Aiptek MZ-DV-MPEG4 Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom

by Aiptek

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000FVZSYC
• Item model number: MZ-DV
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,225 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 19, 2005

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

Aiptek’s MZ-DV is a hand held multi-functional media Player/video recorder which allows you to connect to your TV, VCR, or DVD player to record your favorite TV shows, Movies, video clips, pictures, audio recordings, and playback on the huge built-in 2.4-inch TFT color LCD or on your 60-inch TV! If that wasn’t enough, the MZ-DV also performs as your MPEG4 DV camcorder recording Super VHS quality video (640 x 480 VGA resolution at 30 frames per second), 5-megapixel digital camera with 8 megapixel enhancement, 3x optical zoom, voice recorder, and SD card reader/removable hard disk! With the support of up to 4 GB SD card, the MZ-DV is the most convenient personal entertainment solution with exceptional value and features!

MZ-DV Highlights

Personal media player & recorder Connect the camera to your TV, VCR, or DVD player to record video clips, pictures, and audio recordings, and playback directly on the built-in 2.4-inch color LCD. Record video from DVD's, TV, VHS, or from any device that has RCA outputs for entertainment on the go!

Maximum resolution up to 8 megapixels Equipped with a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor, the still image resolution of the MZ-DV is enhanced to 8 megapixels. Macro lens enables high quality close ups. Print 4 x 6-inch, 5 x 7-inch, or even 11 x 17-inch photos!

MPEG4 for recording movies MPEG4 is the ideal way to store video clips in a highly compact format. With the MZ-DZ, not only can you shoot more pictures and movies, but you can also use it as a portable media player for downloaded MPEG-4 movies! Record both 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.

Digital video stabilization Advanced digital image stabilization technology lets you get the most of your recordings. Compensates for slight movements so you get the best video every time.

MP3 player Easily load your favorite MP3 files and play back the music directly or enjoy stereo quality music via the headset!

Swivel-reversible 2.4-inch TFT color LCD Review and play back video clips and pictures in real time. The TFT display combines striking realism and intuitive interface for the best image every time.

Night mode Shoot video in low light with the new night mode feature.

Flash strobe Built-in flash strobe allows you to take snapshots in darker environments.

3x auto-focus optical zoom and 8x digital zoom 3x auto-focus optical zoom and 8x real-time digital zoom allows you to zoom in or out while recording video!

TV/VCR output connect the MZ-DV to your TV/VCR to display your video clips, still pictures, and audio recordings sharing them with friends and family members.

Rechargeable battery with charger Save on batteries! The MZ-DV is powered by a Lithium-ion battery that easily charges via the included battery charger!

Removable hard disk and SD/MMC card reader: up to 4 GB In addition to the internal memory, the MZ-DV also allows you to expand the memory capacity up to 4 GB to record, snapshot, and listen to more songs. Store any type of data on the camera and take it with th you!

Product Description

Aiptek's MZ-DV is a hand held multi-functional Media Player/Vieo Recorder which allows you to connect to your TV/VCR/DVD player to record your favorite tv shows, movies, and video clips and play them back on the built-in swivel-reversible 2.4" TFT color LCD screen or on your 60"TV for under $200! Record videos at 30 frames per second in MPEG-4 Super VHS quality (640x480 VGA resolution) with image stabilization and sound and take pictures at up to 8 Mega-Pixels enhanced resolution with a 5 mega pixel CMOS sensor. On top of all this, it's an MP3 player; voice recorder; and SD card reader/Removable Hard Disk. This product comes with 16mb of internal memory and has a built-in SD card slot that can hold up to 4GB (Card not included). It ships with a built-in lithium battery and charger, usb cable, av output cable, camera bag, and ear bud headphones. Also includes Camera Manager, Muvee AutoProducer, ArcSoft Photo Impression, ArcSoft Media Card Companion, and ArcSoft Media Converter software. Requires Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000 /XP;Direct X8.0 or above, 128MB of Ram, 64MB Video Card, 4x Cd-Rom.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad - even for Mac, March 27, 2007

By 

RichardG "RichardG" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aiptek MZ-DV-MPEG4 Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I bought this camera for backpacking, where size and space is critical and any equipment is subject to harsh conditions so expensive cameras can be a bad idea.

My main computer is a Mac, so I had some reservations about the MZ-DV, since it uses Microsoft's proprietary ASF video format. That's right: it says "MPEG-4", and MPEG-4 is indeed based on QuickTime, but the MPEG-4 standard is implemented as more of a framework than a specific codec, so any vendor who doesn't like to play ball with open standards (sound like our friends in Redmond?) can make their own proprietary variants and it's left to the consumer to sort out the confusion.

Fortunately, I found a handy little software tool called EasyWMV which is dirt cheap and does a great job of easily converting ASF files for use on a Mac with any QuickTime-based program like iMovie.

And the photo format is JPEG, requiring no conversion at all to use on any computer.

I've only had the camera a couple days, but so far it seems a good value for what it does. With all of its features at such a low price it isn't best-of-breed with any one of them, but to have them all in one convenient device is pretty nifty, and the folks at Aiptek have done a competent job with this model.

The quality of low-light video is as reported by the others here: There is a low-light setting, and it's good for pictures but the video is indeed of much lower quality. But in all fairness, I've not seen any hybrid camcorder that didn't have similar issues. You'd have to go up in price and abandon other features if shooting in low-light conditions is important to you.

So far the only limitation I've seen is the one disclosed on the packaging: when mounted on a Mac, the camera acts as a read-only volume. This means you can't load MP3s into it, or use it as a portable drive. I've written Aiptek technical support on this, and if I learn anything useful I'll post it here. I also run Windows under Parallels, and have no trouble loading MP3s and other files into the camera from there.

But aside from the download limitation, everything else on the camera works a treat, with very intuitive controls that often provide multiple ways to change modes conveniently. And with EasyWMV, it's a breeze to use video from it on my MacBook.

I would rate it higher, at least a 4, if I was using Windows primarily. But even for Mac users, if you need something inexpensive that offers these features, I shopped around and couldn't find a better model.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, March 11, 2007

By 

Jill "MollyWorf" (Palestine, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aiptek MZ-DV-MPEG4 Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I got this little gadget a few days ago and I love it. I think the negative reviews have come from people who were expecting too much. For a device that does so many different things, it does them pretty darn well. Granted, it isn't GREAT at any one thing, but, face it, you have to pay a lot more for ANY device that does even one thing "great." If you are looking for professional quality videos or photos, you will have to pay a "professional" price. If you are looking for an amazing little gadget that packs a lot of functions into one little package, look no further.
For what it's worth, I took great indoor video and photos, and the pictures came out just fine.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A HUGE disappointment!, January 18, 2007

By 

O.G. (Mexico) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aiptek MZ-DV-MPEG4 Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

This camcorder is terrible in just about every way:

Cons:
- Unacceptably blurry video; the specs say it records at 640x480, but it looks more like 320x240 (if that!) blown up to VGA.
- Noticeable aura around any dark shape on a lighter background.
- Awful light sensitivity; forget about recording indoors--no matter how brightly the room is lit, faces will come out too dark. The built-in LED's don't help much (and not at all at distances over 4 feet from the subject).
- Noisy zoom that gets picked up loud and clear by the microphone.
- Zooming goes in irregular steps--completely useless while recording.
- Video lags noticeably behind camera movement; when image stabilization is turned on, the lag becomes so atrocious that you can't tell when to stop panning--UTTERLY USELESS!
- When using AV-in and AV-out cables, the firmware has frozen on me a couple of times; the only way to reset the camera was to remove the battery.
- Video encoding (through the AV-in cable) produces an unacceptably noisy and undersaturated result.
- The LCD display has a very narrow viewing angle; anything more than about 10% and you can't make out a thing.
- Still photos taken at the native 5MP resolution come out strangely grainy and uneven--something like a "sharpen" effect gone wrong. I can get better looking pictures with my 2MP Canon Powershot A40 camera.
- The manual recommends keeping the camera motionless for 2-3 seconds AFTER snapping a picture (that's on top of the 3-4 seconds it takes the thing to focus BEFORE it snaps); but you can't keep THE SUBJECT from moving, folks! Welcome to the psychedelic land of image trails...
- Flash photos come out with wildly different color balance depending on the color of the background.
- The manual is a sorry affair--only 17 pages long and doesn't go much beyond identifying external controls and menu options.
- I could go on and on, but I'll stop now, as you probably get the picture...

Pros:
- The camera body seems sturdily built; the controls also have a sturdy feel to them, as do the battery and the USB port covers. Hmm... it's the only nice thing I can think to say about it.

Maybe a child (think pre-teen) could find this "camcorder" exciting as a toy, but I don't see how it can be enough even for an undemanding person looking to capture occasional life's moments on video.