Aiptek AHD Z500 Plus: HD bargain camcorder
Tags: aiptek, shooter, laptops, high definition
When the Eee PC kicked off a new trend for tiny, budget-priced laptops, the media went into a frenzy thinking up names for this new segment. Are they mini laptops, ultraportables or netbooks? Similarly, the camcorder market has recently seen a surge of small, affordable video shooters, such as the uber-simple Flip Video. But this is no race for the bottom, as some manufacturers are combining the punter-friendly principles of simplicity and cheapness with the high definition goodness we all want these days. Enter the Aiptek AHD Z500 Plus -- but what do we call it and its accessible, decently priced brethren? Mini camcorders? Too obvious. How about minicorders? Hmm. We'll keep trying.
The Z500 is a full high-definition shooter, like its predecessor the Z200. 1080p AVCHD footage, with a resolution of 1,440x1,080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:9, can be shot with a frame rate of 30 frames per second. 720p video, at 1,280x720 pixels, will go up to 60fps. Aiptek quotes recording times of 2 hours of 1080p footage on to an 8GB SDHC card, or 8 hours on a 32GB card. The battery probably won't last that long, but we'll get the Z500 for an in-depth review and check it out. Footage is saved as .mov H.264/QuickTime format, so it's Apple-friendly.
If that sounds rather complicated, the Z500 keeps things simple on the controls front. You turn it on and off by opening and closing the 60mm (2.4-inch) swivel-mounted TFT LCD screen. Couldn't be any easier. Simplicams? Convenicorders?
The Z500 packs a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor, which should offer decent stills. A 3x optical zoom gets you up close, or you can use the 5cm macro mode. Not getting anywhere with a name for the market segment, though. My First HD Shooter? Snappy, but not quite on the money.
But enough of the boring specs. How much does it cost? The Z500 will hit shops in July for a very reasonable £250. So all your shooting will be cheap shots. Cheapshots! That's it! We hope it catches on. -Rich Trenholm
- Share this article:
RELATED LINKS
Sanyo HD1010: So good they named it twice
YouTube upgrade: Better uploader, 10x the file size
Swann FlashlightDVR: If torches and camcorders mated
AnonymousThu 5 June, 2008 5:12pm
Avoid. The picture quality is shockingly poor. It's FAR worse than a normal standard definition MinDV camera.
£250 isn't cheap. Its a complete rip off.
Rich TrenholmThu 5 June, 2008 5:16pm
Er, the controls are on the back. If we were suggesting that the controls are on the front then that sentence would make no sense. Although some pistol-grip camcorders have a record button in the trigger position, which is perfectly fine.
AnonymousFri 6 June, 2008 1:23pm
1440 x 1080 isn't Full HD.
AnonymousMon 30 June, 2008 10:33am
Paid £180 inc postage on QVC bundled with a 4gb SD card. Pictures taken outside in fairly gloomy weather look fine on the second highest HD setting, 1280x720. Flowers shot were vivid with true colours. White balance set on auto might need a tweak as the bright rendering on the back of my house looked a bit glarey. Inside in poorer light the pics were a bit grainy. When I switched the lights on this improved to an acceptable level. This was bought to take pictures on holiday so will hopefully be operated in nice sunny conditions so it should be ok for us. Having medium sized hands, I found the controls easy to reach without moving my front fingers, although I was aware of a slight movement against the palm of my hand. I suppose you have to weigh up the OK quality of picture against the ease of transporting as the camera sits comfortably in a trouser or jacket pocket, something impossible with our mini dv recorder which does appear to give slightly better quality.
Ask questions, share opinions and find answers in the CNET.co.uk forums
6.6
7.9
AnonymousThu 5 June, 2008 1:57pm
> the Z500 keeps things simple on the controls front.
Wouldn't it be more convenient if the controls were on the BACK like on all other camcorders? Why the hell would you put the buttons on the front? The only things that should be on the front are the lens and microphones.