As far as 'Pioneer', Steve Chambers would have to be at the top of the list, most notably for his creation of the 'Modded' Webcam, using a Philips Vesta originally, then other models (Toucam 740, 840 Pro, and Pro II), then on to others brands of Webcams.
Others then ran with the idea and started modding all sorts of webcams including the 900c.
Since then Steve and others have also refined 'Amp voltage reduction/Bias boost', Cooled webcam chips, and larger chip replacements. All for the Humble webcam.
