There is a new version of WPILib that has better error handling for the CMUCam. It will now fail more quickly if the camera is not detected and there is a function to get the status from the camera after initialization.
You can get it at
the usual place.
Please post something with your results. I have tested it on a 2006 controller with the camera disconnected from the serial adapter and also with the serial adapter disconnected from the robot and both seem to work.
Be sure to save the old version this close to shipping in case you don't like the results.