Good one for the priceSeptember 23, 2008 i have had this camera for about 3 weeks now and just love the convenience of carrying one device for both video and still pictures. its also lighter and smaller than my other devices. its very easy to use. picture quality is good in daylight or well lit area. it gets grainy in the dark and does not look great especially when viewed on an HD TV. audio is ok, zoom is basic. i usually just walk closer to my subject instead of zooming as i get better audio capture. still pictures are great and the flash works fine. battery life is good and i love the fact that i can charge it with a USB cable or one of many usb chargers i have for the cell phones. overall it is a good buy for the price.
awesome!September 17, 2008 i love this thing. the video looks great when filmed outside with a steady hand. i don't use the zoom because digital zoom always looks like crap in my opinion. for the price the video quality is freaking amazing but the mic leaves a lot to be desired. boy what i wouldn't give to have one of these when i was in high school or travelling the world in the navy. the h.264 is a great format btw which is easy to edit in premiere elements but you must have a fast computer. i wish i could buy a $600 version of this type of camera for the extra build quality that price would offer. bottom line, this camera is great for quick shots and the video looks nice on an hdtv.
Great Video but Noisey ZOOM!August 28, 2008 I purchased one of these when they first came out in May. I loved the video! Much better than my Canon TX1 or my Sanyo CG6! The sound was ok. There was no noise from the auto focus/zoom motor.It was a very early production model. It kept locking though so I had t return it. I then purchased another one thru amazon and noticed right away the there was a horible noise coming from the auto focus/zoom motor everytime it had to refocus or if you zoomed. You could feel it in your hand and during playback you hear a very-very noticable ratceting/clicking type noise. It just totally ruins the important moments I captured. I sent it back to amazon. They sent me another replacement and I could not believe it but it was even worse! I have sent it back to and still waiting for a refund. Amazon says that the problem must be more widespread than they had originally thought! Well I have not totally given up on Aiptek. They have just come out with a new model called the Aiptek A-HD. It does not have a mechanical zoom so it cannot make noise. The price is also less at 169.00!!
UPDATE: The new Aiptek Action camera does not have the zoom motor noises but overall is still the same camera. I just bought a new Kodak V1253 that blows every other camera I have purchased away in all areas except the Sanyo HD1000 has slightly better video but that's it so I am now using a very inexpensive Kodak V12530 over my 800.00 Sanyo HD1000
Bad Audio; Bad video; Bad still pictureAugust 17, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have owned this camcorder for nearly six months. It has been a very disappointing purchase.
The audio gets very scratchy at times. I have seen this happening when recording musical programs where there is continuous loud audio. Video quality is so-so. In the name of HD, it creates huge video (.MOV) files, but the videos that I capture from my Sony MiniDV camcorder (in DV format) are much better in clarity and quality. The zoom is almost useless because of the absence of steady-shot feature. Even with a tripod, I have seen the video quality reduces with zooming, though it shouldn't happen with the optical zoom.
Still pictures: It is very easy to mess up a picture. Half of my still pictures come out to be out-of-focus or shaken.
If you are not in a hurry to go HD and if you are considering this camcorder because of the attractive price, WAIT... I can see that the Sonys and Canons are coming down on price.
A beginner's HD DV, what it is supposed to beAugust 13, 2008 This is my first DV as I always hesitate if I need a DV or not. I know many people who own a DV but told me that they only use it twice a year after spending a few hundred bucks and then it is out of date. I decided to try one just for the reason that it is inexpensive, under $200 and found the video quality is so good. Now I've used it for couple of months and I would give 4 star review for it. It is a perfect beginner's HD DV, as what it is supposed to be. First, the video quality is so good in 720P, I put some screen capture online and one can hardly tell the difference with those still images captured with a digital camera. Even in low light conditions like indoor or at night, the noise is still very low. I'm surprised how they could do that with a CMOS sensor. I know some DC can capture videos in 640X480 or even 1024X768, but they use the sensor in fast exposure mode and use motion-jpeg compression, the video noise is very high. It is an idiot proof consumer product, there's not much you need to set or control, just turn it on, start and stop recording, zoom in and out, review, turn on light. It is so compact that you can put it into your purse or pocket. It uses SD card, which is inexpensive now, buy a 4GB sdhc and you are all set(almost two hours recording time). Take the SD card out and put it into your computer, then you can play it with many software like quicktime. I never tried the software comes with the package but I recommend Kmplayer, which is free and you can download anywhere. Its decoder is the only one that plays the video clips on my 1.3G laptop smoothly. The battery life is short, like 30-45 mins, but I found most of the clips I shot are no longer than 5 mins. and I do know this is common for most if not all HD consumer DV's. Try searching reviews for those sony and canon one. Fortunately it comes with two batteries in the package. The biggest problem is it does not have anti-shake or image stabilization function, so you have to hold it very steady to get good shot. Unfortunately, for consumer DV, I found it is always a problem, even those who have IS function, they still have the problem. The CMOS camcorders use rolling shutter, which causes weird effect like smear. even for those expensive one. so my suggestion is: using a tripod, or don't move while shooting. And audio, the most clear sound it can capture is the voice from the guy who is shooting. Outdoors, the wind will make a noise. But again, do some research you will find it is again a common problem for consumer DV. Fortunately this does not bother me, I only enjoy the image but not the sound most of the time. when I edit the clips, I simply replace the audio with music as background. If audio is important for you, try find one which can use external directional mic. A minor issue is its plastic feeling and smell, which makes it felt cheap, very bad marketing in US. but don't be fooled by the outlook, it is worth every penny. so I would highly recommend this one if you are planning buying a DV and don't want to spend a lot money. Canon HF100 is another option, which will drop below $[...] soon. or Samsung at $[...]. you can review HD clips at www.vimeo.com before making your decision.
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