Customer Reviews

Aiptek Pocket DV II 1.3MP Digital Web Camera

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I bought this camera because I needed to post pictures on the web. I also wanted to video tape some things I had built in action. The camera works perfectly for this. It's also small and cheap. It fits on my desk with the nifty tri-pod thingy, and that also makes it easy to set something up and shoot while you aren't at the camera. The compact flash storage is great, get a 512 mb and never worry about memory. I have a 32 and got about 80 pics on it when I was at the NYC auto show. This camera also has adjustable focus. You can take close ups (16 inches) or infinitely far shots. Just makes sure you remember to use it (I forgot at the car show and about 40 of the above mentioned 80 pics came out blury). The pictures at their native resolution aren't always great, but if you scale them down and tweak them a little they are perfect. The video mode is my favorite feature. I can carry this around and video tape random things, which is great. It's small, so people always are impressed with it and think it is much more expensive then it is... and if you like to show off that is always fun :-P The menu system is very easy to use, so you won't get lost in it and accidently delete everything. You can plug it into a TV and use the TV as the LCD screen, but it will be a bit blury. Connection with a computer is very easy, but most of the included software isn't great. Just download some free stuff like "The Gimp" and you'll be fine. The price here is even cheaper than when I got it. I payed [a fair amount of money]and it was worth that, and it's cheaper now so I'd say get it before it's gone! You will NOT find a better digicam at this price, and never with these features. Video, stills, audio, compact flash, and it has an LCD screen (though it's not the best, it's still there which is VERY helpful). Well, this isn't my best written review ever, but I think I got my point across. Buy this now, it's awesome!

I received my POCKETDV2CCS on Monday morning, I immidiatly tore open the package and began playing around with it. I was amazed at the size of the gadget(about the size of a credit card--as thick as a marker.) When I got home from school, I began testing how well this baby could work. Well, it works great in lighted areas, but it works better in dark areas too with the picture funtion flash. But when taking video try to do it in a light place. The camera does come with a function that is supposed to correct this, but it is of no help. My first video was in my living room during a party. On the camera it looked great, nice and bright, even during playback, but when I transfered the movie to my computer, it becomes much darker.I found this to be true every time I tested it. Only for the videos though, using it as a digital camera and transfering to the computer looks great. Also, the software provided was quite hard to use, and doesn't work at times. When I click to play a video, all I hear is sound, but if I open the video from Windows Explorer, or from another program it works great. I just use Windows Movie Maker on Windows XP and this solves that problem. The Battery lasted me a few hours ( around 3.) This camera has amazed and dropped the jaw of everyone who has seen it! Its amazing. I swear I do not regret this purchase.

I have loved this digital camcorder from the first time I used it. For the size it is, it is an awfully good camera. It has many features, like a video recorder, voice recorder, digital still camera, and can be used as a webcam. This product takes very good pictures, if you are in good lighting. If you aren't the pictures may be hard to see. Seeing as there is no flash you have to have light in the background. If you want to be able to take for than 16 pictures at a time I suggest you get a compact flash memory card to hold them on. Also same thing for movies, to take a lone movie you have to have a memory card, there isn't enough memory built into the system to be able to take a long movie. Another thing is the battery runs out fast, if you goes low while you are using the camera your pictures may not be saved. So make sure you watch the amount of power in the batteries before it is to late. I guess you can say you get what you pay for seeing as this is an inexpensive camera. Overall, this camera is great if you have good lighting, a memory card, and long lasting batteries.

This camera has good qualities and some bad ones too. I like the fact it can record audio, video, and take pictures. The memory on it is small if you want to take a good number of decent quality pictures but if you get a memory card you can increase this. The batteries get eaten up fast but ONLY if you decide to use the LED screen and there is a switch to turn it off. It has a nice tripod and the software does not work well but you only need to really install one or two of the programs they give you. One of the worst things about the camera is it has no flash. I dont know why they left this out. My guess is a flash would eat up the batteries even more. Pictures taken in decnet light and outdoors in the day time come out well. You can always increase the brightness of your pictures on the computer when you edit your photos. Its small and you can fit it easily in your pocket. Perfect to carry around with you. One thing I dont like is the annoying noise it makes when it turns on. I wish I could disable this but you cannot. Over all this camera is good for basic picture taking and voice recording. The video is not super but it is good in well lit areas. If your aim is a ... camera for everyday non-important picture taking get this one. If you need pictures taken in night time or in buildings go for one with a flash, you will get better results.

Overall this digital camera is great for novice users. The camera is very easy to use because of its well-labeled parts and simple menus. With all of the features and for the price, the pictures and movies are great. The only problems that I have found are that the camera has no flash, there are beeps when turning it on that will not shut off in any menu, and without a memory card it does not hold very many pictures. In the end, this is a great, cheep camera for low level to mid level users.

Like it---get a set of Ni-Mh batteries and a large memory card and enjoy. Don't leave the screen on always--ALL digitals will eat batteries driving the screen full-time.Does need good lighting. A small modification lets it do GREAT macro (close-ups)--I can fill a frame with an ant!.Took pic of screw threads (10-32 size screw). No, it's not a $300.00 resolution camera, but you didn't pay $300.00 for it either. I keep mine in the car.If it breaks, I will buy another--have really used mine.

I've taken a few good shots. It has a lot of nice features, (Video works good)but wish it was easier take good pictures. The ones that did turn out looked good.
Has a manual focus where you basically have to guess a little bit. Hard to tell if it was in focus until it's on the PC.
No flash and does not take good pictures in indoor or dim lights.
Used up the provided batteries first day. Got NIMh next day.
Internal memory only stores about 10 - 12 pics, that are lost if batteries are removed, so get Compact Flash ASAP.
Had some strange lockups where I had to remove batteries to reset camera.
LCD can be difficult to see in bright sunlight.
So if you get this, get the NIMh and CF card (You will need these for your next digital camera anyway), take a LOT of outdoor pics and you will have a few good enough to frame.

This pocket-sized camera is a great tool if you need a digital camera and camcorder for your family. With its built in memory alone, it can only record seven or so pictures and only about 10 seconds of video recording. It is essential to buy a CompactFlash Card to boost its memory, I recommend a 256MB for around fifty bucks which allows about 100 pics and 50 min of recording (I got a 512 MB one for $99). Having well-lit surroundings is imperative because this camera has no flash and does not preform well in low lit arenas. If you have a great picture, you could always edit the brightness with you PC or Mac. This camera also has some drawbacks. One, niether camera nor camcorder has a zoom feature (so it is the same distance as a disposable camera). Also, under quiet conditions, there is a buzzing or humming sound in the backround. However, if you will use this outside most of the time, you should have no problems.

I've had this camera for about 4 months now... It worked great at the beginning... but the speaker stoped working after two weeks (at the moment I thougth it was no problem as long as everything else kept working fine...but it didn't) Now the LCD display has also stoped working and the camera is virtually useless that way 'cause you need the display to access all the camera's functions. I tried contacting Aiptek via email but I've had no reply to any of my emails... awful customer service.
Now I can only use it as a web cam (which by the way makes your image go greenish sometimes) but I guess that for that use you can get a less expensive and better working web camera. I would recomend you invest a hundred dollars more and get a real digital camera.

This item was a TOTAL waste of money. I acutally bought 2 of these (one for each of my kids ages 7 and 9). The first part that was awful was the battery life. The batteries only last about 2 hours TOPS. Secondly, the pictures were awful. Also, the battery compartment broke on BOTH cameras after about 1 week of use. Maybe this is because we were constantly opening the battery compratment to change the batteries. Also, if you do not have EXTREMELY bright light, you will not be able to view your picture. This camera is pretty easy to operate and is small but that is the only good feature. Both of these cameras have ended up in the garbage with only about 2 months of usage. Please don't make the same mistake I made. There are much better cameras on the market at this price and megapixel range.