For the price tag, it's a a lot. This camera is just the minimum HD camcorder you can get. Just keep in mind that it's nowhere close to feature rich or besides built just like any Sanyo Xacti that amounted to $200 more. It's made almost entirely of paint coated plastic, although it should survive as part of your knapsack or purse when you're careful. It's not going to amaze you by having a terrific zoom lens or even sharpest 720p HD video you've ever seen, however it is got some nice features. First, it uses the H.264 movie format which may be appropriate for itouch new generation ipod, iPhone, iPod 5G, and then the 3G iPod Nano (just be sure to use a camera's web format to confirm altogether further conversion to accomplish for any players only Apple TV may play the DV1 files without conversion; also, iMovie HD will still need to convert the H.264 files for the iMovie HD format). Any Mac with OS X 10.3 or maybe more recognizes your camera for a USB device instantly. Second, it will record 480p or 720p input from another device through it's video input mini port*. It is able to upsample 480i content to 720p (although that will not improve the original quality of what you are taping), or you can record to DV1 (480p). They come in two outputs: a normal AV in/out and an HD out (YPP). *The input recording is DV R, but without getting a timer or programming. For television or old VHS that you'd like on your laptop, the quality will be as good pretty much DV R.

What you need to understand:

The video is ideal in daylight and bright light, otherwise you'll see noise. It will overexpose whites, but there's a +/ exposure adjustment setting, and setting it to 1 permanently may be beneficial. Othewise, they have okay saturation and contrast. The auto white balance is without a doubt very good, too. However when you record in 720p, there's compression which can be noticeable with a good HD display. The compression is much cheaper than noticible in 480p plus CIF (web format), but there is less resolution. Also, digital zoom creates jaggies from poor anti aliasing, which are more evident in HD compared with 480p. You can also get no shake reduction, however , there is an average tripod mount. There's a "Night" setting that does indoors. low light, but it surely raises the video noise considerably. The lens is soft, and that is places to tell you've only spent $1xx dollars, but it does not necessarily effect TV input, that may be plenty sharp (so then you know this is a mediocre lens rather than the CMOS chip). And, yes, there can be some "wave" distortion any time you pan around too fast (it's actually not visible within the LCD screen, only on large televisions), as being the refresh rates with the sensor absolutely are a bit slow. Will be performance so bad it ruins your camera? No. It's really down to what you'd expect originating from a sub $300 camera in 2007. Which would be to say, superior to a $200 camera 3 years ago.

For me, battery lifetime of the Li Ion battery was about 60mins of video recording aided by the LCD on, and 75min 90mins of recording together with the LCD off. The manual recommends you charge the camera's battery for 4 to 8 hrs before its first use, that we did. You can receive extra replacement batteries from Aiptek, however it is the exact model the center of some other cameras from Pentax and Fuji, so one of these only cost between $10 and $20. I prefer that going barefoot charges by USB, to make sure that only when it's not connected to the computer in drive mode it may possibly charge. Moreover it carries a tiny AC to USB power adapter for travelling. It takes approximately 3hrs on a charge.

The 4x zoom is digital, truely does work throughout the photo and video mode, and not intending to let you either zoom in very far or zoom out very far. I'd say it's a 35mm to 60mm equivalent in 35mm camera focal range. The macro mode is barely for 20">12", which isn't too close.

The LCD display pivots out and can rotate around to your front of your camera. It's 4:3 aspect ratio, however when you record in HD, the screen is letterboxed. Additionally you can close the LCD and keep recording for them to save life of the battery. This can be useful when recording TV input.

The inputs (USB and AV) are hidden by a pull out rubber protective strip that has to be treated delicately. It's connected to the camera, and rotates out of the way, if you think you will end up rough along with it enough to snap it at its weakest spot, just pull against eachother permenantly.

The camera operation is basically easy. Recption menus layout is simple minded and navigated by using a 4 direction joystick. The graphics and icons are pleasing attractive. We have a main menu in the 4 modes: Settings, Camera, My Works (your recordings), and Voice Recorder. Each mode activates that part of you, after there could sub menu to make the mode, too. Within my Works, you choose video shots, photos, or voice notes. The photo sub menu provides for obviously any good photo slideshow. Everything might be operated in your thumb and index finger while holding the camera.

The 5MP camera portion is like a cellphone camera (the LED within the front with the unit is actually for flash strobe with photos, not video), and while it can upsample to 8MP, aging reduce the quality. For sharpness, its 3MP option stands out as the sweet spot. I wouldn't say the cameras strongest talent, nevertheless beats a cheap MiniDV camera that included a 2MP "photo" option.

There's a top mounted microphone for recording sound, but there is no microphone input should you wish to do otherwise. The AV input doesn't allow just audio input from a microphone. In order to record an audio overdub, you will want to get it done on your computer. However, the "voice recording" mode for recording audio in WAV format works much like are just looking for tape recorder. Professionals who log in cigarette lighter in headphones in order that the internal speaker doesn't emit your playback to people you meet.

It doesn't provide an Sdcard (you can get that seperately) it also is equipped with enough RAM for some photos and seconds of video. I'd guess about 32MB. Aging make much sense to utilize this by having an Facts of not as much as 2GB. It's about 2GB per 1hr of HD recording. However, it accepts SDHC cards as many as 32GB (I reckon that they are found the longer term) and USB 2.0 transfers from the camera for the computer are as soon as they must be.

Overall, it's as well as I was expecting at under $150. The camera is a bit fragile therefore it really deserves to have well lit subjects, however it is the best companion device for your daily go bag or purse beause of size. It'd produce good gift on a tween.