It all depends on your setup. In my experience, effective autofocus provides a bigger quality improvement than the step from 720p to 1080p. Webcams in poor lig

It all depends on your setup. In my experience, effective autofocus provides a bigger quality improvement than the step from 720p to 1080p. Webcams in poor lighting conditions benefit from autofocus, because autofocus makes it easier to use a larger aperture, improving low light performance. Laptop webcams benefit from autofocus because there's no room for manual focus controls, and the distance to the user will vary substantially depending on if the laptop's in a docking station, if the user's leaning in to read some small text, etc. Meeting room webcams benefit from autofocus so you don't need a technician to attend every time it gets knocked out of focus. PC webcams sometimes benefit from autofocus, because the cable usually weighs more than the camera, meaning the camera often gets moved and knocked about. Plus about 95% of home users with manual focus webcams don't even know they need to focus them. Streamers have great lighting and cameras firmly mounted on solid tripods - but they're often using mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras, so they get autofocus for free anyway.