Aiptek Pocket DV 8900

[ajousse]

Hi all,

I just purchased the DV 8900 (sold in Europe for around 220€).

Here are basic specifications:



[*]5 Mega pixels CMOS sensor (Omnivision) [/*][*]Autofocus (15cm - endless) [/*][*]F 8.22mm 2.8 lens aperture [/*][*]Supports high compression MPEG-4 Video format (not so high) [/*][*]2,0" TFT LCD Display (115,200 pixels) [/*][*]MMC/SD extension Slot (up to 2GB) [/*][*]4x digital Zoom (real time) [/*][*]MP3 Player with 15 Channel Equalizer & 4 Audio FX Settings [/*][*]AV-In/out Function [/*][*]USB 2 [/*][*]very small case approx. 90x50x30mm, 140gramms

My comments after the first tests:

still camera mode:

incrediblyaccurate lens and sensor; the autofocus is very efficient even in low light. The pictures are very sharp. Colors are bright; maybe color saturation is slightly too high but this givesthe pleasant impression that pics are better than real life. The flash strobe is weak and does not adjust itself to distance. Low lightperformance israther poor. The cmos sensor does notappreciateexcessive contrastin the same image and the white may appear slightly overexposed. When you know all this the pics are incredible and the 8900 easily outperforms many CCD still camera in daylight conditions.

video mode:

i tested the 640x480 30ips mode only; the QVGA 30ips modeis available too. The video resolution is very good; colours are bright and natural;frames extracted from a video look like real photos; the tendancy to overexpose the clear parts of the image remainsin heavy contrast conditions; this does not happen in bright sunlight when the diaphragm is probably closedenough to avoid dazzle. The biggest difficulty is that rapid movements of the 8900 or the subjet may produce unregular jerky video. The stabilizer does not appear to solve the problem but maybe i did not perform enough tests. Then you have to remember to move slowly when shooting and it works fine. The best solution whe found to improve the movies quality is to use tripod. The sound quality is excellent and contributes to render the scene ambiance.

Video format, ASF: the ASF formatbelongs to thempeg4 family with a Microsoft proprietary codec named M2S4 (fourCC code); the video produced by the 8900 isASF with M2S4 codec with the very high bitrate of 2,5 megabits/sec. The high bitrate is a good point because the video produced is not heavily compressed and remains at the highest quality possible. The conversion to more standard mpeg4 formats can easily be done with video converter software. (the Arcsoft converter given with the 8900 does not a great job and i use ConvertMovie instead); the sound that comes out the 8900 is PCM mono at 44kbits, that can also be easily converted to mp3.

Note that you can also convert any avi format (DivX for example) to ASF and watch movies on the 8900; i tested, it works fine.

Surprisingly good machine; the 5MP cmos sensor and AF lens appear to be its strong points.

I will try to post some pictures in a next post (it's getting late).

Arnaud


[/*]

[KiLL-$wiTcH]

thats awesome!,but some sample clips would be very nice and appreciated good camra buy

[Old HACer]

That's about $280 USD!!:shock:At that price point, I don't think we'll be seeing it in the USA for awhile.:sad:

Will be looking for your sample pics and clips.

[sgspirit]

Welcome to the forum, Ajousse!

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a fine camera.

[ajousse]

Here are some test pics.

Photos made in 5Mpixelsin daylight, macro mode and endless; test by night, with light enhancer on and tripod; shots with B&W and classic sepia effects; all pics made with zoom off, stabilizer off.

files are jpeg with high compression, resolution decreased to 1350x1012

Cheers,

Arnaud (and son)

[ajousse]

Macro mode daylight.

[ajousse]

Daylight; focus on water; whites slightly overexposed.

[ajousse]

Macro mode, indoor; look at the lcd display changing from 4 to 5 seconds..

[Pantera]

Hello Ajousse and hello everybody, I'm new here but this forum seems to be really nice.
Could you please confirm me if this model has the AV-IN function? Does this allows to record a tv program or to connect another camera (like an helmet cam)?
Is a remote included with the camcorder?

Thanks and sorry for my english (I'm from Italy)

[ajousse]

Hi Pantera,

yes, there is AV IN feature (did not test yet).

yes, there is a full function remote control; very convenient when you are on the movie, or to avoid movements when shooting.

I have seen a similar version from Aiptek called DV M1, that appears to ba a cost reduced version of the DV 8900, without remote and AV IN and cheaper.