New Webcam

I just got this super cheap $20 webcam and the pictures it captures look like they came from a... $20 webcam. =) It's a D-Link CSB-C100 (OV511-based cam) which just happens to be one of the few USB webcams that work in Linux.

It took a bit of work to get it running, as it required the kernel to be recompiled. The cam worked out of the box, but since the kernel had an older version of the OV511 driver, the picture was half red and half green. Not good. So I downloaded the latest driver, copied over the ov511.c and ov511.h files into the kernel tree, and recompiled. After the reboot, the picture came out clearer, albeit a little green for my taste. And the field of vision kinda sucks too. Ah well.

I'll have to install the webcam in Windoze to see if it's a camera or driver issue. In any case, I really don't have an excuse now to turn on the webcam more often – my old cam was just my Sony digital camcorder set up on a tripod, and that was always a chore to set up.