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If I could I'd still be using my 480p external 2003 iSight camera through an increasingly ridiculous series of dongles: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questio

by pkamb 4y ago

If I could I'd still be using my 480p external 2003 iSight camera through an increasingly ridiculous series of dongles: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/412516/external-isight-camera-with-m1-mac https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/412516/external-is... Support though has been removed from Apple Silicon Macs :( Would be a good project for someone to hack support back in.

navanchauhan 4y ago
I still have my iSight camera plugged to my Mac. 'Tis a shame it won't work when I will upgrade to an M-series Mac even though I don't even use the camera for anything. It definitely does have some overheating issues, but it looks too good. I might use the shell and replace the guts with a Raspberry Pi powered camera [0] if I can actually get my hands on a Pi Zero with the shortage we have right now [0] https://github.com/maxbbraun/pisight https://github.com/maxbbraun/pisight
lucb1e 4y ago
> If I could I'd still be using my 480p external 2003 iSight camera through an increasingly ridiculous series of dongles Why? 480p does not sound better than today's mediocre webcams, does it have some amazing light balance or face detection for focus or something? I would want to do this as well for shits and giggles, a 2003 webcam with 4 dongles being nearly on par with modern webcams is fun / hackery / a conversation starter, but I'm curious if it's more than just that. (My own ~2005 webcam simply connects with USB and works out of the box on any modern hardware running Linux. I suppose I didn't and don't think different enough.)
- pkamb 4y ago
  Mainly for the external case design, which is still top-notch. http://www.minimallyminimal.com/blog/apple-isight http://www.minimallyminimal.com/blog/apple-isight Great features too in the magnetic monitor attachment and the fancy aperture to close and turn off the camera. The low resolution is somewhat appealing, in a retro way. If I'm going to be using a crappy external webcam it's cool that the image looks like an early 2000s PowerBook.
- extra88 4y ago
  The FireWire iSight camera's image looks like ass but it's good enough for my potato face. The camera's bundled FireWire 400 cable connects to a hard drive enclosure that also has a FireWire 800 port (the camera's cable is detachable so this could be replaced with a FireWire 400 to 800 cable). The FireWire 800 cable runs to a Thunderbolt 2 dock with a FireWire port and the dock's Thunderbolt 2 cable runs to a Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adapter connected to an Intel MacBook Pro. I like built-in, irised camera cover though by twisting it open/closed, I often shift the position slightly. The camera's stand sits on a box wedged between the wall and my monitor; I wish I had a slightly smaller box so the camera was a little lower, closer to the top of the monitor. I had all these parts so it was a zero dollar way to get a camera above my external monitor. I might try the free version of EpocCam with an old iPhone (too old to work with Apple's forthcoming Continuity Camera feature) but that's bound to be more fussy to start/stop.

by pkamb 4y ago

navanchauhan 4y ago

I still have my iSight camera plugged to my Mac. 'Tis a shame it won't work when I will upgrade to an M-series Mac even though I don't even use the camera for anything. It definitely does have some overheating issues, but it looks too good. I might use the shell and replace the guts with a Raspberry Pi powered camera [0] if I can actually get my hands on a Pi Zero with the shortage we have right now [0] https://github.com/maxbbraun/pisight https://github.com/maxbbraun/pisight

lucb1e 4y ago

> If I could I'd still be using my 480p external 2003 iSight camera through an increasingly ridiculous series of dongles Why? 480p does not sound better than today's mediocre webcams, does it have some amazing light balance or face detection for focus or something? I would want to do this as well for shits and giggles, a 2003 webcam with 4 dongles being nearly on par with modern webcams is fun / hackery / a conversation starter, but I'm curious if it's more than just that. (My own ~2005 webcam simply connects with USB and works out of the box on any modern hardware running Linux. I suppose I didn't and don't think different enough.)

pkamb 4y ago
Mainly for the external case design, which is still top-notch. http://www.minimallyminimal.com/blog/apple-isight http://www.minimallyminimal.com/blog/apple-isight Great features too in the magnetic monitor attachment and the fancy aperture to close and turn off the camera. The low resolution is somewhat appealing, in a retro way. If I'm going to be using a crappy external webcam it's cool that the image looks like an early 2000s PowerBook.
extra88 4y ago
The FireWire iSight camera's image looks like ass but it's good enough for my potato face. The camera's bundled FireWire 400 cable connects to a hard drive enclosure that also has a FireWire 800 port (the camera's cable is detachable so this could be replaced with a FireWire 400 to 800 cable). The FireWire 800 cable runs to a Thunderbolt 2 dock with a FireWire port and the dock's Thunderbolt 2 cable runs to a Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adapter connected to an Intel MacBook Pro. I like built-in, irised camera cover though by twisting it open/closed, I often shift the position slightly. The camera's stand sits on a box wedged between the wall and my monitor; I wish I had a slightly smaller box so the camera was a little lower, closer to the top of the monitor. I had all these parts so it was a zero dollar way to get a camera above my external monitor. I might try the free version of EpocCam with an old iPhone (too old to work with Apple's forthcoming Continuity Camera feature) but that's bound to be more fussy to start/stop.