Who among the throngs of Mac users doesn’t like the built-in iSight camera? It’s good for Face Time, Skype, and recording your personal witticisms or crazy faces for posterity.
It’s a video camera. It works. What iSight doesn’t do is give you much in the way of camera controls. For that, you’ll need something special. Here are two ways you can improve on the iSight camera.
It’s All About Control
What disturbing trait about the built-in iSight camera is the lack of available video controls. It seems to me that the video is a bit dark and in need of enhancements.
A popular way to gain more control over iSight’s functionality is the iGlasses app, which works in Face Time and Skype.
This handy utility gives you controls over color, shutter speed, orientation, and comes with a bunch of built-in effects (think Photo Booth). There are filters and a digital zoom function.
In short, iGlasses makes the Mac’s iSight camera look better. The video gain function is excellent, even in low light conditions.
Or, take a different route with the less expensive Sight Control app.
Like iGlasses, Sight Control gives you controls over the iSight camera.
Click on the image above for a larger, pop up view with more details.
Sight Control’s control panel displays basic options that are quickly learned. Click to select the Mac’s video camera.
The Auto-Exposure mode gives you controls over aperture settings, video gain, brightness, contrast, and much more.
Other controls affect Gamma, white balance, backlight composition, and auto exposure mode. The video gain alone is worth the nominal price tag.
As you modify the controls you’ll see the adjustments take place instantly when iSight is open on your Mac (for example, in Photo Booth). It works in other apps, too, including Skype FaceTime, iMovie, QuickTime Player, and other apps which use the Mac’s iSight camera.
In the name of ease of use, Apple doesn’t make video controls easily accessible for Mac users, but clever app developers are around to fill in the void.
About Wil Gomez
The grouch I have with iSight (and all web cams AFAICT) and the reason why no-one really enjoys Skype, Facetime or any other version of video conferencing is that when we are talking to someone face-to-face we focus on each other’s eyes. Maybe glancing from eye to eye maybe elsewhere, but the focus is on the face. When video-conferencing we are always looking below the camera at the screen and from the recipients POV it doesn’t feel right.
The solution, which no-one is offering so far, is a mini cam on a stick that places the lens of the camera right in the middle of the screen, as close as possible to the other person’s eyes. Yes, it would be a bit odd, but we’d get used to it and it would be better than the status quo