Question regarding built-in isight on new iMac and MAC BOOK PRO
 

Hi,

I had a question for some of you guys that have the new iMacs with a built-in iSight. Does the iSight have an autofocus lens, or do you have to stand a fixed distance away?

I'm sure it's either an autofocus lens or it has such a deep depth of field it doesn't matter anyway.

In reality, it's probably a bit of both. Anything that small is going to have a lot of DOF to begin with, which would mean that it wouldn't need a whole heck of a lot in the way of mechanisms to change focus.

Cheers,

b&

If I recall correctly, Wil Shipley (author of "Delicious Library") said in a recent interview that he had to rework the iSight barcode recognition in his app since it was not possible to control the focus in the iSight's built into the (then) new iMacs. That suggests that they are fixed focus.

Thanks for the note! It also says on the macbook PRO webpage that the built-in isight has 'higher resolution'...but (as usual) they don't give any details.. Sometime I wish Apple would follow rules similar to the rest of the companies in the universe and give detailed specs for everything instead of being so cryptic.

Apple does give extremely detailed specs for their hardware in the documents that they publish on the Developer section of their web site (open to all, not just developers). But it typically takes them a few weeks or more after the release of a new model to get these documents out there. I haven't checked if there are specs for the previous version of the iMac with built-in iSight.

The built-in cameras should not be confused with a Firewire iSight. The external iSight is an auto-focus camera with a very good sensor and a PHENOMENALLY GOOD microphone. The internals are fixed focus, standard internal mic.

I replaced a $1000+ pro system using dual ceiling mounted microphones recently, with just a single iSight at one end of the room. It works better.

"The built-in iSight video camera takes advantage of the Intel Core Duo processor to deliver up to four times [(1/2 megapixels)] the resolution over the previous model."

The non-Intel iMacs still had the 640x480 (0.3 Megapixel) resolution.


An aside: My roommate is pissed that he just got an iMac and now a better one is out. 256M video card compared to his 128M video card, RAM went from 333MHz to 667MHZ, large cache, etc. He bought it less than a month ago. i'd be pissed too. i'm going to have to plan my Apple purchases around Job's keynotes.

Thanks for the note! Where did you get the info that the new isight is a .5 megapixel camera?

Actually, that is supposed to say 1.2 megapixels, NOT 1/2. I got that from the current iSight being 640x480 (.3Megapixels) and multiplied that by 4x (this data is available here on in the right column of under "Multi-Way Chat")

oh, I assumed that by 4x, they actually meant there were 4 video windows open - not that the camera would actually be 1.2megapixels.....I don't trust their marketing sometimes.

I thought of that too. If they were the case that would be some shitty marketing. I think it's legit because: the older iSight cameras can do multi-way chat too and it does specify resolution after the 4x.

I doubt whether the inbuilt iSight is anything more than the standard 300k CMOS sensor that is available as an accessory in any PC store. In that case it will be fixed focus from something like 30cm -> Infinity.
These CMOS sensors are capable of 30fps 640 x 480 video with very acceptable quality. What has held them back in the past is the RAW power of the computer and the software - this will be where the Intel Macs have been able to deliver the seemingly better quality.
Don't forget also that having 4 video windows open means three of the windows are coming to the computer from the network (or Internet). The processing of these is a function of the network speed, graphics engine and processor / software - nothing to do with the on board camera!

I just set up a brand new imac through my subcontracting job last night. During the main set up process it testst he isight and there was no way to adjust the focus that I could see via software or control panel. It looks to me like it is auto focus all the way.

Tech Spec and other details of iSight.
 

Please refer to http://guides.macrumors.com/iSight for more info.

Also, do we have any place to find sample pictures taken in iSight built in? Also movies?

The page you linked states that the Intel iMac and Mac Book Pro have the same resolution as the previous iSight models, while apple.com ststes clearly that they have 4x (iMac) and 2x (MacBook) the resolution as previous models.

Apple does not claim higher resolution on the iSights. That 4X and 2X is reference to benchmark speeds of the computers compared to their respective predecessors.

They specifically state "The first iSight ever built into a notebook (and twice the resolution)" & "[Intel iMac] with four times the resolution of previous iSight." iSight resolution has nothing to do with benchmark speeds.

There was no intent to offend. I could not locate those statements on Apple's website.

I wasn't offended. If I came across defensive, I apologise. These are Apple's claims. i obviously have no other source besides their website. Here are the claims on Apple's site:

MacBook Pro: Just under the title "Built In iSight Camera"

iMac: Right-hand column under "Multi-way Chat"

Apple has a PDF file on the macbook page, in which they clearly state that the built-in isight has a resolution of 640x480. So I don't know the 4x more resolution remark refers to.

I believe that 640x480 is for iChat only to reduce bandwidth requirements.