CAMWORLD AC12 5K 56MP Camcorder Review

CAMWORLD AC12 5K 56MP Camcorder Review
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I have tested quite a few budget priced camcorders - and at £169 before discounts - that is what this is, and frankly, most of them are not good. Usually, the best you can say is that they are OK for the price. Not so here. This is the first budget camcorder I have tried that can deliver decent quality 4K video, although it does require thought and effort to get the best from it. Also, the camera comes with the most comprehensive set of add-ons and accessories I have yet encountered.

In the box you get the camera itself, two Lens Hoods, a top grip handle, remote control, USB cable, HDMI cable, x2 batteries, external microphone, camera case, mini-tripod, ball and socket tripod mount, 64GB SD card, and a well written and easy to read user guide. Build quality throughout is lightweight but acceptable. It is clear that economies have been made, how else could they achieve the price, but everything works as it should.

Let's look at the camera itself. On the front below the lens are the infrared remote receiver, LED light and microphone. The camera has a side panel door with a 3" IPS screen which can fully rotate to face forward. On the outside of the door is the Infrared LED panel for low light use. Opening the door reveals the control panel on the camera body with buttons for power, up, down, menu selection and OK. Below this are the USB-C charging port, mini HDMI and microphone ports. On top of the camera are the cold shoe mount, speaker grill, digital zoom lever and photo shot button and on the underside is the tripod mount, full size SD card slot and battery release button for the rear mounted battery. Just above the battery are status LEDs for charging and operation and a mode selection button. Next to it is the large video start/stop button.

The camera has three operating modes, selectable using the mode button or with the touch screen. These are Video, Stills and Replay plus a Setup mode. In any mode touch the on screen icon to enter setup mode where several screens of options are available.

The main selling point for the camera is the 5K video. I had my doubts about this but checking with Handbrake reveals that the video files are indeed 5120x2560, 25 FPS and do not appear to me to be interpolations from lower resolutions. Several lower video resolutions are available including 4K@60fps, 4K@30fps, and 1080p and 720p at 60 or 30 fps. A slow motion option is available at just 60fps, which is better than nothing.

Still images are excellent, and more consistently good than the video with a maximum resolution of 9920 x 5580 . Once again they are colour accurate and free from distortions with a sharp, clear, well saturated image free from colour shifts or fringing and that is true also for the lower resolution image formats on offer.

Short pressing the photo button on the camera top brings up a focusing box, this does not seem to do anything and I have never seen the camera appear to focus, so I suspect this is a fixed focus camera. Although neither manual nor automatic focusing is available there are still a few options to tweak the image quality. White balance, sharpness, ISO, and exposure can be adjusted and I found image saturation was greatly improved and blown highlights reduced by setting the exposure value permanently to at least -1EV. WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) and EIS (Electronic Image Stabilisation) are available but frankly, I did not detect much difference when either was applied. Due to the light weight of this camera stabilisation is a problem, so care needs to be taken and a tripod or other support used whenever possible. A useful mini-tripod is included in the box.

The camera has a night vision option and pressing the power button rapidly once when the camera is turned on will enter night vision mode, turning the infrared LEDs on and switching the screen to black and white. Tap a second time to turn on the fill light mounted on the camera front but obscured by the lens hood.

Audio quality is usually another let down for budget cameras and camcorders but again, not so here. The built-in microphone is not good by any means but better than most others in this range and can give acceptable results. A cold shoe accessory shotgun mic is included in the box and although a bit plasticky and lightweight it will greatly improve the audio quality with a choice of two gain levels.

The camera comes with a credit card sized remote control to control the key functions and this works well. The camera also has onboard Wifi and can generate a Wifi hotspot for use by the Lerceker app. The app will allow you to access files on the camera's memory card, download them to the phone and offer basic control of the camera. Although I could connect to the hotspot with all three of my Android phones, none could get the app to recognise the camera. That is no great loss as I doubt I would ever need to use it.

On balance, I would say that this camera can generate high quality stills and video at 5K@25 fps, although I usually prefer to use it at 4K@30fps. Care needs to be taken to tweak the settings for best results and to use a tripod or other support when possible. That said, at this price point, you will do well to find a camera to match it either for the quality or the range of accessories included.

Music: YouTube Audio Library: Night Shift - National Sweetheart