Facetime HD Camera not working on new 27inch iMac

I don;t have quite this porblem, but the Facetime camera on my new iMac is serioulsy poor qualityfor a machine that is wuppose to be offereing a 720HD camera. I have a 4:3 image and it is heavilt pixelated and burnt out.

Anyone else noticed this?

ajophoto wrote: ... Anyone else noticed this?

No.

Contact Apple or an Apple-Authorized Service Provider for service.

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.8.2

JIm it's all over this thread too - and i see you have been commenting there.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4042660?start=0&tstart=0

What have you dione to your Facetime camera to gety good image results? Any tweaks you know of can suggest?

ajophoto wrote: ... What have you dione to your Facetime camera to gety good image results? ....

Launch apps. Images are pretty good.

ajophoto wrote: ... Any tweaks you know of can suggest?

Everything I can suggest on this subject has been posted here or in thread/4042660. (your link)

If you are still having trouble, see your retailer or contact Apple or an Apple-Authorized Service Provider for service. One of them will be able to get your Mac working within specifications.

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.8.2

I sent my iMac back for replacement because of this camera defect. I got my replacement machine in just 2 weeks and all seems fine. I can't stop taking pictures of myself with the FaceTime camera but the computer seems to be working well. Very happy and satisfied with Apple's support for this problem. Hang in there, everyone else with this problem.

Well done, nerval!

Kudos for letting us know.

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.8.2

I would bet my money that it works fine on youtube. The issue appears to be software driven to where as the engine that drives the camera to open the lense per say for the mac is not working. It is some glitch. It works fine with Flash Player. Then there is the current flash player issue I have found on youtube to where as Flash Player is squishing the facetime HD camera down to 4:3 instead of 16:9. Between Apple and Adobe here both need to work out some kinks on the webcam. I am not sending my machine in. It works fine and there is not a hardware issue. This is a true Imac and Laptop issue it appears where whatever that I believe the Cameras Firmware needs an update. I would suggest Apple fixing the software. Thank Goodness for Webcams that are external and that probably work much better anyhow.

Sean Fleming

Hello Sean

I understand that you have decided that it is not necessary to have your Mac serviced.

To send your software improvement suggestion directly to Apple in addition to posting in this user forum, submit via Mac OS X Feedback: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

You will not get a response by using "Feedback", but at least you can be certain that Apple will see your comments for consideration in future products or updates.

I have found the issue now. There is definately no reason to send your Mac in for service at all. This is not a glitch and this is just how the Macs are working electrically actually I have found there is an article here on this issue here to explain it all.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4049

This article explains about the usb ports on your mac. Many of us are using external Hard Drives and other Periphials that are USB powered. There are 4 ports on the new 27" iMac for instance. DO NOT HAVE THE FACETIME HD CAMERA SHARING THE HUB WITH A DEVICE NEEDING POWER. Things that take no power are the Mouse and Keyboard. Change how things are plugged in and come up with a scheme that is not exceeding the power limitations. That happens is that there is not enough power getting there I am guessing. I am not sure why it was working on Youtube and not for the rest of the apple software. It might be a glitch there. This is the solution. Jim this almost took an engineer to figure this out with my background in electronics and telephones.

Sean Fleming

Thanks for letting us know what worked for you, Sean!

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.8.2

Sean, your point is well taken and interesting but I'm not sure that what you are saying applies here, at least not from my experience with the problem. My new 27" iMac had the green light on all the time and the camera would not work in Facetime or Photobooth or Messages. This was true with all external devices detached and after the internal drive was wiped clean. I do use a powered hub and have two external drives, an iMic, a printer and scanner that use it. I now have and external USB powered optical drive as well. I returned my iMac and I am wrinting this messages on the new one which hs all the external devices connected in exactly the same configuration as I used before on the defective machine who's camera did not work whether or not any peripherals were connected. The FaceTime camera is now working perfectly. I'll refrain from sending another picture of myself as I am a rather old dude.

PS: I don't understand what you mean when you mention YouTube. What does the FaceTime camera have to do with YouTube? Regards

Apple has sent me a replacement, it took less than a week. Thank you! 🙂

kisiulak wrote:

Apple has sent me a replacement, it took less than a week. Thank you! 🙂

Well done! It sounds like they made you happy, kisiulak.

Thank you for letting us know what worked for you.

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.8.2

I had the same problem on my new iMac 27". Sometimes the FaceTime camera works, sometimes not. Anyway it's not an option to continue using it.. Today I called Apple Care and ordered a replacement. I should probably wait a month, but then (maybe) I'll have a perfect machine without defect. Thanks Apple!

I think you are doing the right thing, superalby. Please let us know how it goes.

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.8.2