High quality, solid state, portable video recorder!
Written: May 09 '07 (Updated May 10 '07)
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Pros: 640x480 video recording was seamless with excellent audio streaming, long battery life
Cons: Poor flash photography, Shutter lag, Charging requires removal of battery
The Bottom Line: Buy a $20, 1Gb memory card, throw camera in car and start shooting those candid family moments!
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| rgathright's Full Review: Aiptek DV5700 Digital Camera |
The Aiptek IS-DV 5MP is a 6-1 multi function digital device. Still Pictures, Video, Voice Recording, MP3 playback, Video playback and PC Camera among other inheritable features such as a SD card reader when the camera is connected to a PC. The camera attracted me with its low price while shopping in Target. After getting used to it, I took this camera along on a week long trip to Florida. I never lost a charge and made over 1.5 Gbs of content with this camera on the trip.
The video camera is not an SLR. Please do not expect professional quality images from this camera. However if you want to shot video outdoors or around the house, this is the camera for you. I have tried over five different brands and sizes of secure digital cards successfully in this camera. I suggest always using the 640x480 mode so that your video is DVD quality.
Ease of Use
The camera has a silver power button on top of its body to allow quick on and off operation. Once pressed on, expect three seconds before you can take pictures or video. Pictures require the pressing of another silver button on top of the camera's body. Video mode can be activated and immediately start recording once you press a silver button with a red dot in the middle, on the back of the camera.
Changing the memory card can be done with the camera on! The camera's real-time memory card management makes it shine amongst all other cameras in the category of cheap cameras. If you run out of space, pop out the memory card from the bottom of the camera and insert a new one! I have used this undocumented feature several times without a problem.
The camera can use the standard threaded tripod mount as well. I have a block of wood with a bolt in the middle that I use to mount the camera on while offroading. I place the wooden camera mount on the rollbar of my jeep and strap it down with velcro. As a result my offroading video has a unique camera angle that no other offroaders can get. Since the camera is so cheap, I am not worried about destroying it either. Try it yourself sometime... YouTube is waiting!
Shutter Lag
A shutter lag of 1/3 of a second can be expected in bright light conditions. Expect 2/3 of a second shutter lag in lower light conditions. Video shutter lag seems to be 1/3 of a second as well.
Photo / Video Quality
Still pictures look good in bright light conditions. Do not take this camera to an indoor wedding and expect great images. However, I used this camera to shot candid still photos at an outdoor wedding. The pictures lost their sharpness around at a viewing ratio of 1:1 but 1:2 viewing of the 2560x1920 image shows no defects to the naked eye. The image shows distortion at all four corners as well. The cheap lens system is the reason for all of these problems. Flash photography aggravates this problem because the flash seems to reflect off the lens system making large blurry images.
Videos are this camera's strong point. The onboard video processing logic can swiftly store large volumes of data giving a 640x480 20 frame per second rate with what seems to be 64Kbps single channel audio. Provide outdoor light and start shooting video, the camera will capture good video at a night time football game. I shot a couple of quarterback sacks given by the McNeese State University defense last year during a night game and was able to send them to friends with no problems.
The still picture zoom is horrible. Expect pixilation every step of the way to 4.0X digital zoom.
The video zoom was great. I shot some offroad video of my Jeep and was able to easily zoom in over 100 ft away on the Jeep while shooting. The jeep was on a beach in Florida throwing sand into the air. To get the shot, I had to stand on a chair while shooting, thanks to solid state technology and stabilization the video had no jumps in between frames. Another reason why this camera loves to hitch rides on my Jeep's rollbar!
Sample Videos
Here is a link to a night video shot with this camera:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1505021928973438329
Battery Life
Expect the battery to last three months in an all black Jeep sitting in the sun. Heavy constant use (512Mb of photos and video a day) has shown a need to recharge every two days, longer periods were seen but should not be expected. The battery is a Lithium-Ion battery. A Lithium-Ion battery must be recharged immediately if brought down to a zero power state. If not the battery will lose the ability accept a charge over the next two days, causing it to die. Tragically, to charge the battery you must remove it from the camera and place it in a stand. My rating would have been five stars if the camera had an onboard battery charger.
Software
I never installed the camera software on my Windows XP based PC. Instead I used a secure digital memory card reader and pulled the files of the card. My DVD authoring software had no problem converting the video and image files to DVD. As a software developer, I am very cautious about installing unnecessary camera software. Windows XP/Vista will recognize most secure digital card readers and most DVD drives come with DVD authoring software. All images and video taken on this camera can be seen on a basic install of Windows XP Home. Why fill your registry and hard disk with more software?
Specifications
Measures 1.8Wx2.45Hx4.0D inches
13Mb of built-in memory (not accessible if SD card inserted)
Up to 1Gb of SD memory can be used in the single onboard card slot has rubber boot for extra protection on the move.
Lithium-ion battery that is replaceable by manufacturer.
640x480 VGA video @ 20FPS
320x240 QVGA video @ 30FPS
5.0,3.1,1.3 MP Still picture capture.
4X Digital Zoom
AV Output that supports NTSC/PAL systems
USB 2.0 jack
Headphone jack
1.8" LTPS color LCD Display
RCA Video/Audio interface cable, software, small headphones, charger, carrying case, strap included.
Focus Range: Macro 40 centimeters, Normal 250 centimeters to infinity.
Flash is a built-in strobe
Tiny annoying speaker
Summary
For $145 this video camera has replaced my Mustek DV4500. I threw this camera around, ran it's battery down and let it sit in a black Jeep in the sun for two days. After I did all this the camera was still running. The controls on the camera are not complicated like other video cameras in this genre either, remember the one touch video or picture buttons. I have owned three of these cameras for over a year now. In this brief time, I actually sold it twice to friends! While the still picture mode is not spectacular, the DVD quality video is. My favorite video so far is of my labrador doing a 20 foot long jump into the pool. The splash and sound were captured perfectly on video. I would gladly pay $300 for this camera if someone stole it from me. A cheap camera also makes a great personal security tool, simply hold it after an auto accident or in an uncomfortable situation to give the other person the fear of video surveillance! All this being said, one could make the case that a cheap camera like this could easily be used by the younger and older generations for years to come!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 145
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
rgathright
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Member: Reuben Gathright
Location: Lake Charles, LA
Reviews written: 235
Trusted by: 131 members
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