Review on Aiptek S5W Water-Proof Digital Camera (3meters,10Ft)

Aiptek S5W Digital Camera Specs
see quality of images, pictures and video taken by this camera at bottom of this page below

With a price tag of SGD$149, I have not much complains about this digital camera as similar models of other branded camera may costs up to a heavier tag of SGD$400-$500.  Its not easy to find a underwater digital camera that costs below SGD$400 in Singapore! Below are a summary of the pros and cons of what i thgt of this S5W digital camera.  Enjoy your reading!!!



Similar model : Olympus U Tough series

(anthr similar model:  Olympus U Tough 6000) 

Pros:

• Cheap and low price tag of SGD$149
• Aiptek S5W is a light weight camera 110grams which most primary school kids can handle comfortably.
• Capable to take images and videos in any fish tanks and swimming pools of Singapore, max depth Aiptek S5W camera can withstand is 3 metres of underwater.
• Great imaging tool for taking videos both above and under water during vacations (ex.  P.Redang Island, Malaysia)
• The rubber buttons are user-friendly and easy to read illustrations on it (not much need for reading an instruction manual to understand basic and advanced key functionss)
• Large 2.7" LCD for easy review of pictures and videos taken.
• Use 3 x AAA batteries (easy to find)
• Accepts SD/SDHC Card up to 16GB (mass storage) 

Cons:

• No usb ports to link up to pcs - have to use a card reader to retrieve pics/videos from sd card into my pc
• No shock-proof feature - i dare not try to drop it on the floor but i think most products are made to withstand certain shock abuse
• No sounds of video during playback in camera - videos' sound can be heard only during upload to website like YouTube or playback in your pc
• No brand camera -some of my friends call it "AH PEK" -uncle in hokkien language, so if you are not brand conscious or do not mind friends' jesting, this is the camera for you   ;D ...lol... 
• No internal memory - if you ran out of sd card memory, you have to delete some of the old ones to make way for new video s/ images
• External SD card slot of S5W can only accept up to 16GB, i thought can go to 32 GB will be wonderful ! ;)

Read more detailed specs of S5W after the screen-shots pics below


Screen-Shots of my Aiptek S5W Camera
(click images to enlarge)

dimension: 95mm x 60mm x 24mm (fits into most of our hand palms of adults)
weighs 110 grams (excluding battery and card), body is made of plastic material light weight!
Operating temperature: 0 to 40 Degree Celsius

use 3xAAA batteries which can be bought easily anywhere,
card slot accepts up to 16GB SD/SDHC Cards (above battery slot)

the easy to use rubber buttons next to the 2.7" lcd

bottom of camera for tripod and macro/landscape mode selector on the side

underwater taking video of my ranchu goldfish, can go down to 3metres max
and
do not leave the camera in the water for more than 60 minutes.

Image Sensor
5 Mega Pixels CMOS Sensor (Max 12.0M via interpolation)

Lens
Type: Fixed Focus (F3.2/f=5.2mm)

Digital Zoom
Still Image: 1x~5x; Video Clip: 1x~5x; Playback:1x~8x

LCD
 2.7" TFT LCD

Focusing Range
Normal: 1.2M ~ infinity, Macro: 20cm

Shutter Speed
Normal: 1/2sec-1/2000sec, Night Scene: 3sec-1/2000sec

Flash Mode
Auto, Fill-in Flash, Flash off

Metering
Multi, Spot

Sharpness
Soft, Normal, Vivid

Effect
Normal, B&W, Sepia, Negative

White Balance
Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Flourescent, Tungsten

Voice Recording
Yes, also supports Voice Memo under Still Image

Shooting
Single Image, Continuous Shooting, AEB

Self-Timer
2sec,10sec,Double

Scene Mode
Auto, Smart, Portrait, Night, Program, Landscape, Transform,
Backlight, Auction, Sport, Underwater, Smile Shutter

Image Size
12M (via interpolation) , 5M, 3M, 1M

Storage Media
Supported media cards: SD/SDHC Card (up to 16GB)
Internal Memory: N/A

File Format
Still Image: JPEG (DCF), EXIF 2.2, DPOF 1.1
Video Clip: MJPEG, AVI Format with Audio PCM
Voice: WAV Format

Playback
Single Image, Thumbnails, Slide Show, Video Clip, Voice Clip, Rotation

Interface
Digital output connector : No USB port; Built-in Microphone; Buzzer out

 Power Source
3xAAA alkaline or Ni-MH batteries (rechargable)

Dimensions (WxHxD)
95mm x 60mm x 24mm

Weight
110grams (without batteries & card)

Mass Storage
No USB Port

System Requirement for Windows
Pc with processor better than Pentium II (500Mhz)
Windows 2000 Professional (SP4)/ ME/ XP (S2)/ Vista/ Win7
Min 51MB or more
SD Card Reader
800 x 600 pixels, 24-bit color display compatible monitor

System Requirement for Macintosh
Power Mac G4 or later
Mac OS 10.0 or later
Min 512 MB or more
SD Card Reader

CONTENTS OF CAMERA SET

PICTURES

Macro view of paper chicken (JE) 

Food stall taken at 5x zoom (~20m away)

Landscape view of hazy conditions in Boon Lay

VIDEO

Video clip of my hyperactive Ranchu Goldfish taken underwater in a 1ft deep fish tank

(can go up to 3meters/10ft deep and immerse in a bucket of clean water for 1 min after that)

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kyP5Fa8hHE

~ End ~