Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 427
 Great Value, awesome! But don't expect it to compete with $3000 camera October 13, 2009
R. Vernon
302 out of 310 found this review helpful
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...
Actual footage in different lighting conditions December 3, 2009
Richard C. Drew (Oak Lawn, IL USA)
393 out of 408 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3DTAE8IALESIN Instead of shooting a review, I took some video, outdoors in the dark, in a dim room, and various lighting conditions. I erased the audio portion - it was just wind and ambient noise. The original video is great quality - hopefully Amazon does not compress it too much!
Christmas lights in front of the house, the tree inside the house, and some footage at the local gym (dark, medium and bright conditions!)
I also shot some close-up footage with the close-up setting on and off so you can see how it works.
All videos are recorded by the camera in .mov format.
Significant improvement over zi6 August 26, 2009
Vivek Chaudhary (Portland, OR USA)
101 out of 111 found this review helpful
Since I already own a Kodak zi6, I will restrict my review to comparison between Kodak zi8 and zi6. Overall, I feel that zi8 is a significant improvement over the previous model. The video quality is definitely better than zi6 in all conditions, whether outside in bright sunlight or indoors in low light. The firmware is superior giving a more user friendly interface and buttons layout is much nicer. Unlike zi6 where setting menus was hidden, this time you get direct access to settings including controlling the screen brightness, altering mic sensitivity, turning image stabilization on/off and enabling/disabling face recognition.
I think this is a great video camcorder at a great price. Go for it!
------------- update: Sep 24 2009 --------------
Upgraded to the latest firmware 1.03, and this eliminated the background noise in my recordings completely! Wow. Thanks Kodak for listening to costumers and quickly fixing the mic bug.
[...]
Great experience. January 24, 2010
Winston Wolfe (Marietta, GA USA)
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
So, I read all the same reviews you did on Amazon. Some people love it some people have had problems. I have not seen a product with such a wide range of reviews and was very leery. I bought it locally at a store with a good return record as Amazon was out of stock with no ETA on new stock.
I will start by saying, I have not had any of the problems that seem common here. No lines, no funny squeals/hums, etc. This unit came with the latest firmware installed (1.06).
Reading the 4 and 5 star comments on Amazon, I would say they are in line with my own experiences. For my needs this camera hits the mark on so many levels.
My needs:
- Small camera
- Ability to record fast action movement of sports/dance activities
- Extremely easy to play back on a computer AND television
- Zoom. Optical would be great, but not needed for what I do.
- A standard video format that could be edited by lots of different software.
Major pluses that tipped the scale to this camera over others:
- Removable memory. I don't want to download everything to a computer when I am on vacation. Swapping out the memory card is like loading film...I'll process it when I get home.
- Removable Battery. With all of my rechargeable tools/toys, I will use them more if I can swap out a run down battery and keep going. This lesson was first learned with cordless drills, always buy a second battery so you can keep working.
- Decent quality video for the size. Look at another reviewer on Amazon. He did a decent job of recording in different lighting conditions to show you what to expect. Similar videos were found on Youtube.
Software:
This seems to be a problem for a lot of people. I really didn't expect much and knew from other reviews that the .mov format was compatible with Quicktime. I would have preferred something I could use on Windows Movie Maker, but if the software did not work it was only $30 to upgrade to Quicktime Pro to edit.
As an aside: I found it interesting that folks complained that only PC software was included. What they didn't seem to understand is this .mov format works natively with the standard iMovie software on the Mac.
All that said, the Arcsoft software loaded fine on an old laptop running XP. Now, like any other video editing software, I had to close all other programs to keep the video from being jumpy when I edited or played it.
The one interesting detour I did not expect was the 8GB SDHC card I bought for the camera was not something the old XP could read with it's built in SD card reader (SDHC did not exist when this computer was built). It worked fine with a newer Vista based computer. That said, flipping out the USB connection from the camera and plugging it into the XP laptop worked great. The laptop treated the camera like a USB memory stick and the movies run in Quicktime.
As to converting the .mov to something I can use (say .avi) with Windows Movie Maker, I did find some free tools listed by other reviewers that worked fine (RAD Video Tools - http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm) .
What would I like to see different? An adjustable focal length so I could get everyone in the shot across the table and still take the long shots. I expect that will be years before this feature is affordable enough to put in a $200 camera. I do look forward to that day as I bet we see optical zoom and detachable lenses to do fun things when that day comes.
I think I got lucky in some areas and had different expectations in other areas.
It appears that the early adopters had problems and Kodak was quick to fix them. I received a newer model with the latest fixes (firmware) and possibly newer ArcSoft software.
I never expected a $200 camera without optical zoom to take pictures of cameras costing twice as much and more.
I never expect included software to be stellar as that has never been my experience with ANY product. It should do the basics, and for me it did, although I probably won't use it given other free options.
I have had video cameras in the past and recognize the need for good lighting, both on the subject and behind the subject. That said, I am pleased with the video even in low-light situations as it is better than what I expected.
If you need a small video camera that is very easy to use and share your videos, I would not hesitate to recommend this to you.
Overall, an excellent choice in this price range November 16, 2009
Joseph S. Wood (Andover, MA United States)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
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.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 427
|
