Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black) Review

I bought this camera when Amazon had a promotion on it. At that price, it is a neat toy. I would not buy this at full price, however, it is just too limited.

I will be comparing this against the other two devices I use for video: An Aiptek Action HD and a Canon S2 IS.

First, let me say the Creative seems to be very well-built. Unlike the Aiptek, it seems like someone thought out the design of the device first. The build quality is good.

PROS:
*LENS: Despite a useless 2x digital zoom, the lens is pretty good. The wide-angle lens gives far greater field of view than the Aiptek. You can easily record indoors without backing up a good distance. Further, the lens is focus-free which means that while it doesn't hunt for focus like the Aiptek (which is a killer), it often leaves things with a kind of soft focus. The more light, the more in focus everything will be. However, it does perform quite well in lower light, though the footage will be grainy.

*AUDIO: Though the sound is mono, it is far, far clearer than the Aiptek (which has terrible sound). It is good at recording conversations and ambient sound. Not bad if you need to snap something quick.

*PROCESSING: The camera, despite having a CMOS sensor recording at 30fps, does not suffer the same "rolling shutter" problems of other cameras. The can be easily demonstrated by holding a CMOS HD cam in your hand and swishing it back and forth. Upon review, straight lines will appear to bend. Though the camera does suffer this to a degree, it is not nearly as bad as others. To get this level of reduced rolling shutter with the Aiptek, you have to record at 60fps.

Second, the camera's data rate is roughly twice the Aiptek Action HD's, which means less compression and better looking video. Though 8.5mbps (Vado HD at HD+) is far from a true HDV cam (18+mbps), the footage still looks better than the Aiptek. The 8GB is enough space for 2 hours of footage.

CONS:
*No 60fps: While this may not seem like an important issue, capturing footage at 60fps opens up whole new worlds. You can have true slow-motion video (by reducing 60fps footage to 30fps). You can better capture sporting events, animals, and children playing.

*USB: The USB cord on the bottom makes me worry it will break. It is attached to the camera by a mostly inflexible rubber wire. Over time, this will wear down. I would have preferred a simple mini-USB port on the bottom of the camera, especially because of:

*The Tripod Socket: While it is nice to have a tripod socket, the design of the USB cable makes it nearly impossible to use (another review mentions this). The flap on the USB cable means that you really can't attach the Vado HD to a tripod. It may work okay with a gorillapod or something.

OVERALL: The greatness of this camera is also its undoing. It is simple. You press a button, it turns on, you press record. Boom! You have video. After a while, however, you may wish there were more settings, like white balance, frame rate, shutter speed, etc. It you just want to capture everyday things, it is fine. But soon, the limitations become apparent and you'll wish for a firmware update that'll open the Vado HD up.

SUGGESTION: Neither the Aiptek nor the Vado HD are ideal products. The Aiptek can record 60fps but the video is worse than the Vado (and the audio MUCH worse). The Vado HD is simple to use but very limited. It may be nice for vacations (assuming you don't need to zoom).

My suggestion is to do neither of these cameras. Instead, go with something like the Canon S2IS (or the newer variations). Although it records in the far older MJPEG format, the image quality is fantastic. A combination of a motion-stabilized lens, stereo sound, and great optics means that even at 640x480, the footage looks better than either the Aiptek or Vado HD. Although MJPEG takes up a lot of space, it also creates individual jpeg frames so you can do frame-accurate editing.

If you just want a simple, portable camera, however, the Vado is probably the way to go.Get more detail about Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black).