While using the iSight external firewire webcam on my Mac G5 tower with Panther 10.3.9 system software installed, I found it to have excellent video quality and to be very easy to use. Shortly after installing Leopard 10.5.1 however, the fun was over. My cam stopped working and no amount of tech fixes have brought it back. It now shows up as "unknown device" in the system profiler, and is not recognized in Yahoo or any other program I've tried.

If you search the internet you'll find numerous suggestions as varied as the circumstances that can create the problem. Apparently some fixes work in certain situations, some don't, some work some of the time, etc...

The iSight is an excellent cam, but if you'll be using it on a Mac that's running Leopard, proceed with extreme caution.

Isight works right out of the box ONLY if you have Mac OS 10.3 AND ichat AV, Apple or other reviewers do not stress this enough this is a MUST. So on my OS 10.28, it does not work only the mic worked. I am glad I did not buy it last year I would have been very upset. One expensive mic right now until I get OS 10.4 installed and it picks up all sounds around it since the mic is not 'directed' forward to you, the speaker. There is no reason why it gets so hot, Apple must not be using low power cmos censors, what technology they are using I do not know since I have not seen the insides yet. Oops this is on the face of Isight - 3 element lens, F 2.8 autofocus 50mm - infinity, 54.3 degree viewing angle, and 1/4 inch CCD (censors). Apple does not design for heat or low power use as evidence in their other products. Hey Apple try the Transmeta chip. Auto-focus is a good thing, but you can hear the auto-focus in action is not a good thing. But it comes with no controls or software to control the camera. So you need to add lots of light to make it work well, this is not a low light camera - you need software for that, which did I mention it does not have. The camera is rather big and long for a web-cam. I bought a SightFlex so I can put the camera right in front of the screen while on videoconferencing but with it being so big it may be awkward. The same company makes MicFlex - usb microphone. It would to awsome if they added both mic and SightFlex to one stand, but then you would have to connect both firewire and usb to it.

Having used five different webcams over the past five years, I can highly recommend Apple's iSight. More than likely, you are considering buying the iSight to use with iChat AV. Before I bought the iSight, I used a Sony DV video camera. Virtually any DV video camera (one that can connect to your computer via Firewire) will work with iChat AV, so if you have one, I would recommend trying that first. So why buy a $130+ iSight that's virtually a one-trick pony? (I don't know anyone who uses their iSight for anything besides iChat AV) Portability and ease of use. I easily move it around and transfer it back and forth between my desktop computer and laptop. The video conferencing image quality is above average for a webcam but is not as good as my DV video camera. The major drawback of the iSight is the lack of control over exposure, contrast or anything--there aren't any manual controls. Every thing is auto on this baby. That's great for the most part until you get in a low-light or backlit situation. The iSight also has a tendency to be contrasty and blow out detail in situations of directional lighting (I sit near a single bright window). The autofocus is usually reliable except when the focus point is on a light-colored or flat object lacking shadows and detail (like a white t-shirt or solid colored wall). In these instances, you can hear the iSight focusing back and forth without locking, similar to what happens when a digital camera can't focus on an object. Overall, I'm very pleased with the iSight. It video conferences well and its size and portability are its biggest advantages. However, I purchased mine used for $80. I consider $130+ rather pricey unless you do a lot of video conferencing.

This is an easy to use firewire web cam for Mac users.
But, while you need a mac to use it, you can have
web cam meetings with any other computer. I see and
talk regularly with relatives using ichat AV to their yahoo
or AOL web cam software.
Excellent picture quality, with no smearing.

my dad bought me an isight about a year ago, and i love it! however, while it works great, it only works with macs, and since most people seem to have pcs, i can only use it with 2 or 3 of my friends and family, not what i was hoping for!