iUSBCam lets iChat work with webcams that might not otherwise be possible to use.

My dad and I both have Mac minis, and we want to use iChat for videochats with each other. The problem, however, is that Apple discontinued the iSight camera, and we can’t find any other FireWire webcams out there. We found a whole bunch of USB webcams, but none of them come with Mac drivers. Can you please tell us how we can use a USB webcam with Mac OS X?

Never fear—when Apple taketh away, it also giveth. Starting with Mac OS 10.4.9, Apple has included support for an open standard called UVC (USB video class), which many modern webcams support. If you’re running Mac OS 10.4.9 or later and your USB webcam is UVC-compliant, then it will instantly work with iChat, Skype, or any other program that can use a webcam.

If you’re running an older version of Mac OS X, or your USB webcam isn’t UVC-compliant, you still may be in luck. macam (free, webcam-osx.sourceforge.net) is a set of webcam drivers for Mac OS X that supports hundreds of USB webcams, old and new. After installing macam on your machine, you’ll most likely need to purchase and install iUSBCam ($9.95, www.ecamm.com/mac/iusbcam), which enables iChat to work with the webcam that you just installed the drivers for.

One other quick thing to note: If you own a FireWire DV camcorder, you can use it with iChat without having to install any additional software.