It is actually about a combo of things based on Processor, Video card and Lighting and how much work the Mac is doing on other things in the background and that includes running USB devices like the Internal camera.
The everyday speed I get out of my MacBook Pro is 15fps (see below for specs)
On particularly bright Sunny days with a firewire DV Converter attached I can get 20fps out of it.
My G4 seems stuck at 15fps unless I ma successful to a PC running AIM when it tends to run at 10fps to match them
There has been some speculation that it is also dependent at the speed that your buddy is sending you data and how much time your resources are giving to display that.
The more capable the camera the longer to produce it frame.
Same for incoming data - the more quality to the pic the longer it takes to process it.
I have seen no evidence that changing the settings for Quicktime Pro or iMovie changes this.
9:11 PM Sunday; June 22, 2008