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I need a simple app to capture single frames from a high-res webcam. Like PhotoBooth, but saves the full resolution of the camera is what I'm looking for.

A similar question was asked here What app to use for high res webcam photo capture? - but I'm looking for an app that just does frame capture, not a more complicated app that does a bunch of other stuff, with the frame capture requiring multiple user steps.

Update: it's for capturing images off a microscope, so live preview of the camera output is essential. Something like Cheese for linux is what I'm looking for.

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  • Do you have any idea what the Microscope looks like to the computer device-wise? Is the device listed and functional within Image Capture?
    – jaberg
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 22:13
  • As far as I can tell it's just a USB camera like a webcam - not drivers were required to get it to work. Doesn't show up in Image Capture. Shows up in PhotoBooth, which would be fine, except that PB saves downsampled images
    – John McC
    Commented Feb 23, 2012 at 6:30

2 Answers 2

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How about imagesnap. If it's simple you want, then that's a free (with source) command line tool with the following options:

USAGE: ./imagesnap [options] [filename]
Version: 0.2.4
Captures an image from a video device and saves it in a file.
If no device is specified, the system default will be used.
If no filename is specfied, snapshot.jpg will be used.
Supported image types: JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, BMP
  -h          This help message
  -v          Verbose mode
  -l          List available video devices
  -d device   Use named video device

I've just tried it on my 10.7.3 Macbook Pro (early 2011) and it captures images at 1280 x 720 from the built-in camera (which I beleive is its full resolution).

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  • There is also iSightCapture and this looks like it additionally supports options for setting the capture width and height. However, it seems quite old and the links to download it no longer work.
    – binarybob
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 21:44
  • Thanks, looks promising. Forgot to mention (updated the question), that I need live preview from the camera. Any thoughts about how to get that?
    – John McC
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 21:55
  • Ah, ok. Thats probably a no-go then. I don't know of anything else offhand sorry, but I'll be surprised if there isn't a simple GUI app with a live webcam preview out there!
    – binarybob
    Commented Feb 22, 2012 at 22:15
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You can use "Capture IT!" (www.toolsfortelevision.com). Latest version is 1.1.3. and it's from 2007. Still, I am using it with Mountain lion and USB UVC film scanner (the same principle as your microscope.

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