Amazing HTDV for the price

When I first heard of Aiptek cameras I had to admit I was more than a bit doubtful. I work with professional video cameras which exceed $40,000 in price every day, and simply could not believe one could obtain anything usable for under $500, especially in a high resolution format.

After stumbling across a blog discussion of low cost HDTV cameras, including Aiptek products, I sought out sample videos on the web. They were, frankly, not very good. The people who posted them online really didn't understand the process of optimization of video for the web, and the results were underwhelming. The sample images chosen gave no idea of what the camera could -really- do. I only became interested again in Aiptek HDTV cameras after a special xmas sale at Best Products with the A-HD selling for $119. I took a leap of faith, and bought one

Initial impression of the physical camera is one of incredible lightness - it cannot be much more than a few ounces WITH battery and SD card. It is, by far, the lightest camera I have ever held. The shape of the camera, with a pop-out view finder which also acts as a power switch is very similar to the Sharp solid state camera, but much lighter. The pop-out viewfinder seems well made and not likely to break off unless one is very careless. The tripod screw mount on the bottom of the camera body is made of industry standard brass, which is perfect for a small tripod, or, my favorite, suction-cup stick-on camera mounts used in cars or in any location with a smooth surface (like a table top, room window, picture frame, etc. Controls are simple - just three push buttons in the back and one in the front - all fairly easy to understand and use. The built in menu system displayed on the viewfinder makes configuration a breeze. Overall, the layout and build quality of this little camera far exceeds what one would expect from such an inexpensive device. The only drawback I can think of is the lack of an integrated lenscap or lens shield. This camera is a size that invites you stash it away in your regular camera bag, or your purse or briefcase, or even glovebox in your car, and the little dangling plastic cap supplied can be dislodged too easily to be of any use. The addition of a small lens cover integrated into the body of the camera would be a welcome addition.

As for image quality, the results can be very good, depending on how you take the photograph or video clip. The lens of this camera appears to have a fixed aperture setting - the opening that allows light into the imaging chip remains at the same size all the time, no matter how light or dark the scene being photographed. What changes is the shutter speed, or time per frame exposed. For example, footage taken at high noon on a sunny day has incredibly sharp edges which show no sign of motion blurring, frame to frame, on fast moving subjects. A water fountain shot in bright light has perfect little spheres of water captured in frames that must be less than 1/500th of a second in duration. There is nothing wrong with this method of exposure, but forget getting dreamy, smearing video outside unless you experiment with a dark grey filter perhaps. Shooting at night can yield some interesting results. If the built in 'nightshot' mode is turned on, the camera reduces the frame rate to 15 frames per second, summing the light gathered from two frames into one, much as the way the chips in the Hubble space telescope image very dark stars with longer exposures. If the subject or the camera move, the blurring of the subject can be very distracting. For still photography, a built in flash can illuminate your subject well, with a surprisingly strong output from the tiny flash module at the front of the camera.

As for sharpness and quality of still images, I would recommend this kind of camera primarily for web sites photography, or, in the video realm, youtube. I printed up a few photographs on 8X10 inkjet photo paper on a Epson 2200p professional printer, and was quite impressed. Not award winning, but very usable. Reduced to a more reasonable 4X5 or 5X6 and the images look great. Focusing this camera is not much of an option - it has two modes, 'macro' about 10" from the lens and 'distant' everything past 2 feet. The macro mode take a bit of getting used to, but I managed to gather a few very impressive images which impressed my former photography professor. The brightly lit video footage was very impressive, but remember, with a shutter speed so high, every little shake is perfectly recorded - a very bad thing for such a small camera. One would be advised to follow simple guideline use for all videography. 1-stand still, 2-frame up your subject and plan your pan or other camera movement before you start shooting, and, most importantly, be SURE to get at least 10 seconds of very stable video of your subject before moving the camera. Don't move the camera around like a paintbrush.
Even with moderately shaky camera movements, one can greatly improve the output of this camera with a good video editing program and software image stabilization. Adobe Premier, Apple Final Cut, and iMovie have either built in image stabilization filter or have low cost optional image stabilization available.

All in all, a fine camera for utility purposes, and a great experimental camera for both budding filmmakers and seasoned pros needing a throw away and unwilling to throw again >$200

I recommended it to two of my brothers, one, a building contractor needing job site documentation photography and the other a producer of cable TV programming. He is always looking for new ideas for shows, and needs a camera to capture those inspirational moments.