Home > Consumer Reviews > Logitech ClickSmart 420 Dual-Mode Camera (USB)

Summary: Keep looking. I had the opportunity to try two of these cameras recently for customers. Both customers were SO dissatisfied, that they returned them. The Clicksmart 420 uses cheap CMOS technology (like all cheap webcam's and cameras.) Regardless of whether you use it as a webcam or portable camera, the pictures were fuzzy and VERY dark (even a WELL-LIGHTED room, and even with the Low-Light settings set to maximum). Webcam videos of people in the room were so fuzzy and dark that it was actually hard to tell people's faces apart. Sorry, but I cannot recommend the 420 model whatsoever at ANY price, because the video quality was THAT BAD. And since I had the opportunity to try 2 of them, for completely different customers, there is no reason to think that they were simply "duds". The video quality was consistent...consistently poor, to the point of being worthless. Save your money to buy a better item, and look for "CCD" technology. For example, the Logitech Quickcam Pro 3000 and also the Quickcam Pro 4000 use CCD technology, and both have clear & bright video. Logitech makes some nice items, but you need to read the box to see what type of technology is used. Look for their cameras/Webcams that use CCD technology, which is much less prone to dark & fuzzy video.

I bought this as WebCam without considering it as Digital Camera. Its the best WebCam you can ever buy. And as a digital camera, it fails to take snaps under poor light and very bright if you keep your camera in still position, it ll take a snap worth of the bucks you paid!

this camrea is great the pics look good the videos are good its perfect even see some pics by going to http://john55112.tripod.com/johnswebpage/

We purchased our Logitech 420 through a 5 star 3rd party seller (with some reserve) on Amazon in an OEM package and was very pleased by the money we saved and the service we received. We advise you pay close attention to the sellers feedback.

The 420 was a gift for our son in the military who wanted to stay in touch with us and his friends and brother back home. Both a webcam and a 1.3 MP camera. We didn't want to invest a large sum of money due the the fact he is young and travels alot and the camera is going to take some abuse, (Chad if you read this it was mom's idea to say that not me).

As a webcam the resolution is excellent in all sorts of low lighting (indoors) and the colors are vivid and crisp. The audio portion is excellent ( I have a minor hearing impairment and he comes in loud and clear on our cheap speakers)

As a digital we were impressed with the 420's images our son sent back again the colors were sharp and true. The hue & contrast were very good sharp and bright. Our son tells us he has droped his 420 several times and it has not deteriorated the quality of the pictures.

Are there cameras that take better pictures than the 420? Absolutly; You will get better quality pictures with a high end Minolta, Olympus or Nikon etc; but not a better value for the money invested or the abuse this camera takes.

If you want a webcam-digital that is easy and simple to use. That takes good quality pictures this is an excellent "starter" or first purchase camera to get; that is if you are not turned off by the plastic case. this is a good investment.

When we rate products here on Amazon we take into concideration
Level or class(1.3 MP in this case)
Price.
Value.
Quality
Ease of use
Durability

i recieved this camera yesterday and i found it very easy to use, it has just a few buttons and although i have never taken a picture with it, the webcam part is great! the picture comes across clear, the color quality automatically adjusts to balance colors, as well as balance the lighting. althought i would feel safer carrying this cam with me to take pictures rather then my expensive digital camera! so have fun and enjoy, i love it!