New 720p Pocket cam $169. Aiptex A-HD at DVinfo.net

Wayne Morellini · August 29th, 2007, 12:44 PM

Looks like an improvement over the Go model in ways.

http://www.aiptek.com/Merchant2/merc...&Store_Code=AS

http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...m_id=92&page=1

An review:
http://forums.steves-digicams.com/fo...96&forum_id=92

Still trying to find out details of HD component out.

Lawrence Bansbach · August 29th, 2007, 03:13 PM

No 24p. Yawn.

Wayne Morellini · August 30th, 2007, 07:09 AM

Funny, no 24p an serious disadvantage for an $169 HD camera ;). 30p good for the US, no 25p is the kicker for Australia and Pal market. The low data-rate of all these cameras is the real sore point. 9mb/s h264 25p would be acceptable, 18mb/s preferable.

Nicolas Charbonnier · September 6th, 2007, 10:10 PM

In theory 720p doesn't have to be more then 4mbit/s when using Mpeg4 or H264. It just depends I think on the quality of the encoding. So my question is how good is that chip. I shot a sample footage using that camcorder at IFA 2007 and I'm posting it at http://techvideoblog.com/ifa/?year=2007

My goal with a 720p camcorder today would be to shoot HD for video-blogs, which looks perfect on computer screens and which look better than DVD on big screens and using projectors. So for me less than 4mbit/s might be just perfect, I just think it's also important that it records good sound quality and also supports an external microphone.

And I'd rather actually have a DivX 720p camcorder then a H264 720p camcorder even though h264 might improve compression by about 10%.

Kurth Bousman · September 7th, 2007, 07:51 AM

Does anyone own this camera , or has anyone owned the go model ? From the buyer reviews I've seen , the quality of the product is very low , but about a 1/3 get an acceptable camera . Does that mean I need to buy 3 ??

Jeff Zimmerman · September 12th, 2007, 02:47 PM

Just ordered one today from Aiptek website. Free car charger... Yippie... Otherwise I'm looking to find a camera that I can use to place on a bunch of motorcycle racers. If the first one is good. I'll buy 4 more to place all over the riders... Will post video when I recveive the camera. I know it probable won't have stablization but I plan on using FCP's "SmoothCam" feature. Which has given me great results before. Will check back...

Paul V Doherty · September 13th, 2007, 04:55 AM

No 24/25p?
It's not even worth buying as a paper weight.

Wake up, manufacturers!!!!!

Ralph Roberts · September 13th, 2007, 01:16 PM

looks like a fun little camera to me!

Jon Jaschob · September 13th, 2007, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Zimmerman

I'm looking to find a camera that I can use to place on a bunch of motorcycle racers.

Right, this is the camera to hook up to a skate board, motorcycle, dog, RC plane, hole in ground, railroad tracks, etc. Doesn't matter if the sound sucks or if it's shaky footage, it's for the impossible shot. Hell I'd wrap it in bubble wrap and throw it off a building!

If you get the shot, the file will be worth more than the camera :-)
Jon

Ken Hodson · September 14th, 2007, 09:21 PM

I'm also very interested in this units video quality. What control there is (if any) over image. And how well the cam works with movement, actual resolution, and low light. I do not care at all about audio.
There appears to be a HD resolution "Go" model that has better low light capability. Anyone help with this?
It seems like a fantastic option for specialty shots and long record time given how cheap the mem cards are.
I think I'm going to get one just for the analog-in view/record and media player functions.

Ken Hodson · September 14th, 2007, 10:43 PM

I found the manual here:
http://www.goaiptek.com/manuals/manual-ahd.pdf

Manual features include white balance and exposure. There is no explanation of how shutter works, but it isn't user selectable. It does state that night shot lowers shutter.

The Go-HD offers 3x optical zoom, and some free accessories, but doesn't inclued the analog in function. Any idea why it is 2x the price of the A-HD?

PS- one shocker I found was these cams offer a histogram! Huh!

Steve Nunez · September 17th, 2007, 05:34 PM

Saw one- bought one............WOW!
This thing is worlds better than the JVC HD10U or HD 1! Does a much better job of handling highlights (but does blow out extremes- but much better at holding bright areas!)
This camera produces much better footage than my $1600 JVC Everio HD7! I simply can't believe how good this plastic fantastic is. Everything about it screams "toy" but it does produce very nice, sharp, footage. It produces .mov files that have these properties-
http://www.stevenunez.com/GoHDMediaProp.jpg
and is surprisingly good at low light levels (much better than the HD10U/HD1 or HD7!!!)

How Aiptek can do this for $279 is beyond me- kinda makes you wonder what these companies are really paying for these so called "expensive" CMOS sensors.

The downside is no image stabilization at all- NONE! No manual controls other than some preset white balance options and EV adjustments a few steps in either direction (I believe the less expensive model doesn't offer this- but not certain.)
If Aiptek can produce this camera that shoots to SD cards (and they don't have to be high speed HC type either- standard SD is suffice) I can't imagine why Canon or Panasonic can't do the same but on a higher level! Full manual controls, focus ring, mic input, custom WB, optical IS etc.........this is what we want!!!!!!!!!

Guys trust me on this one- if you can do with the shortcomings I've listed- this camera will knock your socks off! This camera has single handedly killed the Sanya Xacti camera- which has horrible low-light shooting (but better manual controls.)

(Mac users note: Call Aiptek and ask them for Firmware 1.5- they don't officially support it but will email it to you upon request. It will allow the camera to be used as a card reader <even SDHC cards> and when recharging via USB port it will mount the card on the Mac OSX desktop- allowing full access to the video files!)

I really hope a "Pro" version get's released- this thing is great and shoots progressive 720P.........makes me smile every time I pick it up.......all for $279!

(You can even find them on sale at various shops- I've seen them under $240 with discount!)
Have fun and let us know what you think about yours!

Pat Griffin · September 17th, 2007, 07:14 PM

Let's see some footage then...

Evan Donn · September 17th, 2007, 11:01 PM

Just picked up an A-HD at Circuit City for $150... too dark now to shoot much test footage but I'll upload some samples tomorrow.

Overall impressions - it's small, light, cheap and simple. As Steve noted the only image control options are white balance and exposure compensation - everything else is auto. It's not something I'd recommend buying if you have expectations of using it for professional work.

That said, the image quality looks pretty good so far. At 4Mbit/s it's definitely pushing the limits of h.264 for 720p res - this mostly seems to manifest itself during fast pans, with the image going soft and then sharpening up again when the camera stops moving. We'll see tomorrow if it's as noticeable in bright light.

This looks to be a great travel cam - I'm not going to carry my XHA1 on vacation, but I can see taking this with me almost anywhere I go. I'm also thinking it'll be good on my bike for road trips - almost like a helmet cam but without the hassle of cables, etc. No image stabilizer, so I'll have to mount it on me instead of the bike (twin vibrates enough to overwhelm OIS anyway). Only odd thing - again as Steve noted - the instructions say to hit record & close the LCD for longer battery life (which I'd like to do when riding) but as soon as you close the screen it shuts off. Still with a claimed 90 minute battery life, and 60 minutes per 2gig card, it's probably fine with the screen on - you can flip it down flush with the body to keep it out of the way.

Chris Harris · September 17th, 2007, 11:11 PM

I think at $150, there's not much to lose here, unless it's HORRIBLE, and it doesn't sound like it. As soon as I see some footage, I'm just about sold... maybe. I already have too many consumer camcorders.

August 29th, 2007, 12:44 PM	#1
Wayne Morellini Inner Circle Join Date: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,762	New 720p Pocket cam $169. Aiptex A-HD Looks like an improvement over the Go model in ways. http://www.aiptek.com/Merchant2/merc...&Store_Code=AS http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...m_id=92&page=1 An review: http://forums.steves-digicams.com/fo...96&forum_id=92 Still trying to find out details of HD component out.

September 12th, 2007, 02:47 PM	#6
Jeff Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Brighton, Colorado Posts: 386	Just ordered one today from Aiptek website. Free car charger... Yippie... Otherwise I'm looking to find a camera that I can use to place on a bunch of motorcycle racers. If the first one is good. I'll buy 4 more to place all over the riders... Will post video when I recveive the camera. I know it probable won't have stablization but I plan on using FCP's "SmoothCam" feature. Which has given me great results before. Will check back... __________________ Jeff Zimmerman • Love what I do • Colorado + North America www.m3films.com

September 13th, 2007, 01:16 PM	#8
Ralph Roberts Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Alexander, NC Posts: 188	looks like a fun little camera to me! __________________ --Ralph Roberts, CEO 1VIDeo / aBOOKS / Creativity, Inc.

September 14th, 2007, 09:21 PM	#10
Ken Hodson Trustee Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 1,315	I'm also very interested in this units video quality. What control there is (if any) over image. And how well the cam works with movement, actual resolution, and low light. I do not care at all about audio. There appears to be a HD resolution "Go" model that has better low light capability. Anyone help with this? It seems like a fantastic option for specialty shots and long record time given how cheap the mem cards are. I think I'm going to get one just for the analog-in view/record and media player functions. __________________ Damnit Jim, I'm a film maker not a sysytems tech.

September 14th, 2007, 10:43 PM	#11
Ken Hodson Trustee Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 1,315	I found the manual here: http://www.goaiptek.com/manuals/manual-ahd.pdf Manual features include white balance and exposure. There is no explanation of how shutter works, but it isn't user selectable. It does state that night shot lowers shutter. The Go-HD offers 3x optical zoom, and some free accessories, but doesn't inclued the analog in function. Any idea why it is 2x the price of the A-HD? PS- one shocker I found was these cams offer a histogram! Huh! __________________ Damnit Jim, I'm a film maker not a sysytems tech.

August 29th, 2007, 03:13 PM	#2
Lawrence Bansbach Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 295	No 24p. Yawn.

August 30th, 2007, 07:09 AM	#3
Wayne Morellini Inner Circle Join Date: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,762	Funny, no 24p an serious disadvantage for an $169 HD camera ;). 30p good for the US, no 25p is the kicker for Australia and Pal market. The low data-rate of all these cameras is the real sore point. 9mb/s h264 25p would be acceptable, 18mb/s preferable.

September 6th, 2007, 10:10 PM	#4
Nicolas Charbonnier Tourist Join Date: May 2007 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Posts: 3	In theory 720p doesn't have to be more then 4mbit/s when using Mpeg4 or H264. It just depends I think on the quality of the encoding. So my question is how good is that chip. I shot a sample footage using that camcorder at IFA 2007 and I'm posting it at http://techvideoblog.com/ifa/?year=2007 My goal with a 720p camcorder today would be to shoot HD for video-blogs, which looks perfect on computer screens and which look better than DVD on big screens and using projectors. So for me less than 4mbit/s might be just perfect, I just think it's also important that it records good sound quality and also supports an external microphone. And I'd rather actually have a DivX 720p camcorder then a H264 720p camcorder even though h264 might improve compression by about 10%.

September 7th, 2007, 07:51 AM	#5
Kurth Bousman Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: san miguel allende , gto , mexico Posts: 644	Does anyone own this camera , or has anyone owned the go model ? From the buyer reviews I've seen , the quality of the product is very low , but about a 1/3 get an acceptable camera . Does that mean I need to buy 3 ??

September 13th, 2007, 04:55 AM	#7
Paul V Doherty Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: USA Posts: 64	No 24/25p? It's not even worth buying as a paper weight. Wake up, manufacturers!!!!!

September 17th, 2007, 05:34 PM	#12
Steve Nunez Trustee Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Pembroke Pines, Florida Posts: 1,418	Go-HD ~Get One right away!!! Saw one- bought one............WOW! This thing is worlds better than the JVC HD10U or HD 1! Does a much better job of handling highlights (but does blow out extremes- but much better at holding bright areas!) This camera produces much better footage than my $1600 JVC Everio HD7! I simply can't believe how good this plastic fantastic is. Everything about it screams "toy" but it does produce very nice, sharp, footage. It produces .mov files that have these properties- http://www.stevenunez.com/GoHDMediaProp.jpg and is surprisingly good at low light levels (much better than the HD10U/HD1 or HD7!!!) How Aiptek can do this for $279 is beyond me- kinda makes you wonder what these companies are really paying for these so called "expensive" CMOS sensors. The downside is no image stabilization at all- NONE! No manual controls other than some preset white balance options and EV adjustments a few steps in either direction (I believe the less expensive model doesn't offer this- but not certain.) If Aiptek can produce this camera that shoots to SD cards (and they don't have to be high speed HC type either- standard SD is suffice) I can't imagine why Canon or Panasonic can't do the same but on a higher level! Full manual controls, focus ring, mic input, custom WB, optical IS etc.........this is what we want!!!!!!!!! Guys trust me on this one- if you can do with the shortcomings I've listed- this camera will knock your socks off! This camera has single handedly killed the Sanya Xacti camera- which has horrible low-light shooting (but better manual controls.) (Mac users note: Call Aiptek and ask them for Firmware 1.5- they don't officially support it but will email it to you upon request. It will allow the camera to be used as a card reader <even SDHC cards> and when recharging via USB port it will mount the card on the Mac OSX desktop- allowing full access to the video files!) I really hope a "Pro" version get's released- this thing is great and shoots progressive 720P.........makes me smile every time I pick it up.......all for $279! (You can even find them on sale at various shops- I've seen them under $240 with discount!) Have fun and let us know what you think about yours! __________________ Steve Nunez-New York City www.stevenunez.com

September 17th, 2007, 07:14 PM	#13
Pat Griffin New Boot Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: USA Posts: 18	Let's see some footage then... __________________ "The real trouble with reality is there's no background music." grifmusic.com

September 17th, 2007, 11:01 PM	#14
Evan Donn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 795	Just picked up an A-HD at Circuit City for $150... too dark now to shoot much test footage but I'll upload some samples tomorrow. Overall impressions - it's small, light, cheap and simple. As Steve noted the only image control options are white balance and exposure compensation - everything else is auto. It's not something I'd recommend buying if you have expectations of using it for professional work. That said, the image quality looks pretty good so far. At 4Mbit/s it's definitely pushing the limits of h.264 for 720p res - this mostly seems to manifest itself during fast pans, with the image going soft and then sharpening up again when the camera stops moving. We'll see tomorrow if it's as noticeable in bright light. This looks to be a great travel cam - I'm not going to carry my XHA1 on vacation, but I can see taking this with me almost anywhere I go. I'm also thinking it'll be good on my bike for road trips - almost like a helmet cam but without the hassle of cables, etc. No image stabilizer, so I'll have to mount it on me instead of the bike (twin vibrates enough to overwhelm OIS anyway). Only odd thing - again as Steve noted - the instructions say to hit record & close the LCD for longer battery life (which I'd like to do when riding) but as soon as you close the screen it shuts off. Still with a claimed 90 minute battery life, and 60 minutes per 2gig card, it's probably fine with the screen on - you can flip it down flush with the body to keep it out of the way. __________________ My latest short documentary: "Four Pauls: Bring the Hat Back!"

September 17th, 2007, 11:11 PM	#15
Chris Harris Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Francisco, California Posts: 487	I think at $150, there's not much to lose here, unless it's HORRIBLE, and it doesn't sound like it. As soon as I see some footage, I'm just about sold... maybe. I already have too many consumer camcorders.