I've tried numerous times to get the video review upload to take, but it never works, so I'm just going to write a review...

First of all, the problems with autofocus are real. It's quite unbelievable that Microsoft would release a product that literally has to re-focus every minute, or less. When I say re-focus, it literally racks itself from one end of the focus spectrum to the other, blurring you severely when it does. Horrible! This seems to happen most when recording on 720p, and not so much on lower resolutions. As mentioned, to remedy this, you have to turn the True Color function off, then go into the menus and check the box to make autofocus change to manual.

Another thing is that this camera is not "really" HD. It's the same resolution as a 640x480 camera, but with a wider width. Higher resolutions above that are just dithered-in (interpolated?) using software. The HD image is not really that impressive at all -- just an upscaled lower resolution.

Audio is a disappointment. It seems to record a slight hiss in the background, which is not a problem with other Microsoft models I've used. The signal-to-noise ratio is about that of an old cassette player using Dolby B. Don't ask me why it's that way on a digital product, but it is -- there is some hiss there. Other webcams don't do this on my computer.

I bought this camera to replace a Microsoft VX-5000 model that quit working after a year (I think the cleaning lady killed it). I was satisfied with that model, and after owning the two, I feel the VX actually has a better overall image, and certainly better audio too. The lower resolution VX does better in low-light, and has better overall contrast. The HD-5000 has a lot of noise in the image.

Do yourself a favor. Avoid this camera.

Posted on: 2010-09-09
By D. Fichtner

This camera is nice, comes with pretty good out of the box software/drivers, and is a great deal at its price. The only flaw I've found with it is that it FREQUENTLY loses focus, even when I'm just sitting in my chair Skyping with someone, it will just randomly and frequently blur, and then auto-focus itself. I've read many other reviews online that report the same issue. This camera would have received a 5/5 star if it had simply included an option to manually turn off the auto-focus feature.

Posted on: 2010-08-18
By Reynolds Cahoon

This camera has serious flaws: the software that came with it crashed my computer (running with Windows 7) and also my laptop (running with XP), therefore I realized the problem is in the software, not on my computers. So I uninstalled it and the camera is running without its original software, thus disabling any special functions it might have; also, and the worst of all, the auto-focus doesn't work properly, it's constantly refocusing and can't hold focus. I bought another Microsoft camera below this model which works just fine and it was much cheaper. I want to believe the problem resides on this particular camera and not in all the models, but it is not reasonable to sell a camera that might present such kind of troubles. Not at this price, at least. Try something else.

Posted on: 2010-08-17
By Sincere Reader

Very nice picture on this Camera. The low light is great as well as the sound. The auto focus gives a better image but it refocuses behind you if your not in the center. I would definitely buy another one of these if I needed it.

Posted on: 2010-08-16
By Steven Dileonardo

The cam installs easily along with the software. The picture quality is amazing! The auto focus can be annoying but once you find the proper distance to keep the cam from you its not really an issue.

Posted on: 2010-07-28
By lucian