Aiptek HD-1 720p High Definition Camcorder

Comments about Aiptek HD-1 720p High Definition Camcorder:

I bought this camera to document a vacation. Overall, I would recommend it for the casual cinematographer.

Some Pros:
-Ease of use
-Good battery life
-Price
-Microphone input jack (not listed in B&H's product description)
-Weight/Compact Size
-Durable (survived Disneyland)
-Easy computer copatibility

Some Cons:
-Small viewscreen
-Poor audio quality
-Not so good in very low light despite night shot function
-Takes blurry still shots almost every time
-No image stabilization
-4x Digital zoom is nice but transition is choppy

This camera is definitely worth the price you'll pay for it, but lacks some "comfort" features.

Comments about Aiptek HD-1 720p High Definition Camcorder:

Just finished a basic run thru on this product to try everything out and see how it works. This was a first time camera for my teenage daughter. Wanted to get her a basic camcorder that is compact but allows her to learn and create reasonably good video, with minimal bells and whistles.For a compact, hi Def camcorder in the $50-$100 range, after a lot of research, this seemed like the best choice. So far, it has lived up to or exceeded my expectations.Remember, any compact digital camcorder in this range is not going to have the features or picture quality of a $300-$600 or higher level product. But many products in this price range are awful quality and/or have almost no useful features for someone who is trying to learn how to produce good video. Typical bad points for the camera -- video quality is okay, but not great, just like most cameras in this price range. I'd say it is better than average for the group, especially in good light (daytime). The FLip camcorder is not noticeably better. Heard others say the HD-1 720 is awful in low light - not true. It has several light settings for artificial and sunlight, they work well to keep colors reasonably natural inside.Camera movement can really mess up the shot if it isn't smooth -- all mini cams are prone to this though - no stabilzation on this model.The ability to zoom while filming sounds nice - works very poorly - jerks from zoom in to out, or vice-versa, in several jerky increments - don't do it.Audio is average for a tiny on-board mic (that means it is pretty awful). This is the worst point on this product. Good news here -- This cheap little unit actually comes with a mic jack so you can plug in a higher quality external mic! I am going to buy a compact stereo mic that plugs directly into the jack on top and this will massively improve the audio. With the MP-3 record capacity and a good exteranl mic, this will really be intersting to try capturing live music.*Down side here, you can't tell if the unit you purchase will have the external mic. apparently, according to customer service, some units have the jack, some don't. Go figure? [...] Good luck.Good stuff -- it is light, easy flip out screen with good brightness for monitoring while shooting. Simple controls and easy downloading direct to PC. Software worked fine for viewing clips. Two other really good points -- It has the slot for SD memory cards up to 32gb, so you can really store a lot of video. It creates clips in Quicktime .mov codec. This is rare for this level unit and is a better codec for editing video and converting to other format -- better quality.For [$] you can't get much more in terms of serious, useful features for a digital camera. hope the construction quality is sound, can't comment on that my daughter hasn't got her hands on it yet!

Comments about Aiptek HD-1 720p High Definition Camcorder:

My wife and I wanted to get a camcorder that was affordable and able to capture some memorable moments of our young children. We find this one acceptable for its purpose. What's nice about the camcorder is that it is light, compact, and records HD. Its easy to use and I like the grab and point design. The 1GB internal storage is a nice bonus feature. What's not so great about the camcorder is the absence of features and convenience. The zoom in/out feature, for example, is rather clumsy. Sometimes when I press to zoom in, it zooms out since the key is small. Also, navigating the display menu is cumbersome. In the final analysis, it shoots HD videos and is acceptable for our purposes.

Comments about Aiptek HD-1 720p High Definition Camcorder:

My son was looking for a "first" video camera- so we got this one for him.
He seems to like it, let's be frank- a HD camera that cost this much is not going to have a lot of bells and whistles. but then again- if someone is just looking to experiment a bit with video - getting images that are better than web cam quality...
So far so good- it takes a nice picture, seems easy to use, it hooks up directly to our Mac.
If it is something he gets into we can always upgrade next year.