Philips Vesta Pro PCVC 680K Webcam Thoughts ?

[Matchstick]

Since reasonably priced Philips SPC 900 webcams are a thing of the past does anyone have any thoughts on the older Philip Vesta Pro PCVC 680K webcam ?

According to http://homepage.ntlworld.com/molyned/web-cameras.htm it's sounds pretty promising but do the standard Philips screw-in webcam adaptors fit or does it require a little more "engineering" work to get up and running ?

[fredster]

The Vesta Pro is definitely capable. But i would look for a Toucam Pro II 840K. They too go cheap because people are fixated on the SPC880 and SPC900. But the 840K is internally identical and can be flashed to a SPC900NC. So fully compatible with Windows 7 64bit. I picked up a Toucam Pro II for £20 from Ebay a couple of weeks ago. Only bidder. While at the same time an SPC880 flashed to SPC900 went for a stupid £92.

[Matchstick]

I'll definitely go for a Toucan Pro II if I can get one (and I am bidding on one at the moment) but it looks to be alot easier to find the Vesta Pro right now so I'm looking at it as a fallback position.

In an ideal world I'm hoping the same webcam adaptor will fit both so if I do get a Vesta Pro I can then directly replace it later with a Toucam and pass the Vesta along to someone else who can make use of it

Just checking on the driver issue, the lack of 64-bit windows drivers for the Vesta shouldn't be a problem as I primarily use a Mac so the open-source Macam drivers should work fine.

[StarryBob]

Another reason the SPCs go for more is the long exposure mod is a lot easier to do for the the average guy. The solder connections are very much smaller on the Toucam so it can be a challenge for all be the steady handed. The SPC has easier to get to pins etc.

[fredster]

I'll definitely go for a Toucan Pro II if I can get one (and I am bidding on one at the moment) but it looks to be alot easier to find the Vesta Pro right now so I'm looking at it as a fallback position.

In an ideal world I'm hoping the same webcam adaptor will fit both so if I do get a Vesta Pro I can then directly replace it later with a Toucam and pass the Vesta along to someone else who can make use of it

The webcam adapters did change for SPC900. The thread pitch remains the same but the SPC needs a longer thread than the Toucam. Not sure about the Vesta.

[Matchstick]

Knowing my skills with a soldering iron (and still having some of the scars to back that up) I wasn't planning to do any LX modding

If I want to go down the road later I'll look to buy something that's either pre-modded or will do it out of the box and avoid burning down the house

[StarryBob]

Knowing my skills with a soldering iron (and still having some of the scars to back that up) I wasn't planning to do any LX modding

If I want to go down the road later I'll look to buy something that's either pre-modded or will do it out of the box and avoid burning down the house

Yeah that's what I did lol, I looked inside and thought 'I'll just buy a modded one', I did sell my Toucam on ebay though and it went for £68. I only paid £70 for a modded one so I was pleased with that at the time.

[leelee970]

This site will give you an insight into which webcams are good

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/molyned/web-cameras.htm

I've converted a few in the past (and destroyed the odd one.....oops) the one you're looking at was easy(although i did kill one while doing the LX mod, scapel slipped and cut off a few IC legs right at the base).

Go for it.

[burger]

The Vesta Pro is definitely capable. But i would look for a Toucam Pro II 840K. They too go cheap because people are fixated on the SPC880 and SPC900. But the 840K is internally identical and can be flashed to a SPC900NC. So fully compatible with Windows 7 64bit. I picked up a Toucam Pro II for £20 from Ebay a couple of weeks ago. Only bidder. While at the same time an SPC880 flashed to SPC900 went for a stupid £92.

Hi

do you have a link to the files needed to flash an 840k, just so I know im using the correct ones.

Many thanks

[Cornelius Varley]

Item 6 http://www.home.zonnet.nl/m.m.j.meijer/D_I_Y/spc900nc.htm