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User Review:
I rarely will type/review products but I’ve been a little frustrated reading the reviews of this product on Amazon and by users at other sites. Many users seem to think that this camera was designed to compete with expensive, professional cameras that cost thousands of dollars and produce full HD quality video. That’s not what this is. Also, while my camera hasn’t had the ‘noise’ issue from the Mic, i have seen a camera that had the issue and its BARELY noticeable. Its almost like a very quiet background noise from a Florescent light or something.
Kodak has designed, marketed, and built a camera to compete with FLiP and has clearly produced a FAR better product.
I’ll keep it short and sweet and first explain who I am and what I am using this camera for. I use it for:
-Home Videos/Fun stuff with old buddies and friends
-For work when I need some quick video that’s easy to upload online, or put in iMovie and edit
-For work when I need more complex videos that may require editing, or somewhat lengthy video but I want the ease of use/portability.
I have seen some of the problems stated with the internal Mic and I have had none of them (I do have the upgraded Firmware that is now standard 1.03, and Kodak says this completely eliminates the issue…again have never had the issue on my camera). A relative of mine was lucky enough to purchase this product when Kodak did an ‘early’ release a few months ago and occasionally his videos will have a bit of a higher pitched background noise, but it doesn’t interfere with the sound from the video — its just a light background noise that, honestly, i’ve heard on dozens of cameras. Don’t forget, without an external Mic the camera only records mono so — the sounds quality isn’t going to be great anyway!
The video is great, image stability isn’t as advanced as those available on more expensive cameras but it is better than anything i’ve seen in a FLiP or other Kodak model. It does work and you can see a difference, even if its not huge. Its SO easy to flip between video modes. The 1080p is awesome, but sometimes its nice to move back down to 720 and the 60fps to capture ‘action’ footage.
One negative — which most people may see as a positive — i do wish there were more settings, or at least the ability to play around with more features/edit modes. Its GREAT easy to use, its a point and shoot video camera — but with the great lens and abilities, it seems like Kodak could have — pretty easily — had this camera competing with much higher end cameras. If all the hardware was put to great use this could compete with $500+ cameras. But I understand wanting to keep it simple.
I like having the SD card. Some people would prefer the internal memory, and yes by the time you buy a decent sized SD card the camera is more expensive than the FLiP, but, the FLiP has a very limited memory. This camera is limited only by the size of the card…Definitely a positive!
Finally, I know people that are both in the TV business and do a lot of Video blogging and they are drooling over this camera because of the external mic capabilities. One reason lots of ‘pros’ didn’t like FLiP was because of the audio issues. Kodak has solved those, not to mention providing better quality video.
Again this isn’t something to shoot with if your a young film-maker or a die-hard amateur cinematographer. But if you need something cheap to get some great quality video, or need something super easy to use that is really portable….Take the plunge. And if your considering FLiP — don’t bother… – R.Vernon
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User Review:
As others have mentioned, you really need to add $20+ (for an SD card) to the price of this to compare it to Flip and other cameras with built-in memory (the Zi8 does have a small amount of onboard memory, but it’s only enough to test the camera, not enough for any real use). That said, though, it’s still a bargain.
First, and most importantly, the video (and audio) quality is exceptionally good for a camera in this price range. No, it won’t compare with a $1000+ camera – but it compares very well with Flip and the like. My initial video was made by following my four year old around the house as she explained things to me. Bright sunlight to dark hallways to lit rooms, close to and far from the camera, still and active. We recorded (at 720p/60fps) for ten minutes, then connected the Zi8 via the included HDMI cable to the TV and watched. I was quite impressed. I wouldn’t expect the Discovery Channel to use these to film the sequel to the Planet Earth series, but for recording kids, pets, outside events (I also recorded my dog running around the yard), etc., it does very well. Color fidelity is good, and the built-in audio had no perceived issues. Adding an external mic makes it even better (my daughters use one and attach a tripod so they can interview each other).
I’m a Mac user, so I can’t speak to the ease of use of the included software, but I can say that the Zi8 connects easily to the Mac (the first time, I only saw the drive partition with the Windows software, but I ejected and plugged it back in, and from then on, I saw the image/video partition as well). The movies are all in H.264 format, so iMovie (or virtually any other video software) works well with them, and, as others have said, iMovie does jitter reduction well, so no need to waste camera batteries on image stabilization). Also, obviously, you can eject the SD card and use a card reader to import the movies and pictures on any OS.
Speaking of pictures… the picture quality is adequate, but very much in the cellphone camera quality range – I wouldn’t use this to take wedding photos or to document UFO sightings, but it’s fine for the things you’d use your cellphone camera to snap.
Ease of use is great, but I will admit that, at first, I took a lot of half-second videos because the camera begins taking video whenever you switch resolutions. Still, it’s trivially easy to use.
I rate it five stars because, for the price (even including an SD card), I was very impressed with what came with it (cables, etc), with the quality of the recordings and of the camera, with the ease of use, with the external mic option, with the removable battery, and with the overall experience.
At under $200 with a memory card, it is currently the best of the pocket-cam options.
- Joseph S. Wood
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