Aiptek GO-HD High Definition 720p Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom

Not the most reliable, stable piece of equipment, but what do you want for the pricetag? I'd say it's a very amusing gadget and I'm prepared to see how far this little thing can go. This actually has an optical zoom, unlike the other models that have a "digital zoom" (completely useless as far as I'm concerned). The biggest minus is the sound - it's outright horrendous. Manual override with the other functions is not easy to implement. Picture wise it's a nice achievement, 720 P video for such a low price.

The camera works as advertised. It is portable, light weight, easy to configure, comes with a handy bag.

The only con is battery life. If you are planning to record a 3 hour long event, forget about this one.

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I admit that I am a geek and I'm proud of it. I love to explore new technologies and see how different designers approach the same problem.

I have had a little media production company for a few years which has allowed me to experiment with a lot of different equipment. High-end video cameras are great, but I also love the cheap little cameras sold by companies like Aiptek and Mustek. My interest in these cameras is based on their tiny size and tiny price. Unfortunately, the video quality has typically also been "tiny."

With that said, for little money you can buy a camera that serves both as a still camera and a video camera good enough to send videos of little Timmy's piano recital to grandma or to take some casual still shots. Several years ago I wrote a long review on the Aiptek IS-DV camcorder for E-pinions. Although the IS-DV was a seriously flawed machine it offered "good enough" performance, a very attractive price and a nice software bundle. Based on the above I thought it would be a great little camcorder for the above listed uses, especially for those on a tight budget.

So it was with great expectation I purchased the Aiptek "Go-HD" camcorder. This camera was bigger than the IS-DV but offered 750p resolution, a 5 MP camera, low light mode, auto focus (instead of fixed focus) and an optical zoom. I was very excited to try it out.

My overall impression has (unfortunately) been so-so.

Why?

1. Cost...The price of the Go-HD is dropping, I bought it when it had just come out and it was significantly more expensive than previous Aiptek products. It is significantly less expensive than a true HD camcorder. With that said you can now get a regular DV type camcorder for just a little more than this one.
2. Picture quality...Certainly an improvement over older Aiptek cameras but (IMHO) not as good as a regular DV camcorder. This surprised me as the specs of the camera suggests that the picture quality should be better..
3. No image stabilization...I didn't think that this would be a big deal as I know how to hold a camera. Yet, it turned out to be a big deal as the camera is so small it is hard to steady and the video can look pretty shaky unless you are real careful.
4. Quality of still pictures...They are pretty good, so what is my beef?? They are not as good as an inexpensive point and shoot which you can now get for around $100. Low cost point and shoots now offer a lot of modes (like sports, night shot, etc) which this camera does not. I often found that I had to tweak pictures in a photo editor, something that I don't have to do with pictures from other cheap cameras.
5. Poor battery life
6. Rare codec...The Aiptek web page says that the camera's video is in the .mov format. What is in the small print is that the camera uses a particular codec called the H.264 codec and it doesn't seem that many video editing programs support this particular combination. This is a huge problem if you want to edit your footage. I did buy Arc Soft's Total Media Extreme software from Aiptek and that software does work with this camera but is it extremely basic in its functioning. To get a useable file (one that I could edit) I had to combine all of the video clips and render them to more common file format. This was a very slow process (set it up and go to bed) which degraded the final video. Only then could I use a video editor like Vegas Video or Movie Maker. Apparently there is some sort of a work around to use ULead's Video Studio but even that program doesn't support the H.264 codec packaged in .mov. This is a big deal as many folks would buy this camera for things like emailing a video to family. When you do this you want to trim the video down so that you send the smallest possible file. If it was possible to easily edit video from the Go-HD I would rate it higher.
7. Noise...Using the optical zoom results in a very loud motor noise the in final video. Even when the zoom isn't used the audio quality isn't very good and you get a mechanical noise when you play back the video. This is very strange as the machine records to flash memory and there are no moving parts.
8. Size...The camera is very small, but bigger than the IS-DV which was so light you would forget that it was on your belt. Other camcorders have been shrinking and now the difference between them is less than it was a couple of years ago.

In many ways this camera is a vast improvement from the IS-DV that I liked in the past. However, the cost of this device is higher and the playing field has narrowed considerably. You can buy a decent DV or DVD camcorder for just a little more cash. On paper DV resolution should be a lot worse than the Go-HD's 720p, but in practice DV looks better (IMHO). Further, you can easily edit DV videos with many inexpensive or free programs.

Conversely, you can buy an inexpensive point and shoot camera that will take great still pictures. Most of these cameras will also shoot decent (not great) video, perfect for email or web use.

There is also a very inexpensive, tiny video camera called "The Flip." This camera takes very nice video and has built-in flash memory and editing software all for a very inexpensive price.

Will I continue to play around with this tiny camera?? Sure! However, I find that I rarely use it in "real life." Nowadays when I need a mini video of a recital I use a "Flip" video camera and for more serious video adventures, like a vacation, I go with my standard video camera. What about stills?? My $100 Nikon from Walmart seems to do a great job. I wouldn't say "don't buy the Go-HD," but I would say "check out all of your options." You may find a camera that better suits your needs.

It's a $200 camera so I wasn't expecting much but I was actually impressed with the picture quality of the 1080 and 720 settings. The 720 60fps setting looked great and had fluid movement. The only thing I didn't like was that the recorded sound was about 1/2 second of ahead of the video. That matters when someone is talking to the camera. The still camera took bad pictures too, kind've blurry on the sides. I didn't buy it for it's still camera quality though, I probably never would have used it.

I returned the camera though. Overall, if the sound would have been in sync it would have been 5 stars because it really takes nice video, vivid colors, autofocus seemed to work fine, crisp HD picture.

I was concerned about some of the complaints regarding short battery life, noisy zoom lens and an overall cheap plastic feel of this camera, but it was a great value & I decided to give it a try.

Luckily, I havn't had any of those problems with the camera, and after several months, am perfectly happy with it. Yes, the camera has a plastic body, but it's been very durable while travelling and seems no flimsier than any other electronic device made today. The plastic body is one reason why the camera is so easy to take everywhere. It's light, compact & not a chore to haul around, which is nice.

Rather than a short battery life, I have been suprised at the long life of the battery that came in the camera. I bought an extra battery because I expected it to run out quickly, but I've never used it. I've never needed to. During a 4-day weekend in the mountains, I plugged the camera in at night, and was able to record any time and every time I wanted all day long each day.

The noisy zoom lens? I don't know. My model doesn't have a noisy zoom lens. I can barely hear it when I use it, and have never noticed the sound of the zoom during playback. Maybe it happens with some of them.

Granted, the built-in microphone doesn't produce the best sound, but it's been good enough for my casual use of video. The video has been clear, sharp & colorful. Would I use it to record a wedding? Probably not. To record my mother's belly-dancing recital? You bet!