Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder
Posted on October 20th, 2008
Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder Product Description
The A-HD performs 720P high definition video quality to provide a whole new high quality DV experience.
One-touch recording allows you to capture stunning HD (1280 x 720 – 16:9 aspect ratio) video clips at 30 frames per with advanced H.
- 264 technology.
- Connect the camera to your TV/VCR/DVD player to record video clips, pictures, audio recordings, playback directly on the built-in 2.
- 4″ color LCD.
- Record Video from DVD’s, TV, VHS, or from Any Device that has RCA outputs for entertainment on the go! Equipped with 5 mega pixel CMOS sensor, the image resolution of the A-HD is enhanced to 8 mega pixels.
- Auto-Focus helps you get the pictures every time! 2x real time digital zoom allows you to Zoom In/Out while recording video! Review playback you HD video clips hi-res pictures in real time.
- LCD swivels 270? for unlimited video photo taking.
- Enhance image quality while capturing photos in darker environments with your A-HD.
- Conveniently charge your new A-HD via the USB cable when connected to your PC or use the AC Charger cable included.
- No need to remove battery from camera.
- Connect your A-HD to your HDTV Component input ports to display your high definition video clips pictures, sharing them with friends family.
- The A-HD allows you to use up to 8GB of SD card storage to record longer video having to upload to your PC.
What you need to know
- Camera Pretty Cheapest HD Video Camera Buy.
- Made Up Of Entirely Paint Coated Plastic
- Terrific Zoom Lens
- Sharpest 720p HD Video
- 264 Movie Format
- Higher Recognizes Camera USB Device Instantly.
- Record 480p 720p Input External Device ‘S Video Input Mini-Port*.
- Upsample 480i Content 720p
- Comes Two Outputs: Regular AV / HD (YPP).
- Input Recording Like DV-R, Timer Programming.
- Television Old VHS Want Computer, Quality Good DV-R.
- video daylight bright light, otherwise you’ll see noise.
- tends overexpose whites, ‘s +/- exposure adjustment setting, setting -1 permanently good idea.
- okay contrast saturation.
- auto white balance good, .
- record 720p, compression noticeable good HD display.
- compression far less noticible 480p CIF (web format.
- digital zoom creates jaggies poor anti-aliasing, evident HD 480p.
- shake reduction, standard tripod mount.
- “Night” setting indoors.
- low-light, increases video noise considerably.
- lens soft, tell ‘ve spent $1xx dollars, effect TV input, plenty sharp ( know ‘s mediocre lens CMOS chip).
- “wave” distortion pan fast.
For me, the battery life of the Li-Ion battery has been about 60mins of video recording with the LCD on, 75min-90mins of recording with the LCD off. The manual recommends you charge the camera’s battery for about 4 to 8 hrs its use, which I did. You can get extra replacement batteries from Aiptek, it’s the same model as for a number of other cameras from Pentax Fuji, so they only cost between $10 $20. I like that it charges by USB, so that when it’s not connected to the computer in drive mode it can charge. It comes with a tiny AC to USB power adapter for travelling. It takes about 3hrs for a charge.
The 4x zoom is digital, it works in both photo video mode, it’s not going to let you either zoom in very far or zoom out very far. I’d say it’s a 35mm to 60mm equivalent in 35mm camera focal range. The macro mode is only for 20″>12″, which isn’t close.
The LCD display pivots out can rotate around to the front of the camera. It’s 4:3 aspect ratio, when you record in HD, the screen is letterboxed. You can close the LCD keep recording to save battery life. This is useful when you’re recording TV input.
The inputs (USB AV) are hidden by a pull-out rubber protective strip that deserves to be treated delicately. It’s attached to the camera, rotates out of the way, if you think you’ll be rough with it enough to snap it at its weakest spot, just pull it out permenantly.
The camera operation is easy. The menu layout is simple-minded navigated with a 4 direction joystick. The graphics icons are pleasing well designed. ‘s a main menu for the 4 modes: Settings, Camera, My Works (your recordings), Voice Recorder. Each mode activates that aspect of the camera, ‘s a sub menu for that mode, . In My Works, you select video shots, photos, or voice notes. The photo sub menu allows for even a photo slideshow. Everything can be operated with your thumb index finger while holding the camera.
The 5MP camera portion is a lot like a cellphone camera (the LED on the front of the unit is just for flash strobe with photos, not video), it can upsample to 8MP, it doesn’t improve the quality. For sharpness, its 3MP option is the sweet spot. I wouldn’t say this is the cameras strongest talent, it beats any old MiniDV camera that included a 2MP “photo” option.
‘s a mounted microphone for recording sound, ‘s no microphone input if you want to do otherwise. The AV input doesn’t allow just audio input from an external microphone. If you want to record an audio overdub, you’ll have to do it on your computer. , the “voice recording” mode for recording audio in WAV format works much like a digital tape recorder. you can plug in headphones so that the internal speaker doesn’t emit your playback to those around you.
It doesn’t come with an SD card (you get that seperately) it does have enough RAM for a few photos seconds of video. I’d guess about 32MB. It doesn’t make much sense to use this with an SD card of less than 2GB. It’s about 2GB per 1hr of HD recording. , it accepts SDHC cards up to 32GB (I suppose they’ll be available in the future) USB 2.0 transfers from the camera to your computer are as fast as they should be.
Overall, it was better than I expected for $150. The camera is a bit fragile it deserves to have well-lit subjects, it’s a good companion device for your daily go-bag or purse beause of its size. It would make a good gift for a tween.
The Good
Picture quality is very good. It doesn’t beat my Sony, it will beat just about any camera you could have purchased for $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, 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, it looks like I can get a little 2 hours at full 720. Cards are so cheap that I think I should have just got an 8 gig that should cover 4 hours.
Small light. I take this camera everywhere. I hardly ever shot video with my Sony, 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, even cords to hook up to the TV for normal HD TV. No HDMI.
The Bad
Sound quality. The microphone is not great, it’s set to the rear. It feels like Aiptek set this up so that the person shooting the video could narrate the shot. 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, 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 it’s worked fine . The camera feels sturdy enough when you hold it, it does feel a little cheap in the buttons.
No stabilization. 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 most inexpensive point shoot models. The pictures are acceptable, 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 need things like stabilization external mic jacks, this isn’t for you. 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, 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, looks to be . Maybe a Christmas present for myself.
This camera would be great for teens to start shooting footage their camera phones. I’ll likely just hand mine to my son when I upgrade.
When you transfer files to your computer they come in Quicktime, which works great for me I’m on a Mac. This is perfect for iMovie.
Tags: Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS, High Definition Camcorder
Filed under High Definition Camcorders |
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