You can’t really be a camgirl without a webcam!  There are so many to choose from, and you can get some fantastic quality out of a webcam these days.  I’m a particular fan of the Logitech QuickCam series, but I’ll save the comments on particular webcams for the reviews section. 

There are a few key things you need to look for when choosing a webcam:

Resolution

You’ll want at least 640x480 pixels, also known as VGA resolution.  This is really the minimum.  Anything less is going to be a very low quality, grainy picture.  Some cams (especially ones you’ll find in a clearance bin) will only do up to 320x240, or a number around there (also known as QVGA).  Stay away!  Many cams these days will go up to 1-1.3 megapixels (usually 1280x1024), but these are often values that are interpolated, or enhanced using their software.  An interpolated picture will not be as clear or high quality as a true pixel resolution.  For example, the one of the new Microsoft LifeCam cameras claims a 5 megapixel resolution, but it is actually only 1.3 megapixels. 

Sensor type

This one is often overlooked.  Cameras will have one of two sensor types – CMOS or CCD.  Ever wondered why your camera phone pictures are so crappy, especially in low light?  It’s almost certainly a CMOS sensor.  These are smaller and cheaper and found in low to mid-range webcams.  For the best quality, you’ll want to get one with a CCD sensor.  A CMOS camera may look pretty good in natural/bright light, but sit in front of your cam at night with only a desk lamp on and it’s unmistakable.  You’ll thank me for this one.  The following shots are both from cameras with the same resolution from the same company:

Night shot with CCD sensor (Logitech Quickcam Notebooks Pro)

Night shot with CMOS sensor (Acer Travelmate onboard)

Focus

Does the webcam have a fixed focus, or can you adjust it?  Many cams have a fixed focus, which is usually fine for most scenarios, but I like being able to take shots close to the camera on occasion.  Maybe I want to show something that I bought, or something with writing on it.  With a fixed focus, it’s pretty much impossible to take a picture of text close up that people can actually read.

An impossible shot with a fixed focus webcam

Microphone

It’ll either come with an onboard microphone or it won’t.  Depends if you want one or not!  If you’re not going to be doing one-on-one sessions, videos, or live streaming cam shows, you may not need it.  But most good webcams come with one and you never know when it will come in handy.

You also want to pay attention to the size of the camera (try a small, portable notebook cam if you’re going to be moving it around with a laptop) and the cord length. 

Things you probably DON’T need to worry about:

Digital zoom

Much like interpolation, this just increases the image’s effective size without adding quality.  Not a very helpful feature.

Face tracking

Sounds nice in theory, but if anything, consider it a toy rather than a serious feature.  It doesn’t usually work reliably. 

Included software

You most likely want to toss the software that the camera comes with.  Yes, you’ll want the drivers, but the software is usually very bloated and unnecessary.  You can do the things you’d do in the cam’s software (like creating videos) in other free software with much better quality and control.