Q: Can I connect two external iSights to my mac with a firewire hub?
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Jul 4, 2012 4:23 PMby EZ Jim,stevedavis717 wrote: ... Is what I am attempting to do possible?...
(1) Yes, it is possible to connect your two external iSights, but the results will be unpredictable.
As explained in iSight : EZJim's Page 6, external iSight can be temperamental about how it is connected. The most reliable way I can make my two iSights work is to connect each one to a different Firewire circuits on my Mac Pro, but, as explained in my article, even that does not work universally.
Moreover, I see that your posted profile shows you using a MacBook Pro, so your choices are more limited. If you have an older MacBook Pro that has an ExpressCard/34 slot, you can consider a ExpressCard/34 Firewire adapter like this one. I have never used any of these ExpressCard FW adapters, but there are many from which to choose. You can search to find many other available versions. If the adapter doesn't work for you, or if yours is a newer MBP that has no ExpressCard/34 slot, your best alternative is a powered Firewire hub.
(2) Your posted profile also shows you use Mac OS X (10.6.4). Properly applying the latest Combo Update for any Mac OS should give the best possible performance from your Mac. I suggest you use Disk Utility to repair permissions. Then download and apply the latest Snow Leopard Combo Update:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
Repair permissions again immediately following the system restart that completes the Combo Update.
(3) For the best chance at making your webcast work with both of your external iSights on a MBP, turn off Blue Tooth, restart Mac, minimize processor load by quitting unnecessary apps, and maximize CPU performance by having both your MBP and powered hub connected to wall power.
(4) Also, use as much light on your video subjects as possible. You will get best possible images from whatever camera(s) you use with brightly lighted subjects.
(5) If the above doesn't solve your problems, you might consider a compatible wired USB cam like one of those in http://www.mac-compatible-web-cam.com/ If the new cam that you choose includes any software for your Mac, don't install it. Use the drivers already in your Mac OS for maximum efficiency. Because BlueTooth can be a slower connection, you might find that a wired cam gives better results than your BT-1.
(6) Finally, if you do not already have more than one external iSight, I think a less troublesome choice than multiple external iSights would be to buy one or more currently produced Mac-compatible USB external camera like those in the link provided above.
If I needed another external webcam today, I would choose USB (the same connection method Apple uses in its current webcams.) External iSights were fine webcams in their day, and both of mine still work fine. However, external iSight was discontinued many years ago. Therefore, any that are available to you now are quite old by consumer electronics standards, and are subject to possible service life considerations in addition to their connectivity peculiarities.
