Aiptek MZ-DV Camcorder

For starters, 5+ stars to Amazon for delivering this in about 14 hours (literally) when I opted for 2-day shipping. I'm going on vacation in a week and speed was of the essence. This is my first experience with a "hybrid" camera so I had no preconceptions. Appearance: Sleek. High tech. So intuitive I barely opened the manual (which is good because, while at least being in English (with proper grammar and everything!), it's about as bare-bones as you can get). Attractive graphics on the menu screens with buttons/icons logically placed for maximum ease of use. And so compact -- I've seen bigger cellphones. Performance: The still photos are acceptable quality to me. There is the annoying delay between shutter press and release (and true, your hand can't move a millimeter in that time). I like how the still camera and video camera operate in the same mode (different buttons) so no need to switch back and forth in between. Video. Well for this price, as others have... Read more

My husband and I recently purchased this camcorder and used it on a road trip. Having never purchased a camcorder before it's functions were very easy to figure out. We used it for inside a museum which it did very well with and for moving car shots. The sound quality is very good and best of all it is small enough that you don't need some giant gaudy camera bag for. Most of the time I kept it zipped in my coat pocket! The only thing that was cumbersome is when you open the screen to begin recording it takes about 20 seconds to be up and running so you need to plan your recording ahead of time.

I got this as a Christmas present from my parents. And it's perfect for what I use it for! I usually like to take short clips of my family, friends, or whatever and make them into slideshows that are viewable on Youtube. This camera is compact, the buttons and menu are easy to navigate. I'm not too fond of the way the microphone picks up the sound when you zoom, but I usually play over the sound with music. Not too big of a problem there. I edit my clips on a Mac, so I have to take one extra (but not too complicated) step to convert the ASF files to a Quicktime file. All in all, I'm very happy with this product and hope to have it for years to come!

All I wanted when I bought this camera was something easy to use every now and then, sadly this camera fails so bad that I'm looking for something new now. I go to conventions every now and then and like to snap shots while there, however this becomes an issue with this particular camera. It may be that I'm not doing something (even though I've fiddled with all the controls) anyway when trying to film in areas with lots of people the video comes out awful. The camera attempts to focus on everything or something and you end up with all these blurs of light moving around on screen. Then if you try to take stationary pictures your target must remain perfectly still or there will be a blurred effect to the picture. Another annoying thing about the pictures is how long it takes to take a single one. First you have to wait for the camera to focus, then you must hold down the button for a second or two, THEN after the camera makes the sound to let you know the picture is taken you must ke... Read more

I think it is very much worth it, function for the dollar, I listen to loud music, and I am very active, i use this for mp3, snapping photo's of my buddies, the lithium ion battery lasts a while for what I use it for "on the go" when i plug it into the pc it charges as i load the photo's so, that is nice. I purchased the previous version's and they took quite the beating. I stick with this brand of camera's for ease of use. Had it going with no directions, read up for the advanced functions. I say they did a great job. Only con is the little door connector, seems flimsy, but even with my abuse is still there. If you own one, you know.