Review: Aiptek PocketDV AHD200 HD Camcorder


If you're looking for a handy, pocket-sized cam that doesn't take itself too seriously and with which you can shoot no-fuss YouTube style instant movie clips, then take a look at Aiptek's PocketDV AHD200.


Frontal view: Aiptek PocketDV AHD200 camcorder
If you're an eBay regular you'll no doubt have seen lots of pocket-sized camcorders for sale bearing the name Aiptek. Like me, you've probably wondered if they'd be OK for use in grabbing short video snippets of everyday life or holiday happenings even if they don't quite come up to the spec of a proper camcorder with a higher specification and level of functionality. Perhaps what puts you off is a brand name that isn't one of those we associate with high-quality consumer electronics products, which in turn gives rise to your suspicions about whether or not the product is worthy of your hard-earned cash. Have no fear - you are not alone.

A recent addition to the German company's increasing range of home electronics products claims to record and playback high definition 1280x720 video clips, something that interested me upon being offered a review sample. But was such a low-cost gadget worth the time and effort involved in a SimplyDV review? Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to take a look at the new Smart High Definition PocketDV AHD200. Here's what I've come up with.

First impressions


Straight out of the box, the first thing you notice is that it's very light - much lighter than the Sanyo Xacti HD1000 that could be considered a competitor for your money, or perhaps even the Panasonic SDR-SW20 standard definition SD model, too. Thankfully, the AHD200's battery came fully charged and was therefore ready for use. The Power On button is on the left of the LCD frame, and once pressed we're up and running in a second. The cam uses high capacity SD cards (not supplied with the camera) to record and playback movie clips and still pictures.

It's very easy to use, and once powered up a complete newbie can be recording video clips with the press of a single Record button. The on-screen menu system is well laid out, with graphic icons making operation quick and easy. What few buttons are provided are sufficient for you to work out what does what, and having recorded a clip you'll be able to play it back immediately. In fact, if you can use a mobile phone without thinking about what you're doing you can cope with the Aiptek camcorder without a problem. In that respect, it's very well designed.

The card itself slots in the bottom of the main body, which is shaped to provide reasonable palm-sized comfort, bearing as it does a pistol-grip body form. Simple playback controls are situated on the left of the LCD frame, with a main control dial situated on the upper rear of the body. This has main Mode and Menu buttons, in addition to a Digital Still Picture button. In the centre of this dial is a mini joystick with which to navigate and make menu selections. A video light is built in to the front of the camera directly beneath the lens.

Features


The AHD200 uses a 5 megapixel, 2592 x 1944, CMOS image sensor to generate movies and still images which are saved to an SD (or SDHC) card. It offers video recording that conforms to the secondary HD specification of 1280x720 (horizontal, vertical) pixels and offers Progressive "p" recording to build complete frames rather than two-field interlaced frames (for the techie-minded among you). That's not quite up to the full HD spec, which is 1920x1080 pixels, but it's still consistent with that being employed by many digital TV broadcasters who boast "HD" output - such as mainstream European TV networks - and the fact that it's 720p is a bonus. It's also possible to record in the traditional 4:3 ratio standard definition format (NTSC spec) of 720 x 480 pixels, in addition to CIF specification movies at 352 x 288 pixels.

Aiptek AHD200 with menu in LCD
High definition recording utilises the AVC (Advanced Video Codec) .MOV H.264 codec for its 1280 x 720p compressed HD video. Although at first glance it might seem this is AVCHD (as used by other mainstream HDD, SDHC and DVD HD camcorders), it isn't quite the same codec; instead, the camera saves its video files to SD media as .mov files. This does, however, have the advantage of being easily transferrable and playable in any Quicktime-equipped PC that meets the minimum operating spec. Naturally, it can be easily handled in any late-model Apple Mac, since Quicktime is integral to Mac OSX.

JPEG format stills resolution is selectable between 8 MP (3200 x 2400), 5 MP (2592 x 1944) and 3 MP (2048 x 1536) at 4:3 picture aspect ratio. Also of interest is the fact that the camera can be used as a voice recorder, too; recording to WAV format, the unit makes it easy to hit the record button and use the camera's own microphone to record direct to the SD card for later exporting via USB.

Manual controllability is minimal, however; white balance options are sufficient to cope with most common lighting situations, being Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent and Tungsten. Built-in digital video effects offered are Normal, Black & White and Classic. Using on-screen guides, and by manipulating the mini-joystick, it's possible to vary the exposure setting, as is setting the audio level when making WAV voice recordings.

Here's a selection of grabs direct from the camcorder's onscreen menu system to illustrate the display:

Screen grabs showing menu operation of the Aiptek AHD200

Connectivity


Under a flap at the bottom rear is an AV/Headphone output socket (cabled supplied for connection to analogue TV or recorder), USB 2.0 socket and HD out socket (cables for both also supplied). In the case of the latter, a three-pole 3.5mm jack leads to a set of Red, Green and Blue YUV-Component output plugs. There's no provision for HDMi output on this model. The very thin Li-ion rechargeable battery slips into its compartment after slipping down the right side body panel and is very easily accessible. The USB socket is used by the AC unit to charge battery - very useful because it also means that the camera can be charged using the USB connections of a laptop computer or other device in much the same way as can be achieved with iPods and MP3 players.

Performance


Switching it on launches you straight into recording mode, and pressing the Mode button you're into the Settings menu. It's here where you can choose between Setting, Camcorder, MyWorks and Voice Recorder modes. We thought it useful to be able to select between PAL or NTSC, 50Hz or 60Hz TV-out modes respectively.

Using the camcorder and camera itself is very easy - just point and shoot. With everything set to default, it's possible to shoot pretty good video and audio. However, it's important to note that due to the nature of the compression and the obvious smallness of the CMOS sensor (Aiptek hasn't published this info) you'll find that images with less movement have a better quality than those in which the subject is moving.

Here's a still (taken of a MOV clip's playback in Quicktime on an Apple Mac's screen) from a clip recorded with the AHD200, reduced from 1280 to 680 horizontal pixels and converted to JPG:

Frame of Aiptek AHD200's playback in Quicktime

and here's an actual size segment of that same frame:

Frame segment from Aiptek AHD200's playback in Quicktime

The heavy blocky pixellation is clear to see on the water splashes. That said, it's fair to say that the camcorder's picture electronics cope very well in all general situations both outdoors under optimum light and indoors under reasonable light levels. Picture quality drops off significantly in darker situations, as you'd expect for a camera at this point in the market. Audio recording is reasonable for such a device, although the onboard microphone does suffer from the effects of moderate wind hitting it. As a Voice Recorder, the AHD200 isn't that remarkable - at least if you were thinking of using to record the kind of audio that can be published, anyhow. The default 88 kbps WAV file results from a 11.025 Khz sampling rate at 4 bit stereo. Our 23 sec test resulted in a 254.1kb test file. The quality was good enough for a convenient audio memo device but no more.

Editing and Sharing


In order to facilitate import and editing of clips on Windows/Vista PCs, Aiptek has included special software on a bundled CD called HD-DV Decoder. This software will enable desktop playback of the .MOV files at their full 1280 x 720p resolution using Quicktime as the media player. Apple Mac users don't need to worry at all; simply connect the camcorder via its USB cable (or insert the SD card into a suitable card reader) and two folders will mount the Mac desktop automatically - one for Digital Stills, the other for Movie files. These .MOV can be opened in Quicktime for full-screen playback or imported into iMovie HD or '08 for further work and then exported as desired. Whether the files can be opened in other video applications depends upon their ability to work with AVC H.264 clips. Note, however, that YouTube can accept such clips without any problem, so you could go direct with your movies if desired.

Conclusion


As we always like remind you, we at SimplyDV insist on assessing a product with its target market sharply in focus. The Aiptek AHD200 isn't going to be in any way appropriate for high quality television production (of course), and nor is intended to be. If you're intent on shooting and editing high-quality home digital movie-making where the finished, edited, results will be viewed on the best flat-screen LCD and Plasma displays, you should look elsewhere. This particular product is clearly aimed at the fun end of the market - those users who want to have a handy little device capable of grabbing those special, unplanned, moments on special occasions or days out with friends and family.

If the aim is to grab short movie clips that can be uploaded to YouTube, MySpace or other social networking and media sharing site, then it's ideal. So, with that specific type of usage in mind, it seems pretty good value for money and therefore recommended.



Reviewed by: CB. April 2008.

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