HD video in your palm (Kodak Zi6 Digital Camcorder)

Member Name: davomrmac

Product:	Kodak Zi6 Digital Camcorder
Date:	18/11/08 (243 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small, good quality image in well lit environment, nice screen

Disadvantages: Sound pickup is a let down

When these little mini video camcorders started appearing, with the likes of the Creative Vado and Flip Mino, I wondered what the point was. They only ever offered low quality video, on par with what a decent mobile phone could deliver, so why spend another £50 to £100 on another device. Then the Kodak Zi6 was announced at just over £100, but it made sense because it offered something that little extra... HD video.

This camera is a bit bigger than the Flip and Vado, but is sports a nice size screen, feels good in the hand too. Part of its larger size is also due to the fact it uses two normal AA batteries (well done Kodak) and you add your own memory with an SDHC card. This is great, you do get a little built-in memory, but being able to add 4GB, 8GB, 16GB to suit your use and budget makes sense. Being bigger means more weight, but still comparable to the average mobile phone. It comes with a drawstring pouch, so nice and easy to throw into your bag or large pocket.

In use it is very easy. The back has the screen and joystick control. You also have a mode switch, play, stop and trash. The joystick acts as a button too for starting and stopping recording. On one side of the unit is the AV and HD video output ports, plus the pop-out USB plug. The other side has a small switch for normal/macro lens and the covered SD card slot. The top sports the power switch, the bottom a lanyard connector and a centered tripod mount. Around the front is a pretty decent lens, button for popping out the USB plug, speaker and microphone.

To record just switch on and press the red joystick in, to stop, press it again. To zoom in push up, zoom out push down. To switch between still mode, VGA, HD or HD60 (60 frames per second) you push left or right on the little stick. There is no useful menu system as such, just a simple, point, click, shoot method. Resulting video is pretty good, but better in well lit conditions. The HD at 720P is pretty darn impressive, again better suited to outdoor shooting. Sound pickup is acceptable, but you do get a bit of background noise. If you subject is far away, you are going to pick up local noise more than say someone playing footie at the other end of the garden. That said though, for a device costing this amount, I was impressed. The battery life is good on the 2700 mAh Vapextech ones I was using, though the indicator went wrong a couple of times, saying they were empty, when switching off/on put them back up two 2/3 charge.

All in all a really good little carry anywhere gadget.

Summary: All in all a really good little carry anywhere gadget

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