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148 of 149 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My review, 18 Oct 2008
OK, I've just bought one and now had it for about 24 hours. The description on the side of the box reads...
* Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera
* Wrist strap and pouch
* User guide
* Arcsoft media impression software (PC only)
* 2 AA rechargeable batteries NiMH (2000mAh, btw)
* Battery Charger (fits 2 batteries only)
* HD and AV cables (about 1 metre each)
Just to note. It does not come with an extra memory card which is essential to purchase on top of the unit. I bought an 8GB fast reading memory card of good quality which I think is crucial for huge HD files. The camera is apparently able to take 32GB memory cards. The VGA (lowest setting) resolution is fantastic for video sharing sites such as Youtube with no problems uploading the file direct from the pop-out USB plug built into the camera, via a PC. No software needs to be installed on your PC or MAC to do this task. The HD (highest setting) footage is awesome, especially plugged into an HD TV. You get a basic software application on CD-ROM (PC's only) that lets you edit your footage which you are unable to do directly on the camera. The box description reads....
* Windows OS XP SP2 or Vista
- Intel Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz processor or higher
- Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
* Macintosh OS X 10.4 or higher
* 1GB RAM
* 300MB available hard disk space
* 1024 x 768 display resolution
* USB port 1.1 or higher
* CD-ROM drive
The camera will suffer severely in dark/dim locations but makes up with being vibrant and crystal clear in daylight. You will need an extremely steady hand or a tripod too. I found you need to pan areas very, very slowly to reduce camera shake/blur and any noise your hands make on the unit will be picked up on the mic too (really annoying to hear back). It does not have image stabilisation and when you view back your footage on a huge 42" HD TV, you will soon realise and learn just how steady you need to hold the camera while recording. The macro facility is amazing and can't wait to experiment with it.
Another factor that seems to be coming to light is how power hungry the unit is. Some may opt for expensive lithium batteries or invest in another battery charger that can charge 4 x AA at a time in under an hour. The batteries that come with the unit take 15 hours to charge and soon drain. I intend taking my camera on holiday so I will need to buy one of those Super-Power battery charge units complete with numerous 2450mAh batteries to power this camera adding yet another extra cost as well as the memory card, so bear in mind all the added extras you may possibly need.
You will not be disappointed with this camera, just be weary of how the slightest camera shake while recording can be multiplied severely when viewing on a huge 42" + HD TV can look. I think it's going to be one of the best gadgets I've bought and perfectly ideal for Youtube addicts which I think Kodak has now cornered the market with.
Hope the above helps someone thinking about buying one, I'm glad I did.
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61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good for its intended use, 24 Nov 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
The Zi6 is a pocket sized video camera about the size of an ipod, just a bit thicker. It can record in VGA, HD or HD60 mode, but if you're going to record anything substantial you'll need an SD card - it only comes with 28MB of usable memory! This lasts for about 20 seconds on HD mode!
The camera itself is very usable, with two buttons and joystick to cycle between settings and start/stop recording or playback. This allows one handed use. The on switch is located on the top, which is not a great position - the side would have been better. After turning it on, you'll find it's ready for action almost straight away - which is a real plus point, as traditional cameras and still cameras that take video tend to be sluggish.
Quality of the video is very good in strong lighting, but takes a nosedive in low conditions, and the only zoom is a juddery 2x digital zoom. The HD setting gives impressive and clear results when the light is good. Moving from well lit scenes to poorly lit scenes seems to create a sudden change of picture quality, with the image adopting a sudden "washed out" feel that you get in low light. As there's no illumination feature, then there's not a lot you can do about this. The camera also takes stills, but the results are not very good unless the light is strong - a bit like a glorified phone camera, really.
The USB connector is a normal USB plug and is - strangely - built in. It flips out of the side when you press a button. This is OK for laptop use, but if your USB ports are on desktop PC, you'll have to get an extension lead of leave the camera hanging off the PC.
A button on the side changes the camera's focus from distant to macro to enable close up shots.
Batteries: it takes normal AA batteries and comes with two precharged and a charger (Although my Precharged ones were already virtually flat.)
Plus Points
* HD results are very good when light is good.
* Quick start up time
* One handed operation
* Box comes with an impressive accessories pack - a carry case, a strap, a HD lead, a normal AV lead, batteries & charger and video editing software.
Bad Points
* Quality of video is not very good in low light.
* Still camera suffers due to lack of illumination
* USB connector is not very good for use in desktops
* Digital Zoom is quite juddery at times.
If you want a small, pocket camera to take away with you, I'd recommend this. Getting it ready and operational is quick and the results can be very impressive in HD mode. If you want something for more general use, then I'd pay the extra and go for a proper, full size camera.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, reasonably priced HD camera, 24 Nov 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
This item arrived beautifully packaged, and on opening it up I began to wonder where the camera actually was. However, it is that small that it sits at the bottom of the box so I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down with all the items included and worked my way through them.
The camera is just bigger than a mobile (about the same size as an Ipod classic), looks great and from first glance you can see that it is easy to use. Indeed, the manual included is a mere 16 pages which shows you how simple this little gem is to pick up and start filming with. Also included is a small, functional carry case (with a carry strap) to stop you scratching the screen (and the lens), a small carry strap to attach to the bottom of the camera, the aforementioned manual, a set of AV leads (to connect to your TV - this also has audio leads), a set of HD leads (again to connect to your HD TV), a battery charger (which will charge the 2 AA batteries also supplied, but will also charge 2 AAA batteries at the same time) and a setup disc for your PC. I have found that the setup disc is not necessary, as other programs will assist you in transferring media to your PC, but the program is easy to use and lets you delete from your camera only when you have tranferred stuff over).
Now, on to the camera itself. I eagerly inserted the batteries without charging them and the camera switched on with no problem (although after about ten minutes use the camera told me my batteries were running low - serves me right for my impatience I suppose). It is, as I said earlier, a great looking camera, with a 2.5" screen, a small built in speaker for playback and simple to operate buttons to switch on (on the top of the camera) and to use the camera all the buttons are in front of you (apart from the Close Up/Normal button which is on the side) - from the front you can record, playback (you can fast forward/rewind and even play in various slow motion speeds), delete files (dangerous!), zoom in and out and choose the mode of recording (HD60 - 16:9 at 60fps, HD 16:9 at 30fps, VGA ('normal' TV) and Still (photos at 3 megapixels). Quality is brilliant on the default setting (HD60), although the unit does struggle in bad lighting conditions on this setting, really good on HD, VGA is average and very watchable on a 'normal' TV (are old TVs still considered normal I wonder?), and the quality of stills is very good.
My chosen subject matter, my small baby son, was a great way to test out the various settings - whilst he is not that mobile at three mmonths old, he can still move about enough to test both my ability to record him, the frequencies the camera can record sound at (remarkably high pitched let me tell you). I managed to record him sat in his 'swinging' chair (which has a good amount of swing in it) with no problems, no blur was seen on playback and when viewing on my TV the quality of my footage was very pleasing indeed.
There are a few issues that you should be made aware of:
The first is the internal memory available for use is roughly 30mb. This will unfortunately only get you about 26 seconds worth of film on HD60 (albeit really, really good quality) and you will therefore need to invest in a good quality SD memory card (there are loads about and they are decreasing in price all the time).
The second is the unit only records in mono so the provision off stereo audio cables seesm a bit pointless.
The third is that the batteries take a long time to charge, and they are used up fairly quickly so you will probably need a spare set of rechargeables.
The fourth is that there is no flash for still photos. Now whilst the still photo quality is still good with dimly lit locations, perhaps a flash would have helped.
The fifth is that the 'pop out' USB connector, whilst it is a great innovation, I would be wary of inserting the camera straight into a USB port due to it's weight. Best to invest in a USB extension cable if you don't already have one.
All the above are minor gripes with what is otherwise a remarkably simple to use, great quality camera. For the price you cannot go wrong but please include the cost of an SD card (anything from £5 to £30 dependent on size) in your calculations. Highly recommended.
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