Pro Presenting: Webcams

When streaming, podcasting or vlogging about your experiences for the world to see you want to be coming in and seen loud and clear.

It is a standard now for people to have webcams on the internet. This applies even more so when you are involved in eSports and the community. Skype conversations, Google Hangouts and streaming all need a good quality webcam in order to make the experience enjoyable for all involved.

Now you may be asking why do I need a webcam? Isn't the internal camera I have good enough? Well first of all you never know when you may need a webcam and if you are caught without one it can be a frustrating experience. On the second point, internal webcams do tend to be of lower quality so for streaming and high quality content an external webcam is a must. With all that in mind here are a few choices you may want to consider.

Budget HD

Kworld KW-V2000 8MP Webcam

£15.47 Inc VAT, 720p on a budget!

Social HD

Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000

£20.36 Inc VAT, Full on 720p with up to 30 fps and easy links to social outlets.

Carl Zeiss HD

Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks

£23.39 Inc VAT, Convenient solution for travel and enhanced by Carl Zeiss Optics.

Full On HD

Microsoft LifeCam Studio HD WebCam

£62.20 Inc VAT, Full 1080p with a high precision lens and the ability to mount tripods.

Top Tips

When you have your webcam there are still things you can do to improve the quality. The trick with video especially streaming is of course trial and error. Change settings, tweak lights, adjust your microphone and just keep working at it until it works.

Background can play a huge part in the professional look of your video so keep it as clear of anything clutter like as you can.
Position the camera or yourself so you don't become either a shadow or a silhouette.
If vlogging keep the camera at eye level and then position yourself as you wish.
Have a nice placeholder image incase anything goes wrong, it happens on occasion and if it does you don't want people seeing your freaky avatar for 20 minutes.
Use an external microphone, after all it is ok looking good but you want to sound 100% too.