I bought the Zx1 to take along on motorcyle trips. I installed a camera mount on my motorcyle for on the road video. Here are some of the good and bad points.The good:
1.Easy to carry.
2.Uses AA batteries or AA rechargeable batteries.Easy to find.
3.Different choises of recording quality. VGA,HD30, or HD60. Will also
take still photos.
4.Uses a standerd SD or SD HC card. Cheap and easy to find in stores.
5.USB connection to the computer.
6.Videos I have taken are pretty good quality.
7.I can actually operate this thing while on the move on my motorcycle
without crashing. It is simple to operate.
8.Pretty rugged.
9.Fast bootup and quick to record time.
The Bad:
1.Eats batteries like a thirsty camel.Bring spares.
2.Video has no image stabilization. You need a steady hand or a tripod.
Bring Dramamine if you are watching video where the camera is moved
quickly.
3.Include SD cards and batteries in the final price for comparison with
other cameras.
4.Records in Quicktime. Yuk for us WMV users.
5.Operating symbols on the back are cryptic till you get used to them.
Don't press the wrong (small) button like I did or you will delete
your videos.
6.Software is OK (it's comes with the camera)but good editing and maybe
format converting software may be a consideration.
7.I was not real fond of the software being pre-loaded on the camera and
installing itself when the camera was hooked up to the computer.I would
prefer it came on a disk. This way I would have more control when new
operating systems came out.
Overall it is a fun camera to use. It is very portable and pretty durable.
HD60 videos were pretty clear. Good outdoor camera. Poor low light camera.
I think I would wait on buying one if I did it over. It reminds me of the first digital camers that needed a few generations to develope. Still, it is an impressive device for being so compact.
The Zx1 is right on target. Right out of the box it does exactly what you would expect from a small pocket video camera decent quality and simple operation. Even indoors the quality was acceptable which is more than you can say about most cameras in this class.
This is clearly a second-generation pocket video camera with improved controls and support for large capacity SD cards. The AA batteries are just what you need to make sure you will never run out. I was surprised to see that a charger was included.
My big concern about buying a Flash Drive HD camera was the issue of file format. This is a thorny issue with all HD video cameras. I could care lass about HD I just wanted decent quality and the ability to edit video.
The plan is simple archive the 'HD' content and keep it for future editing when software and hardware are readily available. And meanwhile
convert the files to AVI or another usable DVD formtat for immediate use.
The supplied ArcSoft program does primitive conversion of the 720p format to 640 DVD format but in Quicktime which Windows Media player version 9 still refuses to recognize in Windows XP ( I hate Vista)
There are many third party programs which do a better job of conversion the one I use is AVS Video Converter 6. It took the raw MOV file from the SD card and converted it to AVI format with the 720 lines preserved and good sound quality. As with all such conversions it is slow but the quality is excellent. This is not a trivial conversion. Of course AVS will convert it to any of a dozen other formats some with smaller file size but none with higher quality.
Since this camera is so new, the Kodak web site has very limited documentation for the Zx1. They avoid entirely the issue of file formats and that is because it is a thorny issue. Along these lines I should mention that without loading any software, you can slip the SD card in your computer slot and you will get a MOV file. It comes up as a Quicktime file. My version of Quicktime played the movie O.K but there was no sound. I'm sure an update is available but it may not be free.
Of course my Quicktime player did play the MOV file after it was converted by ArcSoft.
Hey for $150 this is a great buy and it seems to be durable also.
Buy Kodak Zx1 HD Pocket Video Camera (Black) Now
Got the camera for my mother to use when she babysits my daughter. The camera is very easy to use and comes with all the cables and rechargeble batteries.The HD resolution is unreal, on the computer and TV (camera comes with HDMI cable). I just returned from a cruise and videos are great. The only problem I found was low light conditions. Using it inside can be a problem with limited light, otherwise the camera performs better than I expected.
Read Best Reviews of Kodak Zx1 HD Pocket Video Camera (Black) Here
Any reasonable person should be able to figure out that you will need a memory card since amazon tries to suggest one when you purchase. That's why these types of cameras are referred to as "flash drives" (another reviewer)Pros: Does well in lower light than others. Good in normal room light. I found others just no good indoors.
Very small and portable. This was a critical requirement for me.Splash resistance.
Seems rugged but I didn't do a drop test. Sorry.
A bonus feature not advertised was how well this blocks out wind noise on very windy days yet allows all the normal talking to be recorded. Never seen that before!
Crystal clarity out doors. Just amazing, although most of these types of cameras do well outside.
Cons: On an inexpensive camera like this, is subject to shaking which makes it irritating to watch. But knowing this I use a tri-pod or just a steady hand (don't forget to hold steady!), and movies are really great!
You have to break the $400 barrier for anti-stablization features.
In low light, Images are still bright, unlike others, but a little softer looking, less than optiimal forcus, acceptable. . . remember, this is a $140 camera, so it's fine.
My battery charger seems to be defective. But I have these all over the house and it wasn't worth returning. Still, would have been good if it worked for road trips.
Still waiting for the remote to be offered! But at least it's coming?
Close up is a little blurry, unlike the Zi6, a trade off I guess. Oh well, beats the heck out of using my cell phone for you-tube!!!
Notice to Mac users! When I plugged in into the mac, i-photo boots up. When you try to download, it will hang up! It might download some pictures and short movies. But anything over a few minutes and no joy. Easy way around this one. !. Plug in camera 2. Kill or minimize i-photo. 3. You will see a folder called "NO NAME" on your desktop. Click on it and there are all your movies and pictures! 4. Just drag these to where ever file you want to store them. Or just view from that folder and close. 5. When your done, right click and and click "eject". If you want, you can clear the memory card from the camera or just keep filming more stuff if your card is bigger.
I am a very happy camper!
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I bought my ZX1 in blue colour, and I'm happy with this Pocket video camera.I love the rechargable batteries, you can buy and extra sets and have with you in your pants pockets.
It contains the hdmi cable!!!! awesome. no need to buy one!!!!
when I watched the videos thru the hdmi cable, the image quality ,it's very impressive.
The image quality is awesome when recording in daylight,and it is so grany indoors. Besides, you get a slow motion sensation when filming in a very low light condition.So, when filming indoors, be sure to turn on all the lights around you..
I just recomend, when recording, hold your camera,don't shake your hand a lot, and don't do some rude movements. No image stabilization.
The ArcSoft softwere to edit and make videos, suplied by kodak ,it is so primitive and slow.And yes the kodak website is so useless,not too much information.
I love the "AVS video convert softwere",that other reviewer recomended.
I'm upset,the camera doesn't have a counter!!!! you don't know how many minutes you have to still recording!!!!.I learnt, that the 8 gb sdhc card allows 2 hrs of video recording in hd format.So, get a 16gb sdhc or a expensive 32gb.
I recommend using the sdhc card class 4.The class 6 will froze.
The picture camera mode.is great outside. Indoors it is useless, alot of blurry pics.
I guess, I will keep my camera for a couple of years,until a new kodak comes out...
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