Microsoft LifeCam NX-6000 USB Webcam Review

The lens part is retractable, providing much needed protection of the crucial component in a crowded bag.

When extended from the casing, the camera lens can rotate 45° up and down so you don't have to reposition the LCD itself to get a better picture angle. The camera height is relatively low compared to the height of the LCD, allowing for seemingly better eye contact. On the top of the camera is a small, easy to press button for quickly initiating a Windows Live Messenger video call, and next to the microphone on the right is the prominent Microsoft logo, lighting up when the camera is active.

LifeCam Software
Microsoft's bundled software package is quite simple, making it easy to take quick snapshots, videos, and audio recordings. At the top right there's an option for changing the camera's resolution to anywhere between 160x120 and 1024x768, 1.3MP, and 2MP. Videos captured are automatically saved in .WMV format, audio to .WMA, and photos to .JPG. Once captured, items can quickly be viewed, edited in Movie Maker, posted to a Windows Live Spaces blog or fired off in an email thanks to handy shortcuts at the bottom.

During recording or video chat sessions, one may open up the LifeCam Dashboard by clicking on the LifeCam icon in the system tray. Here, it's possible to digitally pan and zoom the picture, as well as overlay an assortment of 2D video effects.

I found myself not using the video effects since they're rather cheesy and static in their paths, unlike the Logitech's which actually track and reposition themselves to the face of the user. On top of that, the effects icons aren't toggle buttons, so one must scroll to the far edge in order to disable any effects, which can prove to be really annoying. If anything, the effects are mildly entertaining, best left for small kids or distracting videoconferencing coworkers.

Audio Quality
Audio captured using the LifeCam's built-in microphone was very nice, with minimal background noise and adequate vocal depth that made for a clean and natural sound. For those who aren't accustomed to speaking up, don't worry, the pickup on the LifeCam NX-6000 at a modest distance is quite tolerable.

Audio synchronization to videos captured with the NX-6000 was on the mark, and shouldn't be an issue. When doing a live call within Skype, echo wasn't a big issue either. With my Macbook's speakers at 65% there was no echo, and with them at maximum the other party reported being able to hear themselves, but not to the point where it was distracting.

Picture Quality
The picture quality is quite impressive compared to most cameras on the market, but not the best that I've seen. The 71° angle gives a good, far back appearance so it's easier for people to see what's going on around you, and makes it easier to get two people in the picture. The focus seemed properly tuned for anything between 1.5' to 3' back from the camera.

Colors are nice and rich with a decent auto white balance, keeping flesh tones fleshy and white walls white, even in dim lighting. In dark lighting however where the only source of illumination is the LCD in front of me, the LifeCam's quality degrades significantly, due to the lack of exposure controls. Faces will be visible as far back as two feet, but beyond that nothing else can really be seen. It would have been nice if Microsoft implemented a night mode feature that raises the exposure at the expense of FPS, but no dice there.

Megapixel Myth
Perhaps the largest selling point of the NX-6000 is its high-definition quality and raw megapixels. For those counting, the LifeCam NX-6000 supports video resolutions of up to 2.0 Megapixels (native resolution), and snapshots up to 7.6MP (software interpolated). It's in my belief however that these high resolutions are meaningless outside of photos, as most videoconferencing software will only utilize 320x240, with only a few supporting 640x480.

To make matters worse, the LifeCam NX-6000 is only able to pull 15 frames per second maximum, and at resolutions of 1024x768 or higher, that number will drop to an incredible 4 fps, which is unbearable for anything, causing huge motion blurs. (I can see the blur when my eyes blink in live video). Taking photos at high resolutions also takes some skill as the same blurs apply, since it's basically taking a still frame from the same 4 fps video.

Recap
In the end I felt that Microsoft did an okay job on their first notebook camera with nice color balance and audio quality, but I was left hungry for features and disappointed at the abysmal high-definition performance. Unless you're already tightly integrated with the Windows Live family, I'd recommend you hold off on buying the LifeCam NX-6000. There's comparably priced cameras on the market that offer more features, better image quality, and better framerates.