High Definition Video Recording in Your Pocket
The Flip video made a big spash on the market last year. This wallet sized video camera is the model of good consumer electronics. To record something, turn it on, point it towards something and press record. To play something you’ve recorded, turn it on, select the clip and press play. To download the footage to your computer, press the USB button and out *flips* the usb connector, plug it into your computer, and copy to your hard drive. Piece of cake, they’ve sold tons of these.
The Kodak Zi6
What’s this review based on
I’m not going to compare the Zi6 to the Flip anymore, because frankly it blows it out of the water for the price. I’ll be using the Zi6 as my out and about camera. I have a 14 month old daughter and never want to be too far from a camera.
I already have a Canon HV20
We also have a Nikon D40
So what’s it like?
The Zi6 fits easily into your pocket. It’s about the size of my iPhone and maybe 2x as thick. The weight is pretty much the same as the iPhone too, but feels lighter because it’s so bigger. Since I usually put my wallet and iPhone in the same pocket, the Zi6 balances out nicely in the other pocket.
It takes two AA batteries, and even comes with a set of rechargeables and a charger you can use for any rechargeable batteries. Pretty cool they threw that in. My first day with the Zi6 I took around 30 minutes of video and a few dozen pictures, played back a few clips on the drive home, and was just starting to see the red low battery warning. The beauty is, if it dies on you, AA batteries are everywhere.
There’s also the usual cables for playback on a TV, it outputs component and composite as well as stereo audio, a small case and a little lanyard for strapping it to your wrist I guess. I never use those. I’ve got an 8 gig SD HC card
The screen is nice and large making it easy to see what you’re capturing. Unfortunately the plastic screen covering is glossy which makes it difficult to see in the sun or from an angle. This isn’t a problem with my HV20 or really much of a problem with the iPhone, but it’s more annoying than a deal breaker.
Since the lens is really narrow, you can’t get too close to what you’re shooting. I found that staying at least 6 feet from the subject works pretty well for both video and still shooting. There is a macro switch which shortens the lens a bit, though I couldn’t get very good results with it. There’s no optical focus, meaning the lens doesn’t change when you zoom. There is a zoom, but it’s all done digitally, which really degrades the quality. I keep it as wide as possible at all times, then crop down on my computer if I need to. Though, what do you expect for $180.
The physical controls are minimal, three buttons and a peg joystick let you do everything. I always hated these peg joysticks; maybe it’s because I have fat thumbs, but I always have a hard time using them. Pressing in on the peg starts/stops recording, or takes a picture. Moving up/down zooms in/out and adjusts the volume on playback. Left/right changes camera modes. The other two buttons change from recording to playback or delete things and stop playback.
When you’re ready to import your recordings to your computer, it’s as easy as pressing the USB button and connecting it to your USB. This is just like the Flip, and a great idea. I don’t know how many times I’ve needed to look for a mini-USB cable or pop out a memory card and slap it into a reader.
Enough teasing, show me the video already!
I took the Zi6 to the North Carolina Zoo the other day and captured some clips of animals doing what they do. It was a beautiful sunny day at the zoo, so the footage came out really great. While the Zi6 can record in 60fps, I did most of my recording in standard 30fps. I’d bet if you were recording sports or something moving quickly, you’d want 60fps. These animals weren’t moving much though.
Here’s some footage of a seal swimming. You can really see the detail in the water. Embeded below is the scaled down, compressed Vimeo version, but you can download the raw quicktime here for all the quality. (right-click save as…)
These flamingoes get all pissy towards the end. Good example of motion and capturing the audio. Vimeo below, download raw quicktime here. (right-click save as…)
I did take some 60fps footage just as a test. Here’s my wife and daughter on the carousel. I think the vimeo embed is capped at 30fps, so to see the real quality you’ll need the raw quicktime. (right-click save as…)
How about the pictures?
I shot just a few pictures to compare the quality between the Zi6 and my iPhone. Overall it’s a big improvement. The native resolution of the Zi6 is 2048 x 1536, while the iPhone is 1600 x 1200, so a slight bump there. All that’s important though is the quality of the pictures. I’ve put the Zi6 photos on the top with the iPhone pictures on the bottom. Click on the photos to download the raw pictures. Which do you prefer?
The Carousel Sign
A Cactus
Some Puffins, shot through glass
The African Safari View
I’m not loving either, but the Zi6 wins it for color depth and brightness. However, pretty much any point and shoot camera will probably kill both of these for still shots, so I wouldn’t want to rely on the Zi6 as my primary camera.
Getting stuff on your computer
Like I said earlier, connecting the Zi6 to your computer is a breeze with the built-in USB connector. I’m a Mac user, and it automatically opened iPhoto for importing. Both the photos and the video get imported into iPhoto. Since the Zi6 records to h.264, you can double click the video files to open in Quicktime and export from there if you like. That’s the easiest way to access your full res video.
If you’re interested in making a little edit of your clips, you can fire up iMovie and it’ll see your clips at launch and start making thumbnails out of them. Again, since it’s already in h.264 format, there’s no importing and converting required. However, iMovie is limited to 960×540 exporting, so your 720p video will be scaled down to 540p. I don’t have a problem with this for most applications, but I can see how this is a problem.
Here’s the video I put together from the Zoo trip exported at 540p from iMovie on Vimeo. Notice the lack of steady cam on the Zi6, especially in the first few shots. Update: iMovie 09 has a cool “Stabilization” feature which could help with this. Here’s my review of iMovie 09 using the Kodak Zi6.
Final Cut is the best way to edit and export the full res video. I have Final Cut Express and after scrubbing through the footage in iMovie, piecing together a rough edit, was able to export the clips as XML into Final Cut with no problems. I’d imagine this is how most people will do it, I just like the ease of iMovie for these sorta edits.
Final Conclusion
If you’ve read this far, you know I love this camera. I’m no video expert, I really can’t tell the difference between high end HDTVs, but for what it’s worth, this camera rocks. If you can budget $200 for a camera and are in need of some video, this is the way to go. Get an 8 gig SD card, a few rechargeable AA batteries and you’re good to go.
Terrif review, thanks for going to all the trouble, very helpful. I find myself hesitating between this device and one of the Sanyo Xactis. They seem cool too — small, convenient, easy. Plus they can zoom optically. Did you consider them? If so, how’d you happen to settle on the Kodak?
Comment by Ray Sawhill 09.22.08 @ 3:19 pm@Ray you know, I didn’t know much about the Sanyo, but after researching the VPC-CG9, it’s not really in the same class. I can’t see it fitting in my pocket, and it’s a bit pricier than I wanted to spend, though not much.
Looks like a step up from the Zi6 as far as quality, but then you’ve got the traditional problems; Lion battery not AA, cable to plug in not built in, etc. If you just want an inexpensive multitasker, I bet it’ll do a great job though.
Comment by Lawrence 09.22.08 @ 3:43 pmThis is one of the better reviews on the Zi6 on the Net. I notice that you did not talk about indoor (low light) captures with this camera. I found that my camera does very well outside, but is completely useless in anything resembling a normally-lit room due to horrible image quality (noise) in the video. Have you experienced this as well?
Comment by Carl 10.06.08 @ 7:43 am@Carl you’re right, the low light performance is sub-par. I’m sure it’s due to the small sized lens. Personally, I use my HV20 inside and only grab the Zi6 if I can’t find the HV20. I really only use the Zi6 outside, on small trips where I wouldn’t want to bring a big MiniDV camera.
I uploaded a clip of my friend James at a bowling alley, should be a good showing of low light performance. http://vimeo.com/1896721
Comment by Lawrence 10.06.08 @ 8:45 amThanks for the extensive review, I just received mine from QVC and was concerned when the software was PC only. Upon connection it opened up iPhoto just like you said.
Comment by PBW 10.10.08 @ 4:52 pm[...] read quite a few reviews of the Kodak Zi6, and nearly two weeks ago, I bought one for myself. It arrived shortly [...]
Pingback by My Little Kodak Zi6 Review | NSLog(); 10.22.08 @ 2:38 pmi have a mac
how hard is it to get the videos in and on to youtube if possible can u write me a step by step thing on how to do it thanks
If you have iMovie and iPhoto, it’s as easy as plugging the camera in and turning it on to import the video files. Then all you need to do is edit them in iMovie and Share… to YouTube. Really couldn’t be simpler.
Comment by Lawrence 12.02.08 @ 9:57 pmThe Zoo video was great, I watched it all. The background audio was well chosen and you feel like you are there. Come on up to Asheville and tour Biltmore and the mountains and make a video!
I hope I can do as well when my Kodak arrives. I sent back the Flip Mino HD because it froze up and needed rebooting several times. There is a pin size hole in the tripod mount on the Flip for rebooting the firmware…something I hope I don’t need to use on the Kodak.
Awesome, glad you liked the video. You know I actually made that music from loops I found in Garageband. First time I’ve used that app, not bad.
I haven’t had to reset my Zi6 ever, not really sure how in fact.
Soon as the baby gets a bit older we’ll be coming up to Biltmore for sure. Want to make sure she can walk better by then though.
Comment by Lawrence 12.03.08 @ 1:32 pmHi, I likes your review. I want to know if you have connected ZI6 directly to HD TV. Do you get sound also.
I tried mine.. I get the video which looks nice, but sound was not getting on to it. So not sure what was the reason.
Comment by Anil 12.14.08 @ 5:56 pmI love my Zi6. I play it on my 50″ Sony XBR Plasma, and it does a lot better than expected (for a cheap little camera). With bright light, it’s much better than (or at least as good as) standard def signal from the satellite. Not nearly as good as HD from the satellite (1020).
Comment by Kevin 12.16.08 @ 6:24 pmOh, BTW, the sound works fine playing through the TV. I just wish it had a remote, so I could go to the next video or hit play without standing near the TV. I suppose I could get longer cables… The Zi6 is Awesome!
BTW-2, great review. One of the best on the Zi6.
Reply to Anil’s comment:
>>I tried mine.. I get the video which looks nice, but sound was not getting on to it. So not sure what was the reason.
Besides using the HD cable, you have to also use just the audio cables from the AV cable for sound.
I hope Kodak will come out with a firmware fix for the frame drop issue under low light. As of Dec 17, Kodak has a Zi6 section for software download, but so far, the page does not seem to work, hopefully it will soon and wala, FIRMWARE!!!
A decade or so from now, I am sure these pocket camcorders will have image stabilizer, 3 ccd, 20x optical zoom, help change your underwear, etc.
Comment by ricky 12.18.08 @ 3:01 amHi Lawrence:
I just bought the Kodak Zi6 today at Blockbuster for $159. for my college age daughter for Christmas. Will be used with a Mac and I am grateful for all your terrific information. Will pass it on the to young ‘uns. Enjoyed your videos. Thanks for the effort.
Great review and as I’m currently torn between getting the Zi6 or the Creative Vado HD, reading that it supports the Mac out-of-the-box is making my decision a bit less difficult. I also like that I’m basically unlimited in the amount of video to shoot (32GB SDHC is not that expensive anymore) and can swap cards when needed.
And with a price tag of £90 it’s half the cost of the Creative one.
Comment by Rob 01.01.09 @ 6:58 am@rob You know, that Creative Vado HD looks pretty sweet. I’ve seen some sample footage and it’s a nice clean capture with much needed image stabilization. Course the downside is a built in 8gig memory vs expandable via SD, and the built in battery vs running off AAs. The price works out to be about the same adding in the 8gig SD card, few bucks more for the Vado but not much.
I think it all boils down to what your use is. For me, keeping this thing in the glove compartment never having to worry about batteries, or bringing it on vacation without hauling around a computer to download footage every day, makes it the winner. I’m not expecting the highest quality footage from it, I still use my HV20 miniDV camera for stuff I care about. But for the little grabs, especially on trips, the Zi6 is my favorite.
Comment by Lawrence 01.01.09 @ 11:13 amGreat review. I wish everybody would review products like you have! I am gonna bookmark this for future reference.
Comment by Daniel M 01.07.09 @ 12:27 pmthanks for the great review. I wonder if you can help me solve something. I took HD 30 video with the zi6 and just imported it directly into FCE. The resulting quicktime (after export) is a tad squished. (I look fatter than usual.) Just a tiny bit. I’ve goofed with a ton of settings. Any idea what I should be doing to not get the squished thing? thanks so much for the detailed review.
brad montgomery
Comment by Brad Montgomery 01.15.09 @ 11:24 am@Brad It’s all based on your settings.
In FCE, go to Final Cut Express >> Easy Setup
Format: HD
Use: HDV 720p30
Give that a shot
Comment by Lawrence 01.15.09 @ 11:43 amTHanks so much dude. Very cool of you. Are you a FCE expert too?
Brad
Comment by Brad Montgomery 01.15.09 @ 5:24 pmNot even an FCE amateur, I just used it a few times with the Zi6. I use iMovie for all my stuff, and rarely use FCE. It’s just overkill for what I normally do, if you watch some of my stuff on vimeo you’d see how low my expectations are.
Comment by Lawrence 01.15.09 @ 5:31 pmGreat review. I want a Zi6, but when I went to the Kodak site I found this under “hardware requirements?
“2.8 GHz processor or greater”
My Macbook does not have a 2.8 GHz processor. Does anyone know if this is a dealbreaker on the Zi6?
Thanks.
Comment by Bob 01.19.09 @ 12:03 am“piecing together a rough edit, was able to export the clips as XML into Final Cut with no problems.”
This is a poor procedure as the material needs to be rendered in FCE or converted. This camera should not be used if you want to used FCE or FCP.
Comment by Tom Wolsky 01.19.09 @ 5:19 pmFirmware
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/downloads/dln_ekn035874.jhtml?pq-path=13243/14559
features added. Haven’t had much time to play with it though
Comment by Mike Fuller 01.20.09 @ 10:41 am@Tom Think you could elaborate why FCE/FCP wouldn’t be a good idea? I’m no pro level camera guy, but It seemed to work fine for me. What’s wrong with it, aside from the resolution loss converting from iMovie to FCE?
Comment by Lawrence 01.20.09 @ 11:14 am@Mike Thanks for the note.
I just installed it but didn’t see a feature list. Just that it “corrects a discrepancy between User’s Guide information and actual camera function” which I read as “removed features we shouldn’t have put in”
Comment by Lawrence 01.20.09 @ 11:19 am@Bob
I wouldn’t worry too much about the 2.8ghz speed requirement. That seems more like a PC clock minimum to me. A multi-core Intel mac should run it just fine.
Comment by Ben 01.28.09 @ 9:26 amThis review is the best! I didn’t know that Kodak Zi6 can work on Mac as well. Kodak says that the software works only with PC. So, instead, I bought Vado HD. I run Windows XP virtual machine on my Mac. Vado HD has very crapy editing software, plus, the battery takes 7.5 hours to fully charge!!!!!!! Low light videos are horrible.
After reading your review, I just returned my Vado HD today and ordered Kodak Zi6. Thanks again for such a great review.
This was a great review. Now I just need to go buy this camera. I’ve been dying to get it forever!!
Comment by Ben 02.12.09 @ 1:15 amYour review is spot on until I get to the emailing of the video. My Mac just won’t do it. What’s the trick?
Comment by Robin 04.08.09 @ 10:45 amEmailing it? I’d just upload to YouTube or Vimeo, then email the link.
Comment by Lawrence 04.08.09 @ 11:29 amThanks for your very detailed review of the Zi6 – I also was surprised by the system requirements for Mac 2.8 ghz duo core and glad you pointed that out – other reviews have ignored this and it’s important to keep this in mind – glad you uploaded the still shots – which turned out pretty decent all things considered. The expandability with SD and the battery power are important consideratios – so I’m getting one of these. Thanks again for taking the time to do such a detailed review.
Comment by DerekM 04.10.09 @ 1:54 pmHi, thanks for your review. I have just received the zi6 and am disappointed in the manual. It doesn’t really tell you how to use it. I have worked out the video part, zoom etc. But am not sure how to use it to take a still photo? Also what the settings are good for eg: VGA, HD and HD60. Could you explain that if you get a moment. I head over to Vanuatu in 2 days, so am hoping to make the most of the camera there.
Cheers.
Comment by Sharon de Bruyn 04.12.09 @ 8:29 amYeah, the manuals are usually pretty bad.
Still photos are done by clicking left or right until a picture of a camera comes up where HD or HD60 usually is.
HD is normal 30 frame per second recording, HD60 is 60 frames per second (and is all I record on anymore). VGA is low res recording, 640 x 480 at 29fps I think.
Enjoy your trip!
Comment by Lawrence 04.12.09 @ 8:36 amI’d just like to add to the thanks already offered for this review though I already ordered my Zi6 this morning (have to ship from USA because they don’t sell them here in Australia). I feel even more like I made the right choice now.
Nice simple wordpress theme/layout too! It helps.
[...] » Kodak Zi6 Review, by a normal Mac user | Lawrence Ingraham’s Blog (tags: gadgets cameras kodak zi6 reviews toread) [...]
Pingback by Being Amber Rhea » Blog Archive » links for 2009-05-13 05.13.09 @ 7:32 amgreat review. I have a question: can you upload to YouTube directly from the camera or its built in software? I have a MacBook Pro and am looking for this kind of a video camera for our business. I want something that will make it really easy to take client testimonial videos and upload them to YouTube. I bought a Flip Ultra and loved it except the sound volume was ridiculously low. So am now returning it.
Which also begs the question, how is the sound? If I have the camera sitting 5-10’ away from a person who is talking without any other background noise, will it sound OK on YouTube?
final note: I know I could import this into iMovie and upload to YouTube from there, but I have iMovie 06 which doesn’t share to YouTube and I’m not interested in purchasing the new iLife to do it. I’d LOVE something that is as integrated and easy as the Flip solution, just with better sound.
Looking forward to your comment, hope to buy something asap, thanks!
Comment by RickM 05.24.09 @ 12:03 pmHow do I install the new firmware on my mac? I do not have a card reader and do not want to buy one if i do not have to. Any ideas?
Comment by Aaron JW 06.04.09 @ 2:39 pmThanks for the review. I have been struggling with the decision of which to get, and wanted to know a mac user’s opinion. Interesting that many people think this is the better of the cameras (compared to Mino Flip) but the flip is almost 2/3 more expensive.
Comment by Dave Trouble 08.03.09 @ 2:25 pmHi.
I got this camera a while back and i just got FCE and when ever i try to import HD 60 vids from my Zi6 it comes up with an error saying wrong format, and if i import a xml file it says all the media is offline.
Do you have any suggestions on what i should do?
Thanks
Comment by Joe 10.04.09 @ 8:23 am@Joe
Here’s my workflow for FCE:
1. Import all the videos into iPhoto
2. Launch iMovie and convert the thumbnails
3. Use iMovie to make a rough cut of the videos
4. Export XML for Final Cut
5. Launch Final Cut and go Easy Setup >> HD >> HDV 720p 30fps
5. Import the XML into Final Cut
Yeah I think there’s a way to work with 60fps clips, I just haven’t done it. Maybe you can figure it out from what I know works.
Comment by Lawrence 10.04.09 @ 9:51 amHi, Great blog. Quick question, I’m going to do the firmware update so I can use my Zi6 with my macbook, but the software disk that came with it for install on my pc says PC only…is there Mac software for this now too and if so where do I get it or will it work with iPhoto/iMovie just fine with no additional software other than the firmware update? Thanks!
Comment by Eric 10.27.09 @ 11:50 amHey, thanks for the review, it was great.
I have a Zi6 also but I’m with some troube
exporting from imovie to FCP,
I putted it in XLM for FCP but when it went to Final Cut the
media went offline
Do you have any clue what can be the problem?
Thanks a lot!
Cheers!
Comment by Gabriel Motta 11.16.09 @ 8:17 pm
Great in-depth review.
Comment by Randy 09.22.08 @ 4:58 am