Kodak Mini Video Camera with SD Card (Red)

I wanted something small and waterproof for kayaking and canoeing...and of course geocaching.. I have a kodak zx1, a flip mino, but I wanted something smaller than those....I thought about this camera for a while/watched sample videos on youtube,finally broke down and bought this at a "best" store for $89 without a card. This camera is simple to use! turns on very quickley,and starts recording quickley.I like the 1.8" screen....big enough to see what your recording/but small enough not to use too much power...I fully charged the battery/took 2 hours of video, and I still had battery to spare! battery life is great!...this is a simple video camera/ captures video very well!small enough to put in your pocket/battery still charged after a week of frequent use!Sound quality is very good/however the only "downside" for me is......no image stablization/not a big deal/ but is slighty noticed when quick movement happens...small,waterproof,long battery life,good quality video,good quality sound, simple and easy to use.I like it/and now at the time of my review/it is $20 less than what I paid AND you get a micro card included!great deal..if you go to youtube and type ......snow2112dog..... you will see my kodak mini video test...it shows indoors.outside at night and outside during the day...and the 3x zoom at the end of the airplane....all in under 1 minute.

This is video taken with this camera. I actually purchased it for 34.99 and it came the day before I took a trip to Bahamas. It comes with a micro SD card all you have to do is plug into your usb,charge and go! I live in FLA so I am at the beach A LOT! I just wanted something small and the waterproof is a big plus. It was EASY,EASY,EASY to figure out charging and use. Its sort of quirky in that the door opens at an angle,the usb plug is inside and is held by a tiny sliding button (not for people with big hands). This camera is so simple to figure out I think that this is great for kids or just a camera to carry in your travel bag or purse,pocket or whatever. I don't take a lot of pictures but this is easy and fun to have to take pics of your kids or dog on outings It is not good in low light, images are orangey and blurry.I spend most of my time in the sun and sand so it works....for the price if you lose it...not so bad:-)

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I have two of these on in this version and one in the HD version. The pros and cons are the same for both.

Pros

Size

Easy to use

Intuitive

Takes good video

Waterproof

Inexpensive

Cons

Not great for still pictures

Not great in low light

The camera works great right out of the box. Bought it initially for a trip to hawaii. Was able to read through the instructions and start recording right away. As noted in the manual sound playback on the device is poor because the device is waterproof no good speakers outside. Once imported to PC sound was really good.

Still pictures were grainy unless I really concentrated on holding the camera steady. Again, since it is waterproof there is no place for even a mini tripod.

Overall fair price for what it is a fun little video cam to keep around for those spur of the moments. Great for kids and grandparents who don't want to invest in something more expensive. Smaller and lighter than a Flip.

The software uploaded to my pc just fine. But again read the directions (at least once) as most of the complaints I have seen about this camera are due to people who just won't read through the instructions.

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[updated info at the bottom]

the cost is well worth it:

my first time using this camera was on a vacation trip to cancun with my wife. we paid for the snorkeling tour. we got our own speedboat, but had to wear a life jacket to snorkel. the only redeeming factor of a life vest is that the [kodak] mini slides and stays snugly at my chest, facing down. what i saw, the camera captured. so with forty minutes of swimming over a part of the reef, i kept the camcorder on and recorded everything and am going over the footage currently and over the next few days. making a short documentary for family via facebook, splicing still frame photos with windows' "snipping tool"..

what i love about this camera:

it's small, easy to hold.

durable: i would not hesitate cliff jumping with this around my neck. i took it boogie boarding for an hour.. the unit is small and tough

-it takes a micro sd card (the unit is small) and also plugs via usb

-waterproof. i took it snorkeling and kept it under water for the better part of an hour

-for being such a compact unit, it's fairly easy to use

-ergonomic button placement: pad in the middle with directionals and a preview button to the left and power to the right

-records video (even in lesser grades if youre worried about space) and also takes still shots

-the software is somewhat crude looking but very easy to navigate

what i wish i could love more about this camera:

the still shots are somewhat grainy. granted, there was a lot of overcast when i took many photos with this camcorder, but the pictures were definitely vga quality. but it didnt take blurry pictures. just a little grainy and low color. not at all vibrant. but better than milk carton photos. like newspaper photos.

the video is what you would hope for, considering the cost. if i were to choose again, before the trip, i wouldve spent a hundred more and gotten one that shoots in hd. as it is, this little unit is pretty awesome. the video is shaky, it doesnt have image stabilization like i am used to with my memory camcorder, but i can take it under water in the grip of my fingers and shoot what i see and it comes out just fine, and for forty dollars i get to bring those memories home and that is awesome !!

technically speaking:

the battery lasts a few hours, easily. the instructions reads 85 minutes, but it hasnt died on me yet. just, dont worry about the battery. have the unit charged [via usb, as the battery is internal and doesnt come out] before you head out for the day and you'll be fine.

ive used a class4 card and a class10 card. save the money, there is no difference. the unit doesnt read at a high speed so its function is not manipulated by your card choice. i havent used a class1 card, but i wouldnt hesitate if i had one lying around other than the vain fact that i prefer [to use] class2 or higher. i recommend a class2 card for this device. patriot, kingston, pny, sandisc, and transcend are the ones i personally have never had problems with. i do like them equally. so many bad (knockoff) cards are floating around that i cannot recommend enough ordering from amazon [certainly over eBay], from amazon directly, not an outside vendor, the card size and speed you prefer. but for this cheap/small unit, a four gig card will likely be enough for most owners:

a 4gb card will provide more than 51,000 still shots. its "camera" function. haha, that's fifty-one thousand pictures. or more than two hours of video footage at highest setting. (dont use the lowers camcorder settings as they degrade horribly.)

honestly: as stated, if i were to do it again, i would go HD for a hundred dollars more. but this unit works just fine. awesome for the price and i get to keep with me many great memories for forty bucks, and that really is along the priceless side of the things you own.

p.s., the audio is quite good, surprisingly. horrible for preview ON the device itself, as it is waterproof so the unit speakers are muffled; but using widows media player offers voice and sound fairly nicely. you will hear wind, unlike some of the more expensive cameras out there with noise reduction, but for the price for video and photo purposes around water or in rain, this unit is worth the price. especially at the price of not ruining your two hundred dollar camera or five hundred dollar smartphone :) i'll take somewhat grainy pictures and limited quality video over a dead phone or washed out camera any day at the beach !!

p.s.s., this unit does not charge from the wall, it strictly charges via usb.

[update]

i can charge the unit with my wife's iphone adapter. the adapter plugs into the wall, the zm1 plugs into that.

my unit froze up today. green and yellow snow and completely unresponsive. so i hit the little black reset button and it works perfectly fine again. (i dont know if that will reset the date and time as i dont ever care about plugging the date and time in my devices.)

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I have been on the look out for a great, small easy to carry around GOOD QUALITY video camera and this one just doesn't fit the bill. It IS small and it does carry well and I DO like that it's waterproof, but other than that, the video and camera quality are not that great. My phone takes just about the same quality.

BUT if you are looking for small, easy to carry, grab and go video to capture those random moments, especially poolside, then this camera would be fine (IF you're OK with just a so so quality) I also own the Flip Camera both the original and HD, which takes fairly good video but not great sound and it was not waterproof for those summer months where we live by the pool.

When I DO find that perfect, compact, waterproof, quality video camera, I will be sure to post. Until then, still searching.