Aiptek AHD Z500 vs Sanyo HD700

[LostKoRn]

Basically I've recently been struggling to decide between these 3 small HD camcorders and have decided to put together a quick list of pros and cons for all 3 cams to help out any others looking to buy either of these.
Please feel free to let us know if you can think of any more info or features of either cam.

Sanyo Xacti HD700

Price: £217.95 - SimplyElectronics

Pros:

• Best 720p Quality For Price
• Fantastic Focusing
• Best Sound Quality
• 7MP (Best Quality) Images with 10MP Interloped
• Decent 5x Optical Zoom and Good 12x Digital Zoom
• Fantastic Image Stabilization
• Docking station for easy HDMI connection and charging
• Very good 'In-Camera Editing'
• Large 2.7" LCD Display

Cons:

• Limited To 720p @ 30fps Recording
• No NightShot mode
• No LED light whilst recording

Aiptek AHD Z500

Price: £192.72 - QVC (Limited Time Only) RRP: £250

Pros:

• Amazing/Outstanding 720p @ 60fps Recording
• Brilliant NightShot Recording
• Very good Lowlight Recording with LED Light
• 1080p (1440x1080) Recording

Cons:

• Very Poor Focusing
• Terrible Sound Quality
• Small Screen
• 1080p recording is comparable to 720p
• Standard 720p @ 30fps recording
• Average Macro Mode due to bad focusing
• Standard 5MP Images
• Overpriced
• Bad CMOS Shutter Roll

Most image comparisons are from these 2 review articles:

Sanyo HD700

Aiptek AHD


Toshiba Camileo Pro HD
Rebranded Aiptek Z300 (Go-HD)

Price: £136.55 - Amazon UK - Dispatched and Sold by extremepcs.co.uk

Pros:

• Average quality 720p Recording
• Great still images
• Best value for money
• OK sound quality
• Decent battery life
• Good short/mid range focusing
• LED light whilst recording
• OK Low-Light/NightShot recording

Cons:

• Unusuable and noisey 3x Optical Zoom
• Lack of long range focus
• Lacks many advanced manual features
• Small screen

Judged quality via samples from this site:

http://www.vimeo.com/aepwebtrial/videos

Aiptek Z300 (Go-HD) samples and talk:

http://forums.steves-digicams.com/fo...m_id=92&page=4

Final Word:

You may be wondering why i bothered taking the time to compare these 2 HD cams when the Sanyo is clearly a better cam but when watching the Aipteks 720p (60fps) footage and low light footage it does make you wonder which one to go for.
Also the Toshiba clearly offers best value for money, the image quality is much better than the Aiptek as is the sound but again clearly lacks in all other departments.

At the end of the day you have to think of what it will be used for. If its mainly to get stunning, casual normal lighting videos and brilliant easy to use features then the Sanyo is a clear winner.
If you are going to be using it mainly in low-light situations and maybe for fast moving subjects and poor/terrible audio quality isn't much of an issue, the Aiptek is the one to go for.
If you are on a very tight budget and can cope without a good zoom option and all the other features its lacking (Image Stabalazation, Advanced Manual Settings etc.) then the Toshiba is a good choice.

[herbs]

Also the Aiptek suffers form CMOS shutter roll pretty badly.

[LostKoRn]

Thanks herbs. Added to the list

[LostKoRn]

Now added Toshiba Camileo Pro HD to the comparison.
If anyone either owns one or has seen footage of indoor/low light testing then please let us know how it performs.

[herbs]

Originally Posted by LostKoRn

Now added Toshiba Camileo Pro HD to the comparison.
If anyone either owns one or has seen footage of indoor/low light testing then please let us know how it performs.

I'm 90% sure that the Toshiba is a rebranded Aiptek Z300 (Go-HD in the states).
Toshiba are going through a faze of re-branding low cost camcorders it seems to me i.e. the camileo H10 seems to be a rebrand of a digilife z530 model.
It might be cheaper to get the oem versions but until they come onto the market who knows.

[LostKoRn]

Thanks again herbs, added the info now.

Yeah i noticed the H10 was a rebrand and after seeing the Digilife info, i decided to stick with the Sanyo HD700