I got sucked into a spontaneous purchase the other day at Wal-Mart. I was walking by and saw they had an Aiptek Action HD Camcorder. It has several key features that had caught my eye in the previous weeks:
- It’s cheap ($199)
- It’s HD
I was in the market for a cheap, small, HD camcorder, and this seemed too good to be true. I wanted something I could use to take advantage of SmugMug’s HD video capabilities. I also wanted an optical zoom, and something that was able to accept a SDHC card. I was excited to find everything I wanted at a price comparable to a FLip camcorder.
Box errors
First off, a few corrections/clarifications to their specs on the box. The official name says “Aiptek Action HD 1080p Camcorder” which is inaccurate. Technically, it does support 1,080 lines of vertical resolution, however 1080p is generally accepted as 1920×1080, not the camera’s 1440×1080. Also, the box repeatedly says that 1440×1080 is a 16:9 aspect ratio, which it’s not (that’s 4:3).
Features
Once nice thing for me is that the camera records to a Quicktime movie using the h.264 codec. Perfect for displaying in Flash, and also editable by iMovie. It’s small, remarkably light, and charges over USB. It comes with a case, mini tripod, remote, wall charger, and all cables you could ever need. It powers on when you flip the LCD screen open, and is ready to record almost instantly. The camera connected to my Mac perfectly using a USB cable, and both the built-in storage and the SD card showed up on my desktop as mass storage devices. Normally, I’d say use a card reader, but since this charges over USB, there’s no harm in never taking your SD card out of the camera.
Shooting video is a snap. Open the LCD screen, hit the record button, and you’re off. It can’t take pictures while it’s recording a video, but I never intended to take pictures with this device. The zoom controls are easy to use, however, the zoom is pretty much useless. The auto-focus constantly searches around at any focal length greater than around 10mm. I’ll try again in daylight, but I’m not sure if that’s going to make any real difference.
Here’s a few video samples:
Normal Mode Click Here for High-Def
Normal Mode Click Here for High-Def
As you can see, the quality is really perfect for web viewing. The Macro mode performs well, and the LED lights on the camera actually do provide enough lighting to shoot in darker places. Uploading to SmugMug was a snap… All I had to do was upload it, and SmugMug did the rest.
Overall, I rate this camera as a great deal, for use as a camera for posting video online.
Expect a followup review once I’ve had awhile to play with this some more.
Greetings Iotashan:
I think you made a great choice in getting the Aiptek Action HD.
You are correct this camcorder is not 1920 X 1080 its 1440 X 1080.
Other reviews about this camcorder mention that the 1280 X 720 at 60 FPS is the best mode to make videos.
Its really too bad that for us Canadians we can not get this Camcorder for now.
But I’m awaiting for someone to post an ad on Ebay Canada.
Hope you submit more test videos, they look great.
Regards Robert
Yes, the 720p/60fps setting is the best mode, by far. That’s what all these sample videos are.
Are you sure that this camera will accept the SDHC card? i really want to get this camera but only if it will accept both SD and SDHC memory cards. thank you
@Gio Yes, it takes SDHC cars. I’m using an 8gb Class 6 from Transcend right now.
I BOUGHT ONE OF THESE CAMERAS 3 DAYS AGO AND THE SDHC 4GH CARD WORKS GREAT !
THE ONLY THING MISSING IS A VIDEO STABILIZER,IT WOULD BE WORTH THE EXTRA MONEY !
NOW I HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO BURN A DVD OF THE CAPTURED VIDEO.
awesome. thank you for your quick reply.
If the camera is 3:2 why your sample videos are Widescreen 16:9 ?
@Juan: I said that their supposed 1080p mode is 3:4. The 720p mode is the proper 16:9, and is what my review (and most others) are based on.
The 1080P mode IS 16:9. This camera like most consumer level cameras record video at 1440 x 1080, and use non square pixels give you a 16:9 image. You can view on a HD television at 16:9, not 4:3 picture.
@Aaron: You may be right, I may be crazy, but I just may be… unimpressed with this trickery from any manufacturer. 1080p is “supposed” to be 1920×1080. This square pixel thing is annoying, and would me that I’d have to upscale the videos to 1920×1080 before uploading them, which defeats the purpose. I’d rather stick with the 720p 60fps mode.
The 1080p thing is tricky, but some TVs do the exact same thing. And TVs are even worse, they have a ’safe area’ (or ‘title safe area’), so you don’t even see the full 1080p, it’s particularly noticeable if you hook up a PC to your TV and the edges are missing.
Shan, have you noticed/tested the camera’s resistance to shock? I picked up the same camera last week to use with a helmet cam in motocross thinking that no moving parts would be the way to go. I haven’t had a chance to use it in motocross yet, but just a modest tap on the camera unit causes it to stop recording and sometimes even power down completely. Have you seen anything like this with your unit?
@Tom: I just tried a shake/slap test with my camera, and it worked without stopping. I’d double-check that the battery is secure (I heard mine move during this test), and perhaps exchange it for another if you still have problems. Here’s the video (it’ll be done processing shortly): http://smith-hicks.smugmug.com/gallery/4882225_zwR8Z#299262795_MANTy
Thanks Shan, that’s exactly my issue. A small “shim” placed inside will address it for now while I check on an exchange of camera or battery. Thanks for the quick response!
Shan,
This looks like a great deal for a handy vacation camcorder that’s *very* appealing. What kind of battery life are you experiencing?
@David W: I haven’t run the battery out yet, but I haven’t shot more than 10 mins of video at a time. Aiptek sells, on their website, an extended battery for the camera, along with an external charger. I’m probably going to pick up a spare battery and the charger.
Are you saying the battery lasts only 10 minutes?
@Jim: No, I’m saying I haven’t shot more than 10 mins of video. The battery showed no sign of being slightly drained after 10 mins.
All HDV 1080 cameras, both consumer and professional, record 16×9 at 1440×1080. On playback, the video is resized on-the-fly to 1920×1080.
Yes, there are some AVCHD cameras that record “Full HD” at 1920×1080, but 1440×1080 is a perfectly acceptable method. The AIPTEK Action-HD isn’t doing anything out of the ordinary.
I just went to Wal Mart and bought one after reading yours and one other review. One thing I deeply appreciate is its simplicity. The User’s Manual is a sleek 4×6″ 16-pages TOTAL including disclaimers and FCC compliance statements. WOW.
I’m having some issues on the Windows platform. The videos play back very poorly, with lots of choppiness, even on a fast system. I’ve tried rendering the videos down to AVIs, and they play back much better, but the rendering takes FOREVER. It’s a deal breaker for my purposes, which are basically quick editing in Windows Movie Maker, and posting to YouTube.
I’ve tried using ffdshow to get the vids to play in Windows Media Player, but so far I’ve had the best luck with converting them to AVI in Super, and then importing them that way.
I’m assuming most everyone else is importing the native .MOV file right into Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas, rather than using Movie Maker? Is that correct? Better results? Any suggestions that will let me get away with not having to spend a lot of time converting? Thanks!
@Eric: I edit the movies using iMovie on my MacBook or Mac Pro. You do need a semi-powerful machine to play back any HD video, not just from this camcorder. Check out the system requirements for HD playback in Flash: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/productinfo/systemreqs/#recommended
Also, while technically the movies are .mov files, they are encoded in h.264 format.
I found my way through the poor playback issues. It’s not as much an issue of the quality/speed of the system as it is having the proper codecs. Once I got FFDshow involved, it was smooth sailing (I’m on Windows).
Another problem I am having, the Component Video out doesn’t work. I just get a garbled mess on my TV. I tried a second Action HD to see if it was just my camera or the cables, but I got the same result on both cameras and both sets of Component cables. I also tried both sets of Component jacks on my TV, and still no joy. I have a DVD player that is connected to the Component inputs on the TV, which works fine, so I’m confident it’s not the TV.
Has anyone else tried watching movies directly from the camera using the Component video? I’ve been able to get the Composite cables to work, but that’s obviously not the same quality.
I had the same problem trying to play back through component video inputs on a standard definition TV. I also confirmed that the problem wasn’t in the TV input.
Shan,
What is the difference between the Action HD and A-HD+? Which one is better?
Please advise.
Jim
Jim: The A-HD+ does not have an optical zoom, otherwise they seem to be identical. Considering the issues I’ve had with the zoom and auto-focus, I don’t know if you’d really be missing anything by going with the A-HD+
Shan,
Thanks a lot for the real-time response!!
I was about to cancel my Amazon A-HD+ order before seeking your advice. Now I decided not to cancel it.
Thanks again!!!
Jim
I am having same issue with play back on hd tv directly component cable is not working. I have called aipteck and try all the options but did not work it is not the tv. so the problem is on the cable or the camera. to get the cable by warranty, support from aiptek said it will take couple of months. so it is easy to return and get a new one. I am doing it in nex few days.
I did the same thing. Was walking thru Walmart and saw the unit (Action HD). So I had to try it. I had been at Circuit City looking but they were out of all Aiptek units. I was impressed with all the goodies that came “in the box” Tripod, Software conversion CD, Case, Remote and all the cables. When I downloaded my first video (1080P) to test I was disappointed it was very choppy. I then ran it direct to my HDTV and it was beautiful! So, I tried my wife’s new iMac and it worked great. Found out I needed to get a new version of Quicktime. Hand holding it in 1080 is not really a possibility, but in the 720P mode it works great. Overall very happy with it.
I purchased the Aiptek Action HD camcorder yesterday and ran into the same issues trying to play back the HD video on my two Sony HDTV’s using the component cable. I have since found an easy solution - use your receiver’s component pass through. Soon as I did that, I was able to get a 720p signal.
you are very lucky in the us buying this camcorder for 199.99 dollars.Here in rip off britain it is £200 plus over double the price.
colin
A note regarding my component video issues. I figured out that it *was* my tv–it is only capable of displaying 480i, 480p, or 1080i, and the camera automatically defaults to the resolution of the first video in the playback list when you plug it in to component cables. Since the first video was shot in 720p, and my tv can’t display 720p, I get a garbled picture. I tried the camera on a tv with the full range of resolutions (720i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc) and the camera worked just beautifully. And it is an *incredible* picture!
May be a bit of a late reply, but anyways….
Just wanted to say I absolutely love this little camera. It does have a few cons… but the pros always keep me from buying a new one.
I’m posting in this fashion cuz it still seems like there’s not very much info about this camera on the interwebz yet.
Pros:
Small, easily fits in your pocket. Ready to shoot in less than three seconds after opening screen.
Macro mode allows for incredible close-up video. When it says sharp at 2 inches… it means it.
Comes with all sorts of goodies that are usually extra, including table-top tripod, case, and all the cables you’d ever need.
You’ll never have to take out the SD card once you put it in.
Automatic white balance, exposure, and color definition is incredible and fast.
the HD video it shoots is comparable to high-end HD cameras. Srsly. Plug it into your HDTV and it’s like viewing the world through the eyes of God.
60 fps mode. 60 FPS mode. Very, very few HD cameras… even for hundreds more, offer such an option. even then… a 1200$ sony handycam offers 240fps… but only for 3 seconds at a time.
Handles movement and light changes very well.
Battery life, shooting here and there (not one continuous shot) lasted me a full days worth of shooting on and off. About 3-4 hours. That included some playback as well.
Now… unfortunately,
The Cons:
Autofocus absolutely sucks. And there’s no manual option. If your subjects are moving around a lot in the vid (closer and further), expect it to constantly be refocusing.
The audio is pathetic. It does not in any way match the video quality. If you’re serious about what you film, you’ll find this baby’s mic useless…
And there’s no mic input. Yes, it does have AV in… but it means just that. If you plug in a mic, it will not record because it expects there to be a video signal as well.
No hope for modding either… the mic is attached directly to the screen.
So if you’re more of the professional type… avoid this camera. Trust me. Now that I’ve picked it up… I love it too much to return it due to the sound… so I have to suck it up and record separately on my laptop.
Editing, even if your rig is up to date, is a pain (if you have windows, that is). About the only thing that can run the raw video decently is the software that comes with it. And editing is a whole different story… the only editor I’ve seen that can handle the raw video is Adobe Premiere… and until you render it, it runs very choppy.
On that note, if you record in beautiful 60fps… it’s very difficult to convert it/burn it to a DVD… because most budget DVD players, TVs, and editing/converting software don’t support 60fps.
The design is another issue. To me, these square stand-up type cameras ring low quality. I’d prefer the regular style with a strap on the side, but that’s just me.
And the screen doesn’t rotate all the way around.
It’s not a good idea to use nightshot mode. Ever. It makes the video choppy and doesn’t change the quality at all.
It’s difficult to get good video in low light with this camera. I’ve seen it done before, but… they prolly edited the gamma in post.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend filming the sequel to Cloverfield with it, but if you want an HD camera that’s an all around bucket-o-fun, the Aiptek action HD is for you.
Anyone having problems with a wavy picture some on the time in 720p?
Has anyone took this camera to a concert and tried to get video while there? I’m looking for a camcorder that will take good pictures, good quality video and will have clear and geat soud when at the concert. If this is not the camera for that then can someone please what kinda of camera would be good for concerts?
-Becky
Eric on June 12th: I’m having the same problem with this camera that you did with choppy HD video when Quicktime movies are played in Windows. You mentioned downloading FFDshow and also said the correct codecs are needed. What are the correct codecs I need and which version of FFDshow should I download? MMX or SSE? Can you provide a step-by-step process for me? Please advise.
Thank you.
Hi All. A note about square vs non-square pixles. I’m a professional in the video business, and I understand how confusing this can be. But simply put, ALL video for TV/broadcast uses non-square pixels at the moment it hits your tv screen. Standard def 4:3 digital video is 640×480 square pix, and 720 x 480 non-square. This is because your TV uses pixels that are in a .89w:1h aspect ratio. So if you multiply 720 by .89 you get 640. (NOTE-actually, the ratio is .88888…:1, but it is generally rounded up to .9). Standard def 16:9 video has pixels in a 1.2:1 aspect ration.
In the HD world, there are still more flavors. Yes, the HDTV spec is 1920×1080 square pixels. However, HDV (which the Action HD likely shoots) is 1440 x 1080, and is spec’d at a 1.33:1 pixel aspect ratio. So if your shooting 1440 1.33:1 pixels, this is the same as shooting 1920 1:1 (square) pixels. Hope this makes sense! If not, google on square vs non-square and you’ll get plenty of results to choose from. Also, looking at the presets in Photoshop CS2+ or AfterEffects will help make sense of this…
this camera says it turns on when you open it and off when you close it. can you keep it on when its closed? i want to use the av in to add a helmet cam so i will want it closed and in the bag.
Can you connect the camera directly to a non HDTV? and if so how good will the picture be?
Just wanted to suggest the cap from a plastic 35mm film container (cut out the inner ring) makes a great lens cap for this camera. I picked up a wide angle lens that uses a magnet/metal ring off the internet and it works and looks great.