I agree that having a stationary camera head keeps everything more in line, but having an option to swivel left or right and locks in place would be ideal. Otherwise a very good tool overall.

It is fantastic

I like the resolution as a web cam. Easy to use.

I know this is supposed to be for web cam conferences, video and all kinds of things, but all I wanted it for was as a document camera. As a document camera it is great. I tried the web cam function and so on, but I found it lacking. It is like everything else these days, hey lets add . . . it will be cool. I think this unit would sell like crazy for just the document function alone.The whole unit is very compact that can fold out for good height and reach. That means it can also fold up nice and flat for easy storage when not in use or if you need to take it along with you. It plugs directly into your computer via USB so there is no need for a power supply. It is truly plug and play. It so far has proven to work with any program that can utilize the twain settings. That means Corel, Photoshop, Illustrator, CAD and so on. Yes, it will work with Microsoft Word.The controls have been streamlined and kept simple as they know how many MSW users are out there. I would refrain from using the auto focus though unless you know enough about computers to make the necessary adjustments to the system to handle the lag.All tolled up I would have to say this device is definitely worth it. I appreciate having a great device like this that you can easily tuck away in your desk drawer until needed.

I set up the camera, turned on the light, downloaded the software. When I click the app to open the document viewer, the manufacturer logo flashes, the camera on my laptop illuminates, and nothing happens. You may need an advanced degree or two in IT in order to get this to work with a Mac.

At nearly $200, I was expecting more from this camera, but it does two things really well:It's really compact when not in use.The video quality is excellent.While considered a "Document Camera", you can use this for anything from doing presentations to video calls. My main uses are top-down presentations, which this does a good job at.The style looks modern and classy, but it's awkward to use and feels very stiff to adjust. The bottom "legs" needed a pry tool to release and it has not gotten easier with repeated use, which isn't very practical.The top of the base has your control buttons, which allow you zoom in/out (digitally), control the LED light, rotate the image, and refocus the shot.This camera is plug-and-play via the included USB cable. It does not require any additional power and works straight off a single cable.Here's where things get a little hit-and-miss. I've been able to use this across several devices, including my smartphone via a USB-C OTG dongle, but each software handles this camera differently. Sometimes the zoom feature might not work, or camera resolutions/frame rates may be inaccessible. Your mileage will vary.At maximum quality, this camera produces excellent results - probably overkill for any live presentations, but it works great for recorded video. Keep in mind that as your resolution goes up, the framerate goes down. This can sometimes depend on the system and software you are using, so it's not necessarily a limitation of the camera.The LED light can be handy, although presenting anything glossy or reflective will be problematic with the LED light on. For document scanning or presenting non-reflective items, it works great.The audio is capture is perhaps the worst part of this camera. It's pretty much unusable and produces distortion as if the audio is being over-amplified and then clipped. I personally use and recommend a separate audio-capture device coupled with a high-quality mic for the best results.While you can use this as a webcam, the field of view is not wide enough for my taste. I prefer wide-angle webcams that allow you to zoom in. That said, the quality of this camera, is far superior to any 1080p webcam I've used.While this does have automatic focusing with the ability to lock focus, the auto-focus is quite slow. I found that it constantly loses focus when moving items are detected, even if they are at the same level. I tend to lock focus nearly every time to avoid this.One minor annoyance I've noticed is that the camera resets the image rotation any time you do change a setting. This can be a problem when switching from multiple camera sources within your software (i.e. from a webcam to this camera) and requires that you manually flip the image every time you go back to this camera.Overall, this is a compact camera that has multiple uses, however, it's hard to justify the price with so many other options available.

I have the 8MP (lamp form factor) model from Bochani, and this model's camera is noticeably better.But because the form factors are very different, this camera is not necessarily better from a usability perspective. The 8MP model is more flexible in terms of positioning the camera, but the controls are behind the camera, which is great for using the camera facing down, but less so when facing forward (as a webcam). The controls on this camera are on the base, which is more convenient, but you do not have as much flexibility in positioning the camera as the base takes up a lot of space, and the arm is more limited in positioning.If picture quality is the most important criterion for you, however, I would go with this 13MP model over Bochani's 8MP model, otherwise I would think about how you intend to use the camera before deciding, as you need more space on your work surface to use this camera.The video camera works great as a webcam and as a downward facing camera that isn't just for documents. If you are making videos of doing work on a desktop, such as drawing, or taking apart things (the Lock Picking Lawyer on YouTube comes to mind), then this is a pretty good camera to have.I found the image quality for video comparable to a mid-range smartphone's rear camera. When compared to a lot of webcams, the image quality is excellent.I found the microphone to be fine for a webcam, but not comparable to a USB microphone, which is to be expected.Overall, I really like this camera. It does have tradeoffs due to the fact that it folds flat for portability (or storage), but I found the camera to be generally an excellent camera. If space is an issue, you might want to consider Bochani's 8MP model, which requires less space for operation, but that camera is not as good as this one, but the difference, while noticeable, isn't that big.The Good Parts- Excellent image quality when used as a webcam or for documents. Is a good camera if you are streaming activities over a desktop, such as electronics work, or speed cubing.- Low light performance (without the integrated LEDs on) is much better than a laptop's built-in webcam.- Color and image are pretty good.- Camera lens has a sliding privacy cover- Built in LED lights on the camera- The microphone is pretty good. Not comparable to a USB microphone, but good for a webcam.- Touch controls on the base.- Folds flat for portability.- The base has two additional legs that can be used to raise the base higher.- On Windows, is plug and play. No drivers or software required, as the Windows Camera application supports all of its functionality.Hit or Miss- When used with Windows Camera, the zoom buttons only work in Document Mode.- The camera can tilt but not rotate (the 8MP model can do both)- Unlike the Bochani 8MP model with an articulating arm, you have less flexibility in positioning this camera, especially if you have a crowded, small desktop.- The connection cable is a double ended USB-A male cable. While easy to replace, they are less common than USB-A -> USB Micro or USB-A -> USB-C.- For archival document scanning, you're still better off with a proper document scanner. I see this camera as being better for showing documents during a video presentation.- No LED indicator that the camera is currently on. Even though there's a physical privacy slider, it would have been nice to have an indicator that the camera and mic are "live".- Because the camera is designed to fold flat for portability, a tradeoff is made in terms of usability. Because there are only two joints with one axis of rotation, you generally need more space in your setup to get an ideal angle. Also, you can't rotate the camera head, you need to rotate the entire unit.The Not So Good Parts- The legs when collapsed are hard to pull out without a screwdriver. You could easily break a nail trying to pop them out. I ended up putting a ribbon around each leg's end as a "pull tab" to make it easier to pull out the legs without needing a screwdriver.- The optional software from the manufacturer is not very good. I prefer to use the Windows Camera app included with Windows 10.

I really wanted to like this document camera. The reviews were encouraging.Pros:Very easy to installLightweightDoesnt take up much roomCons:Even in manuel or locked focus the lighting seems to constantly change brighter then darkerThe microphone is not good quality and crackles and sounds far away.If you need to raise it up by opening the little brackets at the bottom it is not stable and sways:( This is disappointing as it will not work with what I needed it for.

This camera is built better than I expected. I expected it to be cheap plastic, but the frame/body of the camera is actually made of a fair bit of metal. It feels nice and solid, and doesn't look too cheap (but I wouldn't say it looks high end). I like the flat, folding form factor of the camera so it's easier to pack in a laptop bag than usual camera.The camera "just works" when you plug it in and I confirmed it's recognized and gets the expected resolutions in the major video conferencing apps like Zoom and Meet. The image is pretty good, nice and sharp (a little noisy) and pretty decent in low light and the framerate remains good no matter what resolution you set it to. BUT... I'm not sure I buy that it's a 4K stream when set to 4K resolution and I'm on a 4K monitor. It... just doesn't look like the detail is there. If you make a recording or take a 4K still with the camera the file will indeed be the correct resolution but I'm suspicious that it's more of an upscaled image than a true 4K sensor in there. It's still pretty darn good and sharp but true 4K? I'm just not sure.The other slight annoyance is that the autofocus system is not great on this... even just sitting relatively stationary at my desk in front of it, it frequently does very obvious focus seeking and it's not a smooth process either. I would not be super happy with this camera as a video conferencing solution for this reason alone. It's not bad as a document camera (which to be fair is listed as it's primary use) but for this to be worth the cost it really needs to do a better job at videoconferencing these days too.Bottom line it's pretty good for a surface/document camera, just okay as a video conferencing camera, and I feel like it needs to be good at both to be worth the cost at the time I'm writing this.

Unbelievable quality easy to set up and use. So satisfied I bought 2 more for co-workers

This document camera with built in light and mic greatly simplifies the procedure for getting a good photograph of a document with the correct size, focus and lighting, but that is just the beginning, considering its capabilities for distance communication.It is sturdy and stable. Plugged into your computer's USB port, and with a photo app open, this camera has the necessary touch controls on its base to focus, if necessary, zoom in or out, rotate, and add light. Take the picture and save it as a PDF file. On the Mac, my husband has used a USB C adapter and Photo Booth, and renamed the file from the default name of the date and time. The App PDFScanner will add OCR as an invisible layer over PDFs. We also tried the document camera, with its built in mic with Quicktime, and that worked well. It also worked well as a webcam on a video call. In all cases, the camera needs to be selected as the camera to be used instead of the computer's camera.Black art foam in the product packaging made for a good background for capturing a copy of one of our COVID-19 Vaccination Record Cards, then emailed to self in order to put it on the phone, in case it is ever needed. It's so much easier than trying to use the scanner on the printer, and simplifies the process of capturing the information on excess paper for easily accessible digital filing.A good camera phone can do a lot of documenting, but this device is really helpful in arranging the shot, getting the light right, steadying the camera, and keeping your shadow and fingers out of the photo. It's also perfect for zooming and distance learning. The fact that it folds down into next to nothing makes it perfect for taking it with, as well as easy storage. Since we camp and travel with an RV, having something this easy to transport is a huge plus.Thank you for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful.

I had to zoom 4 hours a day this semester to my college students. While my classroom is set up to zoom automatically, my home wasn't. The camera in my laptop was terrible. It protected a grainy image.This device worked well to correct that problem. It provided a clear image and my students could hear and see me. It just plugs into my laptop and ready to use. I did not try it in my class room because that system is so complicated and they Webcam is tied into other functions. I really didn't use it to show documents either since everything I do is in the web. But I could see where the aspect could come in very handy for classroom teachers showing work. The device comes packaged in a sturdy box that works well to keep it stored when not using it.

Some fonctions of the application doesn't seem to work such as multipages pdf exportation, but overall i'm satisfied for the purpose I bought it. Very good product for the price on my opinion.