nice resolution for any current webcam, but the frame rate isn’t very high, and I’m not sure a resolution like that is useful for video chats with most software/connection speeds.  Skype only just announced support for 720p.  Still, there is a reason.

The P2V software enables you to digitally zoom in and focus on small things relatively close to the webcam (as close as 2 inches).  That’s the reason for that awesome articulating arm on which the P2V sits.  This camera would be perfect for someone wanting to make a stop motion animation video.  Why?  Well, the arm allows you to orient the camera right where you want it. No longer are you required to sit right in front of the screen to be seen by your iSight camera.  No, no, you can place this anywhere, making it useful, even for Macs with iSights built in.

And it even has a shutter button on it.  There’s also a physical switch to specify whether you want it to continually auto focus, or just when you press the focus button. I really like the physical controls, something you rarely see on webcams.

The P2V really is a great webcam, but it costs too much.  I have a hard time justifying $70 for something that my Mac already does (well, not my Mac Mini, but most Mac units).  If this were closer to $40 or $50 dollars, it would be a great all-purpose webcam. At it’s current price, you have to need the extra functionality the P2V provides—things like the articulating arm, shutter button, focus button etc.  I think most of you would have fun with that, but these aren’t necessary features, especially when you’re paying a lot for them.

Blue Eyeball 2.0

Provides: Video and audio recording
Developer: Blue
Minimum Requirements: 1 free USB 2.0 port
Price: $79.99
Availability: Now

Blue microphones are know for their, well, microphones.  So, the obvious product for them to make is the Mac’s best webcam right?  Well, unfortunately not, but that’s okay.  Why?  Because as an all purpose mic along with an added webcam, the Eyeball 2.0 makes for a pretty amazing combo.

The EyeBall 2.0 is essentially a Blue Snowflake with a webcam.  And no, that’s not digital precipitation, it’s a mic made by Blue.  The only real difference is a webcam and $20.  So let’s get to the details.

The Eyeball 2.0 is pretty easy to set up.  Just flip the mic/webcam up and out of its stand/case.  Multipurpose everything, I love it.  Then, connect a standard A to B USB cable.  Actually, I quite like this, because if anything happens to the cable, it’s cheap enough to replace.  Tisk tisk IPEVO, no such luck with the P2V.  Now you can either sit the Eyeball 2 on your desktop, hook it onto your monitor, or set it wherever really.  Oh yes, don’t forget to press the webcam to release it from its hiding place inside the mic.

Now, webcams are great, but I’m sure Blue would tell you microphones are better.  If you already have a webcam, how often do you use it?  More often than, say, your phone?  Probably not.  Webcams and video chatting haven’t caught on quite as much as cell phones have.  Sure, it could be the way of the future, but we’re stuck here in the present for the time being.

Okay, so all of this setup is just so that I can say the Eyeball 2 isn’t that great of a webcam, but it doesn’t really matter.  Every time that I tried out the video quality, it was plagued by a green tint that certainly didn’t put me in the holiday mood.  Not to mention it’s difficult to point the webcam at anything.  The stand makes this quite challenging.  There’s really nothing to tighten to the hold unit in place, so it continues to move until it rests on its cable. Your best bet is to hang it on the edge of a notebook’s screen if possible.  Desktop use is just not fun.

The webcam actually pops out of the side of the Eyeball 2.0, or perhaps more usefully, tucks away inside the mic.  It’s not terrible, in fact, it supports the same 1600x1200 resolution the P2V has.  But it does remind me why webcams haven’t caught on quite yet.  Current frame rates and video quality just aren’t up to the standards for the amount we’d like to pay for them.  In order to get a much smoother frame rate of 30 fps, you need to knock down the resolution to 640x480.

But there’s good news!  The Eyeball 2.0 is one heck of a mic.  You might remember my review of the Samson Q2U recording pack.  It was a great all purpose mic, but it was missing that something extra.  Blue knows all about the something extra.  I don’t know how they do it, but I’m glad they do.  And it’s logical that the mic is way better than the webcam in this package.  To me, the mic is more important than the webcam anyway.  The video you capture with almost any webcam will likely get destroyed when it’s sent to the web at a handful of frames per second in a pixelated mess that only an ISP or mother could love.

The Blue Eyeball 2.0 is the webcam meant for those who need a nice mic more than a nice webcam.  The webcam is really more of an after thought to the mic, but honestly, that’s okay with me.  This webcam/mic package can be used for so many things—from podcasting, to vocals to plain old video/voice chatting—that the lower quality webcam doesn’t concern me too terribly much. Yet we have the same problem here as with the P2V, only moreso; this webcam/mic costs $80.  That’s a lot, but if you are going to be using the mic for more than just chatting over the net (vocals, podcasting, music etc) then it’s worth it.

Conclusion

I know this roundup is all about webcams, and judging purely on video quality, the IPEVO P2V wins.  Its video quality is noticeably better than the Eyeball 2.0’s even at the same resolution, and it has a much cooler and more functional stand.  This stand allows you to point it right where you want, something that’s not very easy to do with the Eyeball 2.0.

But the P2V lacks a microphone.  And if you’re buying this for the only Mac that doesn’t already have a built in webcam, the Mac Mini, then this matters to you, because it also doesn’t have a mic.  But Blue has your back on both fronts.  So, judging by overall usefulness, the Blue Eyeball 2.0 clearly wins for having not just any mic, but an amazing one, and a still very functional webcam.  I’d go with the Eyeball 2.0 if I were you.