Stuff Geeks Want

Apple stopped selling its excellent FireWire iSight camera a couple years ago, leaving Mac owners without a built-in camera up a creek when it comes to using iChat for video conferencing or the insanely fun Photo Booth application.

While most PC webcams can work with a Mac with a bit of trickery, that’s a very un-Mac-like solution. So much so, in fact, that used iSight cameras typically sell for more than they cost new ($149) on eBay.

The folks at Logitech apparently noticed this and had their engineers put on their capitalist thinking caps. The result is the new QuickCam Vision Pro, a Mac-only USB camera that bests the iSight hands down. Just check out these specs:

• True HD video capture (up to 720p or 1600×1200 resolution)
• 2-megapixel sensor
• Carl Zeiss optics
• RackLight 2 (adjusts intelligently to prdouce the best possible image)
• integrated microphone

One caveat to note is that HD capture is only supported by some applications. If you’re using iChat or Photo Booth (or anything else that uses QuickTime), you’ll be limited to 640×480 VGA resolution, the same as the iSight.

The QuickCam Vision Pro will be shipping soon for $129.99. We’ll update you when it’s available with the lowest price.