Genius 120-degree Ultra Wide Angle Full HD Conference Webcam(WideCam F100)

This is an excellent webcam. It provides full HD quality as well as a wide view, allowing the webcam to pick up a wide area. This is perfect for home use as well as for classroom settings, office settings, and conferencing settings, especially those where many people are involved and all need to be visible at once. In my experience, the webcam has always rendered in high quality and has never given me any problems. This webcam can capture light coming in from 120 degrees. This means that the device will be able to pick up more area than the average webcam can. In other words, the webcam can "see" more of the room. In my opinion, this gives the video picked up a more professional look. It also gives you space to move around the room while still remaining in the field of view. The 12 megapixel sensor ensures that the video will be taken in the full HD definition with excellent quality. Cheaper webcams advertise having full HD capabilities, which they very well may, but if the quality is not good, the resolution can be HD and still look bad. That is not a problem with this webcam in the least. This webcam also comes with a built-in microphone. In my experience with this device, the microphone quality is very good. It will not give you professional quality recordings or a band rehearsal (or something similar) as it is not that kind of microphone, but it should be good enough to make a professional or near-professional quality Youtube video, visually and aurally. The device comes with a sort of clip. However, all of my monitors seem to be too "deep" for the clip to hold. To compensate, I simply took a small amount of mounting tape, put it on top of my monitor, and pushed the device into it. No real force is needed; a small press should do the trick. Overall, I would recommend this webcam to anyone who is looking for an HD webcam with good quality and large viewing area.

Pros: I really like the ultra wide angle view. This was the only "wide angle" webcam I could find. I wanted a webcam which can picture both of my parents in the same frame at 2 ft distance, but any other webcam with field of view around 90 degrees could not meet this need. The images are pretty sharp. I was worried about distortion because this uses a wide-angle lens, but for the test videos I took, it does not distort my face too much. Cons: If I move fast, the webcam does not capture it nicely; maybe it's due to the frame rate issues you can see from other reviews too. If I move slowly, it seemed okay, but you really don't want to adjust your motion to a webcam. For bright parts, the image quality is nice, but for dark parts, (e.g. my black hair, black TV screen switched off, ...) I can see quite a lot of noise. When I first connected the webcam to my macbook pro, the white balance was off by a lot, the whole screen was yellow. But somehow, it was automatically adjusted after ~10 minutes of test video-recording. I am not sure what happened, but since there is no way to control the white balance of the camera but to rely on the automatic settings, (at least I could not find how to do it when using apps like FaceTime or Skype) this is still a concern for me; if my parents find it using weird things when I am not around, I would have to see them all yellow. I am keeping this webcam since it does what I wanted (the wide angle webcam) and it has reasonably nice image quality for me (compared to my old webcam which I bought in 2007 at least), but if your biggest concern is the quality of the video, smooth motion, sharp image with little noise, go for other webcams.

What can I say about this gem? I've tried a lot of web cams--and I've never been happier than I am with this one. Why? It does everything right. I literally can't list anyting I'd change. For $34 it's a steal, and out performs web cams twice that price. I'd just gotten burned by a crappy logitech model that came highly recommended, and decided to try Genius because I liked their drawing tablets. Let's count the great things about this camera: 1. The wide FOV. Most webcams are in-your-face--even when you're setup halfway across the room. This camera is one of the only cheap webcams that offers an incredible almost IP cam field of vision. I can place this awesome little thing on my desk, and capture the entire room! That's *great* for security. And when Skype-ing/Youtubing, the wide angle looks way more professional than the up-your-nose-close-up of most web cameras. 2. Genius doesn't get cheap. Aside from the construction of the camera itself--which is tops--Genius includes instructions to install, an actual disc with all the software you'll need, and even an extension usb cable! That last bit really got me. I can't remember the last time a piece of tech came with something EXTRA. (Maybe the 90's?) Logitech webcams come with none of those things. 3. It doesn't "phone home." If you're like me, and your eyes are bleeding after doing hours of research, and all you want is a simple, good quality camera for security--then you know there are hundreds of over-priced Chinese IP cameras that require a constant internet connection so that, I don't know, top Chinese officials can watch your baby sleep or something. (I'm not saying that's what they're doing, but all those cameras send your feed to servers in Shanghai, so like, WTF?.) This camera doesn't need an internet connection. It's good quality and privacy. And it's not two hundred dollars. Because then you'd just buy a Nest Cam. That's my ten cents--my two cents is free.

Sadly, this camera only supports 5 frames per second (fps) while generating a 1080p video source, ruining its usefulness at its purported resolution. The camera will generate 30 fps data at 640x480, but so does my laptop's built in webcam. The wide field of view works well, the manual focus is easy to use (beneficial with such a wide-angle view), and the clip is the most effective I've seen to date, but unfortunately the camera's advertised 1080p resolution just isn't useful (and needs to be for its intended use). At least I'll be able to return this one, and with luck I'll find what I need in another HD camera. EDIT: Shopping for more cameras, I've found out that this camera's extremely limited framerate is likely due to it attempting to transmit uncompressed video data over USB 2.0. Given that they're not advertising USB 3.0 functionality, I'm willing to be it's not just a problem with my laptop. However, I've found that somewhat more expensive webcams such as the Logitech C920 (which I just now ordered) get around the USB 2.0 bandwidth limitation by compressing the video using H.264 to accomplish 1080p at 30fps. EDIT: Having played around with the Logitech C920, I can confidently recommend buying it instead! It's a bit more expensive, but well worth the additional money. The 1080p video is indeed a smooth 30fps (decompression uses about 5% of my laptop's CPU), the auto-focus is amazingly fast and stable, and the camera's configuration-window is amazingly detailed (every focus/zoom/tracking/color/audio option I could imagine), and is straightforward to use. I immediately returned the WideCam F100 for a refund after trying out the Logitech C920!

We are using this in an unusual place.... to watch our laser during production to ensure there are no fires. Standard cameras did not have a wide enough angle to view the entire bed. This camera works perfect in a harsh, smoky environment. If it can work close to a laser producing parts 8 hours a day it should be robust enough for everyday use. Beware that the focus is manual and you have to rotate the silver ring. It has a good depth of field so it should be fine for most applications.

Honestly, even though it's not THAT expensive, even $40 is way too much for it. It feels, from a built quality and more from an image quality, like a $8 toy. The angle is indeed 120 degrees and, in fact, the resolution is HD. But I completely understand why people claimed it wasn't. We bought it for our conference room, hoping the gain a wider angle (the c920 is too narrow). When we hooked this little "genius" we immediately realized it will make us look very unprofessional to the other side (we video-conference to other teams and external clients). Image is immensely blurred, no matter how much the focus ring is adjusted (changes from very blurry to very, very, very blurry). Color bleeding is so bad, that it's simply painful to look at. The camera's housing, pivot and mount are very flimsy, barely hold the position and seem to "about to break" at any second. The microphone is actually ok and the packaging is decent. I'm suspecting the camera contains a VERY low-end CCD/CMOS and lens, as well as a questionable encoder (if at all). Avoid. I'll be returning this one.

I purchased this to use with my Linux desktop. The picture quality is poor. Colors are strange. I realize I have poor lighting, but in the same conditions my cell phone AND my laptop camera give far superior picture quality. I suppose it's passable for a webcam, but I might as well do video calls on my laptop or cell phone. Hardly usable for recordings. The microphone is awful, but that's not why I purchased it (I have a Blue Yeti usb microphone). There is no auto-focus. I don't remember seeing anything in the product description about auto focus, but just so you know what sorts of features this camera does NOT have. The focus ring works. Overall, I am unhappy with this camera, but I don't know that it is worth returning. I'll just know better next time that you get what you pay for.

I have a variety of webcams which I've tried out over the years. I got this for a project, as I'm seeking a true wide-angle webcam for a low price. The overall physical quality of the product is great, and the cable length is nice. For folks who may not know, your average webcam has a viewing angle (the width of what the camera sees) of anywhere between 55-65 degrees. Some cameras claim to be wide-angle, and range upward of 92 degrees, though most are in the 70's. This one claims 120 degrees, and it does deliver that. For anyone who isn't aware, really wide angles--above 100 degrees--will typically include some distortion at the edges of the picture, particularly on cheaper cameras. This camera does have some edge distortion, but it's not bad at all. It's evident, but it's not overwhelming. The overall central portion of the image is great. This works superbly as a wide-angle webcam, or for any purpose requiring great quality wide angle video. For the price, it's hard to beat. I just wish they made this in a more traditional "round" or "square" format, rather than the very wide physical format. I'm looking for at least 120* of viewing angle, but in a circular/square package, so my search continues. In the meantime, this is a highly-recommended item for anyone wanting an affordable widescreen image.

muy buena cámara la calidad del video es buena y la instalación fue rápida y sencilla en minutos la estaba usando.

Excellent produit. L'installation ne peut être plus simple. Pas besoin de driver, Windows reconnaît la cam tout de suite. L'ojectif est ma foi de qualité moyenne (pareil pour le micro), mais très acceptable vu le prix. L'angle est très grand. Idéal pour sessions Skype avec toute la famille au salon. Pour un usage professionnel, je me tournerais tout de même une solution plus haute gamme (mais évidemment, bien plus chère).

.. ist hier richtig. Die Bild-Qualität ist nicht die Beste. Aber sie für Telkos in Ordnung und auch bei nicht optimalen Licht, kann man alles gut erkennen. Der Hammer ist aber der extreme Weitwinkel! Die Kamera steht ca. 1 Meter vom Kopfende unseres Besprechungstischs entfernt. Der Tisch ist ca. 1,60 breit und 3,20 lang. Bei den üblichen Kameras mussten wir uns immer ganz hinten hinsetzen. Jetzt kann JEDER PLATZ AM TISCH belegt werden! Wow... Dazu kommt, dass die Kamera auch an einer aktiven 10 Meter-USB-Verlängerung funktioniert. Hier scheiterte so manche teure Web-Cam. Diese Kamera, ein großer Fernseher, ein JABRA-Konferenzlautsprecher und ein Notebook mit Skype und man kann mit 10 Leuten in einem Raum mit anderen konferieren.

Excellent résultat. La largeur d'angle permet d'installer de la vidéoconférence dans une tout petite salle, dans une configuration où une table de travail (et les participants) sont très près de l'écran. Ça permet de voir aisément les participants les plus près de l'écran, ce qui maximise l'espace.

I am creating a small "Skype small conference" in my office room with this wide angle web-camera and a dozen chairs. Now need to find a suitable stand to place the camera, because the view is actually too wide - It captures a lot of the ceiling and floor as well! There is hardly any adjustment possible, except for the "dial" in front. This helps in focusing. Since I have a high quality mic (Blue Yeti), didn't even check the mic on this device. The unit supplied by Amazon had a number of scratches on it - looks like a used or reconditioned piece. But it is my fault then, to have opted for the lower priced seller - I had wondered how the same product could be offered at half price, and understand the why very well now.