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: Cheap & easy... could it get any better?
Summary: 4 Stars
Aiptek A-HD 720P 8MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder
Aiptek A-HD 720P 8MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder
This is the second model from this manufacture I have bought. I bought the first one before Christmas at a Walgreens for $90 with a $20 mail-in rebate. I found a second battery, from a cell phone supply store, a 110 charger, that is a stand-a-lone, plus one more option; a 12 volt car charger. The battery problem was solved which left me needing to cover the memory questions. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of SD cards and the prices are reasonable for the no-name brands. This all happened preceding a vacation to Cancun. I was ready. All of this set me back less than 150$.
I own a very good Canon mini dv that is comparable to the GL-2 that I love to shoot. This little Aiptek does not replace the superior Canon but I will use it 5:1 because of the bulk. The Aiptek fits in a shirt pocket and the batteries last through 3- 2GB SD cards.
The quality is what you get for a 100$ dollar camera but that's okay if you know this going in. I do a lot of ATV riding and this will record 10 times better that my helmet cam. The end results are similar to a high end camera phone. All cameras capture is light. This one does fine if the lighting is good, not too much or too little light and you will be pleased with results.
I have shot video off my Grizzly 700 with web quality video and then post it on my blog for other like trail riders to view. I liked the camera so much I gave it to my son and bought me a new one.
I use an iMac to edit video for publishing and the Aiptek works smoothly with both Final Cut and iMovie. I sometimes open files right off the camera using QuickTime Pro and edit the simple movie with that software. No problems.
This is a great pocket-sized camera for what it was designed for. The big players wont have to worry about this camera drawing away a lot of revenue. I am not chucking my Canon.
Customer Review: Nice for the price
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder about a month ago, and unfortunately, haven't used it quite as much as I'd envisioned. Still, the few times that I have used it, the open, point, and shoot simplicity, the image quality, and the ease of exporting to my Macbook Pro have certainly been well worth the price.
For under $150, this is a fairly impressive little camera. It works pretty well in fairly low light conditions, the audio quality is quite good, and the picture quality, while probably leaving a bit to be desired if the unit cost several hundred more, is quite good, particularly when rendered in native resolution. Manipulating and exporting the resulting video and still image files is straightforward, and the file sizes it produces can be very reasonable once converted for web delivery.
With the limited opportunity I've had to use it, I can't really comment on overall battery longevity, but I can relate that after fully charging the unit via the USB interface to my Macbook, it sat around for a couple of weeks before the next use, at which point it performed as advertised, and I probably had it on for well over 45 minutes total shooting and reviewing video items, without the battery indicating it was about to give up the ghost. Looking at the numbers, however, lead me to believe that with a 4GB card in the slot, you'd probably run out of battery before you ran out of storage space for whatever you are shooting.
Overall, very light weight and easy to control, with excellent preview via the screen.
The only negatives to report are a slight shutter delay from the time you press the button until the camera actually captures a still image - almost a full second or so. Kind of limits the unit for 'action stills' applications. Also, in a 'busy' close up environment, the autofocus has an annoying tendency to base focus on all sorts of things except what you're shooting, but this only occurs at ranges of 3 feet or less.
Generally, I'd say that I'm satisfied with the product!
Customer Review: Aiptek A-HD (Mod'ed)
Summary: 4 Stars
So I was looking for a cheap and small camcorder to record short films in HD, and possibly post on youtube. I searched around and found this Aiptek model, and found that the main problem people had with it was the sound and indoor shots, but I found a good price online for a open box one and got it. I had the Aiptek MPVR before which I loved, but it also didn't do so well indoors.
With that in mind, I got the camcorder and started to test it out. The video quality outside is superb, but is mediocre outside (as expected).
The sound, however, was way worse than what I expected, and was very annoying. It was too bad for me to bare it, so I began searching online, and found that there was a mod to attach an external microphone, and replace the internal one. I have never Moded anything before, but decided to give it a shot (because of the cheap price I got it for). If you decide to Mod, I claim no responsibility if your camcorder gets messed up, and it is YOUR sole responsibility.
After the mod, it's an amazing camcorder!!! The only downside is that it has no image stabilization, but i ALWAYS use a tripod, so no worries there for me ;D
Inside, you might need some extra lighitng, but outside it's got pretty amazing footage. The files are quicktime files, which can be converted with free programs online (not sure if it comes with software, cause I had a great video converter by kyotosoft)
I've recently started using Adobe Premier pro, which readily accepts the files as is (which is awesome!)
Overall, it's a great buy after the Mod, but before so, I wouldn't recommend it. The sound is too crackly and annoying.
P.S. The external mic mod adds a small (half an index finger) sized mic on top of the camcorder, whereas the internal mic mod changed nothing. I chose to do both before then i could add any mic externally (because it has a hot-swap jack) but the internal mic mod is fine on it's own (the external is better though ;D ) Sorry if i confused you with all that
Customer Review: The Little Camera That Could
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had this camera for about two years. I bought it to be a knockabout camera for daily snapshot use, and as such it's proven to be "The Little Camera That Could". I've taken thousands of pictures with it. I've dropped it, splashed it with salt water, left it recording for hours, used it as a video recorder using the output from a better camera, frozen it, fell on it, let my 10 year old and her friends play with it, strapped it to helmets, and subjected it to countless other abuses over the time that I've had it. The only time that it ever gave me a problem was when I completely submerged it in salt water. Aiptek replaced it for free, no questions asked. It's outlasted my Nikon Coolpix point and shoot camera that I got at almost the same time.
The video quality is good, but is a bit overcompressed. It looks great on a big screed Hi-Def television, but tends to look fuzzy on a computer monitor. I can edit the footage with no problem in iMovie, but it has to render in Final Cut Express before I can do anything with it.
The still photos look very good for snapshots, but don't use the camera for landscapes, the cheesy optics lose resolution (get fuzzy) with objects that are more than 100 feet away. There is also a slight yellow cast to the images, something that is easily fixed in iPhoto or other editing software.
There is a large element of "you get what you pay for" with this camera. It feels flimsy, The optics stink compared to a Sony or Canon. The audio is a little bit muddy, but only when you compare it to a better piece of equipment. The digital zoom is useless. Sometimes the rolling shutter effect, where the bottom of the picture lags behind the top, can be seen when following fast moving objects, although I've heard the same complaint about the $2,500 Canon 5D Mark II.
All that said, I love this little camera, and wouldn't hesitate to buy other Aiptek products based on the service this one's given me.
Customer Review: Great camera for on the go and home movies
Summary: 4 Stars
Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder
I love this camera. Does great home video recording.
Pros:
* Flash based (microsd card) video recording is fast, saves space (mini dv take us space - and it's still a tape, which can jam). It also speeds up transfer from camera to computer.
* USB charging. I can use a generic mini usb charger or my computer (with USB cable) to charge the camera.
* USB 2.0 transferring (see above)
* Light
* Easy access to MicroSD card.
* Can be placed on a tripod
* HD video capture. In DVD capture quality I can get up to 3.5 hours or more on a 2gb sd card.
Cons:
* Audio recording is okay. Built in microphone leaves much to be desired. It's okay for what you need but if you are in a noisy area or you need to focus your audio recording you may need to plug in a mic. But I wasn't too bothered with it because this isn't supposed to be a professional camera.
* (this one's not so bad) Recording button is in the front of the camera so you have to get used to the placement of the button.
* Still picture capture when on using the camcorder won't accept zoom. I haven't tried to use this in point and shoot mode which might accept the zoom. While recording from camcorder mode, and you push the still capture button it'll zoom out to regular and take the picture. Picture takes a full second or two to take in camcorder mode as well. Haven't tested it in point and shoot mode though.
Overall a great product.