A good webcam, any tips?

[premier69]

So I would like a device with as many features-in-one-device as possible so i was thinking maybe a webcam would do the trick.

What I want to use it for:
Skype - Don't care about video chat but audio chat is important and my noisy PC might create annoying background nois for the other person i'd be talking to.

My website - product pictures, have a look here and you'll see the kind of things i'll be wanting good pictures of, color representation is thus pretty important.

If I'll be video chatting it might be dark in the room so a bonus but not a necessity would be if it could work in a dim lighted room.

I could buy a digital camera, and a headset and a webcam i suppose but don't really want to.

 

[mickey megabyte]

the trouble with all-in-one devices is that they are a 'jack of all trades, master of none'.

let's use the swiss army knife analogy - they're certainly handy and convenient to stick in your pocket if you're going on a camping trip, but it's not something that can fully replace a decent blade, a proper set of screwdrivers, a pair of scissors, a corkscrew etc. also, if it breaks or you lose it, then you've lost the lot.

generally, you'll get better results by using dedicated devices.

a digital camera would almost certainly take far better pictures at higher resolutions than a webcam (and be more portable, so you could take it with you on days out etc) - although i see you don't need that much for your webpage product pictures. you'll also be able to shoot HD video with a modern digital camera.

a headset with give you better audio quality than a mike built into a webcam - for a start a headset mike would be closer to your mouth and further away from a noisy pc.

buying separate devices will probably be more expensive, but you will get better results.

that's what i think anyway.