When it first came out, I picked up a 720P LifeCam. It was a good webcam until I saw a presentation by fellow MVP Rob Miles where he used the same model of camera as an overhead camera for demonstrating Windows Phone 7. The camera was held to a small camera tripod by duct tape and seem to have a life of it’s own. The concept was interesting and I took a look at my Lifecam to see if I could improve on the situation. I found that I could flatten out the holder for the camera andclamp it to a tripod. This gave a considerable range of angle from horizontal to straight down. I simplified the clamping arrangement by drilling a hole in the flat part of the camera and used a nut to hold the camera on a pocket size tripod. Most tripods have a threaded bold designed to be screwed into the base of a camera. The fun was drilling through the steel plate hidden within the plastic. You will need to make sure that the camera support is held well before attempting to drill. Otherwise the drill bit will walk all over the place rather than cutting into the support.
Yesterday I was able to see the 1080P version of the camera and it came with a threaded hole built in to the base of the camera. Another plus for the camera is that the cable no longer comes out of the back of the camera. In the 720P configuration, any tension on the cable resulted in the camera pointing in a new direction, usually about the time you are telling your audience to “Look at this”.
So the 1080P has a better mount to attach to a tripod, better resolution and a friendlier cable. Now to find someone who wants a 720P so I can upgrade.
John Marshall… Visio MVP Visio.MVPs.org
john Visio MVP 