Aiptek A-HD 720P 8MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder (Silver)
by Aiptek Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: $83.99 You Save: $116.00 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Aiptek A-HD 720P 8MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder (Silver)
Customer Review: Fun, easy to use, cheap and good video quality
Summary: 4 Stars
I own an expensive Sony HD camera that takes great video and decent sound. But I hardly ever used it. After taking trips to Hong Kong and Costa Rica wit the Sony, and coming back with almost no footage, because the camera was too bulky and expensive to want to carry around, I decided I needed to look into something better suited for my needs. The Aiptek is something I use all the time. I purchased this camera so I could take quick videos of my son, or anything else I wanted to post to YouTube or Vimeo. I did some research by going to Vimeo and searching for Aiptek A-HD. I found some great clips that showed me exactly what the camera can do in HD.
The Good
Picture quality is very good. It doesn't beat my Sony, but it will beat just about any camera you could have purchased for under $2k 5 years ago.
The camera couldn't be much simpler. Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (White) is obviously the easiest camera to use, but the Aiptek is not going to stump anyone.
Fast upload. Unlike the long time my Sony took to bring video in from DV, the Aiptek is super fast at transferring those movies onto my machine.
Good use of space. I have a 4 gig card in mine, and it looks like I can get a little over 2 hours at full 720. Cards are so cheap now that I think I should have just got an 8 gig that should cover 4 hours.
Small and light. I take this camera everywhere. I hardly ever shot video with my Sony, but this thing I use all the time.
All cables included. This was a nice surprise for such a cheap camera, especially in a time of 1 game controller in $400 game system. The box included USB to mini USB, power cord, and even cords to hook up to the TV for normal and HD TV. No HDMI.
The Bad
Sound quality. The microphone is not great, and it's set to the rear. It feels like Aiptek set this up so that the person shooting the video could narrate the shot. But the lack of a external mic jack does limit the use of this camera.
No optical zoom. The camera does have a 2X digital zoom, but that's not ideal. The slightly more expensive Aiptek GO-HD High Definition 720p Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom has 3X optical zoom if yo
Construction. With a low price comes low quality material. When I got my camera in the box, the "camera" button had already fallen off. Not wanting to deal with returning the camera through Amazon, I just superglued the thing back on and it's worked fine since. The camera feels sturdy enough when you hold it, but it does feel a little cheap in the buttons.
No stabilization. Since this is a cheap camera it does not come with any built in stabilization, so your shots can come out a little shaky if you're not steady handed.
As a digital camera the Aiptek works about as well as most inexpensive point and shoot models. The pictures are acceptable, and the built in flash does a good job exposing details.
Like most people will say, this is a great camera for the money. If you're someone who wants to take serious videos and need things like stabilization and external mic jacks, this isn't for you. But if you're someone who would like a good camera to shoot everyday events so you can post them online or save them to disk, this is a camera you should be happy with for a couple of years.
It does fit the need for travel as well. It's small enough to throw in my cargo pant pocket, and cheap enough that if lost or damaged, it wouldn't ruin my vacation.
I do think it's likely that I'll outgrow this camera as I want to do more video. I'm waiting to see the Sony HDR-TG1 4MP High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 10x Optical Super Steady Shot Zoom (4GB Memory Stick Included), which is about 6 times the price, but looks to be amazing. Maybe a Christmas present for myself.
This camera would also be great for teens to start shooting footage beyond their camera phones. I'll likely just hand mine over to my son when I upgrade.
When you transfer files to your computer they come in Quicktime, which works great for me since I'm on a Mac. This is perfect for iMovie.
Customer Review: WOW. HD Beaches. XBOX 360 720P compatible. No more bulky tapes and chargers (or tape drag warnings in Cancun from humidity.)
Summary: 5 Stars
I uploaded a 10 sec 320x240 video of a projector screen for example.
XBOX 360 720P compatible. Reads it (my CD/DVD with mov files xfered worked too) right from the game DVD drive or USB port. Havent checked other HD Players like Blueray. PS3 owners, let us know please.
Very versatile. Cheap flat batteries. Nice after firmware update to 2.002.
Even CIF mode is sharp for its size. (over 10 hours in that mode). Batteries are 5-10 dollars. 3rd party NP60 wall / auto charger kit is 5. I have 3 batteries now. Mini or regular tripod and remote control (for a low 10.00) are a nice addition. I like using using a monopod on occasion for a more professional scenery sweep.
Drag and drop to computer, or play MOV or JPG right from the cam USB port in any res, including Hi Def 720P, or even view upconverted to 1080P on your XBOX 360. (requires Free XBOX January 2008 Dashboard update)
Records (PVR) NTSC AV in at very good (4hrs on 4gb chip) DVD quality, and you could even use as dub say from one of the nite shots cameras on the fly, running the cord to your shirt pocket that this fits in (when your old cam runs out of tapes!!).
I mounted a 37mm ring adapter (included with the SIMA 2X SLS-20A lens or Sunpak (cheaper) CAL-1040KIT 2X) to the front (2 drops nail glue, so I can pop it off if I have to) to use my cheap SIMA SLS-05 Wide Angle wide angle and 2x SIMA SLS-20A lenses. You could make a 37mm push on friction adapter from the sima rear lens cover also. (check vimeo for clips)
Easy firmware 2.002 update adjusts sound down for better quality, and gets 4x zoom (other tweaks too.)(AIPTEK Oct 22 2007 V2.002 Oct 22 17:48:19)
No Audio Clicks or problems with this memory card. -
A-Data Turbo SD SDHC 4GB Class 6 Memory Card
Xbox 360 Pro Value Bundle
Xbox 360 Core Console System
Xbox 360 Console Includes 20GB Hard Drive
Sima Video Bracket
Sima ST-10T Mini Tripod
SIMA SLS-05 Wide Angle Conversion Lens
Sima 2x Telephoto Lens w/Updated Ring Sizes
Sima SL-10LX Universal LED Camcorder Light
Sunpak CAL-1040KIT 2.0x Tele-Conversion Lens Kit with 25, 27, 30, 30.5 and 37mm Filter Sizes
Phoenix M-Power small 0.45x magnetic wide angle lens
Global Digital 2 Pack Fuji / Fujifilm NP60 Brand New Equivalent 1200mAh LithiumIon Camera/Camcorder Battery, Long Lasting cell. It meets or exceeds OEM specifications!
Brand New Digital Camera & Camcorder Home Travel Charger with Car Adapter For Fuji NP-60, Casio NP-30 Compatible w/ Models:Fuji FinePix 50i / 601 / F401 / F401 Zoom / F410 / F410 Zoom / F601 / M603 / Casio QV-R3 / QV-R4 / HP Photosmart R07 / R507 / R607 /
Customer Review: You get what you pay for.
Summary: 4 Stars
I picked this unit up over the weekend at my local Best Buy. It was on special for $149.99 which also bundled a small tripod, 1GB Kingston SD Card and a carrying case. Overall this is a pretty good value for the extra $15 - $20.
The camcorder itself comes packaged with a lense-cover, wrist-strap, composite and component video cables, USB cable, instruction booklet and CD-ROM. One note about the CD-ROM for Windows users, you might want to at least install the Windwows Media Player codec that allows you to play the output files in Media Player, as it will only play in Quicktime if you don't. The rest of the software is pretty basic and, in my eyes, pretty worthless.
The device is relatively well put togetether for this price-point with a few exceptions. The plastic is fairly lightweight and cheap feeling. The main issue I have is that the battery doesn't seem to fit snugly into the battery compartment.
The on-screen interface is fairly basic but easy to navigate using the 5-way, thumb-operated joystick. Other buttons are limited to a dedicated camera key (used to exit any menu or to take a still photograph when in video mode), mode button (used to switch to playback mode), menu button, and the trigger-activated record button. There is also a slide next to the lense for the macro function to make close-up shots clear.
The LCD display is actually quite nice. The colors and well-represented, and the display is fairly bright and easy to see in direct sunlight. The display rotates and can be flipped flat against the body of the camcorder.
The quality of the video is a mixed bag. Video can be recorded in HD, SD or Web-quaity settings. In either case, video taken in well-lit environments works amazingly well for the price of the unit. Video is smooth, color well balanced and contains minimum artifacts and other digital distortion. In anything but well-lit environments though, the results drop off dramatically.
The sound quality of the built-in microphone is, as other reviewers have noted, sub-par. I am working around this by recording seperately using a decent microphone and mixing the audio in post-production.
Speaking of post-production, my main gripe with this camera is that records video files to .MOV format, making it a nightmare for Windows users. If you have a Mac computer, you'll be all good. However, .MOV files are a pain to work with in a Windows environment. I use Adobe Premiere to edit my video, and while it does load these files, it takes forever to "conform" the videos to the project and subsequently causes frequent crashes. If you convert the files before editing, you will not only lose more time but more quality as well. If I needed more motivation to upgrade to a Mac, I think I've found it.
All in all, the Aiptek A-HD camcorder met my expectations of being and affordable, easy to use, HD camcorder.
Customer Review: AIPTEK HD camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I needed a knock-around HD camera. Something that would fit in a briefcase, while taking video clips better than SD (standard definition) quality. So, I thought I'd take a chance and order an unknown-brand (AIPTEK), but had decent reviews here on Amazon.
Much to my surprise and enjoyment this camera provides what I need. Of course, it's not like having a semi-pro, or pro-quality HD camera, but for a little guy that costs less than 150.00 you can't beat it! I took the camera out for a spin yesterday to shot some scenes with wife & doggie on a field trip. The results are:
* Nice, sharp HD quality video at 720. Not 1080, but who cares! The color is quite decent, and the sharpness for a little camera is terrific. While it can't match a 3 CCD HD, or a larger CMOS chip camera shooting at 1080 it does the job in a compact form factor. I do expect to take this camera with me everywhere. There was a comment here about the plastic housing...it's not that bad. I wouldn't lend it to kids, or drop it on concrete, but it's sturdy enough to survive in a briefcase, or purse if it had a small little protective hard case. Note: Purses and soft briefcase tend to be especially dusty - not a great place to stick electronics IMO.
* The audio is decent. I was shooting some scenes in the car with an open window and it surprisingly filtered out most of the road noise and caught the dialog inside! The mic. is placed on top of the camera. This can cause some noise if you move your hands about the camera while shooting. However, as with any camera there is some accommodation given the ergonomics. On saying that I do wish the record on/off button was larger, and the joystick controlled a tad bigger. Folks with ham-sized fist (like me) might have to fumble around a tad more than say someone with dexterous fingers. Low light conditions came out a tad grainy. But then again, you can't expect the little camera to do everything. One of my new CMOS camera is equally as grainy as the AIPTEK in dark-lit conditions. There is a night-mode selection in the camera, but I have yet to try it out.
* Transfer to Macintosh. All I had to do was hook up the USB cable and the Aiptek was recognized as an external hard drive. I simply transferred all the files into my mac and now they're ready to be edited as .mov files. So, it's a breeze to edit in imovie, as well a Final Cut. Very, very simple.
* Longevity - I don't know. I've had this camera now for three days. If it breaks, I'll just get another one!
So all in all, if you are shooting casual video and don't care too much about semi-pro quality video and audio this little guy will probably fill that niche well. It also shoot stills and has a flash. I haven't really evaluated that, but I would tend to use my dedicated digital still camera for that.
Customer Review: Excellent entry level HD (you get what you pay for)
Summary: 5 Stars
To begin with, this is -not- a conventional digital camcorder.
Unless you find it too toy-like as others have found, it seems to be delivering exactly what it promises:
The lowest cost HD DVR for sale on the market.
A point-and-shoot eight megapixel digital camera.
Digital playback device that can show Quicktime media (when storage cards greater than four gigs are used (max 32 gig SDHC) (compatible with Apple products).
The quality is excellent and the only drawback I've seen so far is that the playback speaker is too small and delivers very nasty tinny audio. Much like the audio from almost any small microspeaker. Use your headphones when watching playback. Much better.
Of all the video resolutions you can use,(there are three) the smallest (CIF)(352x240) gives you the most bang for the buck in storage....
A two gig SD card will hold up to 320 minutes of video. That's -five- hours plus! You'll need to recharge the battery at least a couple of times to fill a one or two gig card at that rate.
The middle resolution is (D1) (720x480) is very close to VGA (slightly wider) and you can only cram 144 minutes full video onto a two gig SD.
The HD resolution is full true HD (1280x720) and will only record for 60 minutes before filling up that same two gig SD card. However, there are larger cards available now, and I still like have a few extra two gig cards in my pocket.
Battery life is estimated to be 90 minutes (factory spec) but I haven't pushed that far yet. My other Aiptek, the IS-DV, maxxes out at VGA (640x480)resolution, cannot handle longer than 48 minutes before depleting the battery.
The difference? The IS-DV is 2 year old design, and Aiptek is pushing the envelope.
Final verdict?
This is a very good product, worthy of consideration from both first time buyers and jaded users who are used to far more expensive gadget loaded camcorders.
It weighs nothing, a cellphone is slightly smaller, and the battery lasts and lasts. It has very few moving parts, and only one mechanical slide switch that operates the macro mode focusing.
I can't wait to see what's next, Aiptek. Perhaps even smaller? More resolution? Image stabilization?
I'd rate this a nine out of ten, the only fault is that playback speaker.
And it's not really a deal breaker, in my opinion.