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GIVEN
the slew of independent films now playing not in some
obscure moviehouse in the fringes of the city but in
massive theater chains, you would think that the concept
of independent cinema is something new around these
parts. Which, of course, is not true. Back when making
movies was strictly an analogue affair, there already
were creative spirits—Kidlat Tahimik, Raymond Red and
Nick Deocampo, to name a few—avidly telling us stories
visually without having to bend over to the pimps in the
so-called mainstream film industry.
If there
are more independent efforts coming into theaters now,
it is in no small part due to the fact that the tools of
the trade have become more accessible, and by that we
don’t mean their availability in the market. Whereas
before an aspiring filmmaker would have to put a
mortgage on the family home to finance a very short
film, now advances in technology and their increasing
ubiquity have made it possible for anybody convinced
that he is the next Wong Kar Wai to become, well, the
next Wong Kar Wai.
And the
number of such anybody can only grow, especially given
the release of the PocketDV AHD200 Pro from Aiptek from
Taiwan.
Launched
just last February, the PocketDV AHD200 Pro is
emblematic of that adage “looks can be deceiving.” It
may be no bigger than the typical souped-up mobile phone
but within that seemingly delicate yet durable black
body that feels nice to the touch, is technology that
captures high-definition, 1280 x 720 resolution videos,
which means that your home movies will look much better
on an HD-TV than a DVD copy of the recent George
Clooney-starrer Michael Clayton—that is, of
course, if you look a hell lot better than George
Clooney.
 And,
no, you don’t have to geek out to know how to work this
baby. Flip open the 2.4-inch LCD viewfinder that can be
rotated to 270 degrees, and the camcorder automatically
powers on. From there, capturing hi-def video is just a
matter of pushing the red button out in front and you’re
good to go reenacting your favorite Maggie Cheung moment
in Fa yeung nin wa (In the Mood for Love).
With its 5-megapixel CMOS image sensor, the
captured-video frame rate maxes at HD 30 fps, or frame
per second, at 1280 x 720 resolution, although you have
a choice of 720 x 480 and 352 x 240 resolutions if your
cinematic work is just headed via e-mail to your lover
offshore. The videos are recorded and saved in the
high-compression format H.264, which allows you to store
more of your movie masterpieces onto an SDHC card, the
memory-expansion format used by this baby (the memory
card doesn’t come with the package, although the
camcorder packs 6MB of internal storage to get you
started).
Needless
to say, the PocketDV AHD200 Pro also allows you to
capture still images at 5- and 3-megapixel resolutions,
and, yes, it also sports a flash, although only for
pictures. Its other imaging tweaks in either video or
picture mode include macro and micro-focus settings, up
to 4x digital zoom, night mode and white balance for
various lighting conditions (sunny? cloudy? tungsten? or
would you rather go automatic?). Working through the
menus and various settings may be initially confusing,
but you should get up to speed in short order even
without perusing the manual, although of course ideally
you should.
Besides
all the imaging goodies, the Aiptek PocketDV AHD200 Pro
can also double as an MP3 player (yes, it has an AV
in/out port), and be hooked to TV, DVD player or
computer to capture video or play your own. Hell, it can
even double as a voice recorder.
And how
much will all that tech goodness cost you? According to
a release from i-Digiworld Inc., Aiptek’s exclusive
distributor in the Philippines, the baby will set you
back by as little as less than P10,000—that’s a price
that won’t even get you a bleeding-edge mobile phone or
the low-end model in iPod Touch family. And just how is
Aiptek able to offer these babies at such outrageously
low price points? According to the release, “the brand
is able to cut costs dramatically by abstaining from
heavy advertising and marketing. Aiptek only invests
heavily on research and development. (For example, for
the) casing, our products rely on durable plastic
instead of aluminum, further cutting down costs. The
rest of the savings is passed on to the consumers.”
Indeed,
according to i-Digiworld, Aiptek’s very compelling
pricing has made it one of the best-selling brands in
large tech-stores like Targert, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and
Circuit City, Walgreens, etc., in the US, as well as
Saturn in Germany and Carrefour in France. Even better,
a survey done by NDP Group Research not too long ago
ranked Aiptek as the sixth top pocket camcorder brand in
2007 in the US, up from No. 7 in 2006. “In the
Philippines, [Aiptek] is the top seller in SM and
Robinsons appliance stores, photo retail stores and
other in consumer electronics shops. These
establishments are strict when it comes to products
they’re selling to the public; Aiptek would have been
pulled out of their shelves long ago if its failure rate
goes above their acceptable limit.”
To be
sure, the Aiptek PocketDV AHD200 Pro isn’t going to have
top-end camcorder vendors like Canon and Sony lose any
sleep. It lacks some of the features, like image
stabilization, found even in the entry-level shooters
from those vendors. Then again, the price points of
those entry-level models are nowhere near the playground
of this very affordable little marvel. And if the image
quality that the PocketDV AHD200 Pro yields is simply
passable instead of totally fantastic, especially under
the low-light conditions that bring a bit of noise and
compression artifacts to the captured video, just
remember that not a few filmmakers these days employ
software technology to bring that grainy indie feel to
their works.
Or
didn’t you see Michael Winterbottom’s acclaimed A
Mighty Heart?
***Visit Aiptek at www.aiptek.com for more information
about the PocketDV AHD200 Pro and its other camcorders. |
