I'm adding bug #117828 for this. If anyone knows a fix/workaround let me know so that I can close it.
Item #1: Kopete does not seem to remember the webcam settings.
Everytime I restart the program, the sliders are all the way to the left (giving me a black image), and the automatic brightness and color correction boxes reset to unchecked. I can adjust the sliders and everything works fine until my next reboot.. I'm using a Logitech Quickcam Express II w/ the SPCA5xx drivers.
Item #2: When adjusting the device sliders, they do not seem to take immediate effect.
After changes, the preview window in preferences is unchanged until I completely close the preferences dialog and reopen it to the device settings page. As such, you have to adjust the cam "blind". The only setting which seems to take immediate effect is the "Automatic Color Correction" setting.
Other than those minor annoyances, Kopete's really shaping up! It's much more stable than the last time I tried it (I've only had it crash once and can't re-create it). Now, it just needs to be able to send Yahoo webcam, like Gyach-E.
-J