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Kodak Zi6

Kodak Zi6
  • Manufacturer: Kodak (www.kodak.co.uk)
  • Manufacturer: Kodak (www.kodak.co.uk)
  • Pros: Well built, good ergonomics, large responsive controls, 3-megapixel stills
  • Cons: Bulkier than its rivals, no USB extension cable or removable SD/SDHC card provided in the box, mono microphone picks up operational noise
  • Min specs: 64×114×23.5mm; 107g; SDHC card; 2x optical zoom; 2.4in screen; 1.6Mp (3Mp stills) resolution; 2x AA Rechargeable/Lithium; USB 2.0; H.264 .mov files in three modes: 60fps HD mode (720p), a 30fps HD mode (also 720p), standard-definition VGA mode
  • Price: 139
  • Star rating: 4

Larger than its rivals from Creative and Flip – think old-school, original iPod – the Zi6 is big enough to fit in a 2.4in LCD screen on which to compose and view results. It offers 1,280 x 720 pixels resolution video at a frame rate of either 30fps or 60fps and 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. The Zi6 also has the advantage of a SDHC card slot, plus 128MB internal memory. As it’s bigger than the others, it feels more substantial, but it’s still small and light enough to slip into a jacket pocket. The Zi6 requires two standard AA batteries for power and a mini charger is included in the box.

With smooth rubber bodywork at the front and back providing firm purchase for fingers and thumb, as with most Kodak devices, buttons and controls are large and well marked – in fact, Kodak describes the Zi6 as ‘uncomplicated’. Press a springy shutter release-style button beside the lens and, just like the Flip MinoHD, a USB arm flicks out from the side of the body for attachment to a desktop or laptop computer. Just below are two outputs for HD and AV cables, and both leads are provided in the box. What’s missing is an extension lead for the USB arm itself. On the other side of the unit is a protected slot for an SDHC card and above this a slider switch for manually swapping focal distance between close up and infinity, much like you would on a digital stills camera.

Everything feels as if it’s in the right place. The four-way joystick at the rear falls neatly under the thumb for operating the slightly jerky digital zoom, and, with a direct downward press, starts the process of recording. The quality of the 2.4in screen is much better than its smaller Creative and Flip rivals, displaying no obvious artefacts. However, the built-in mono microphone is quite sensitive, picking up the camera’s operational sounds. Operation is plug-and-play, while video quality is a slight improvement on the Flip Mino. Colours are realistic but shadow areas are slightly noisy when shooting daylight interiors. A screw thread at the base also
allows the camcorder to be attached to a tripod.

This product is part of our Compact camcorder group test group product review. Other products in this group are:

 

Creative Vado HD

  • Star rating: 3

 

Flip Video MinoHD

  • Star rating: 4

 

Kodak Zx1

  • Star rating: 4

 

Panasonic SDR-S15

  • Star rating: 3

 

Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10

  • Editors ChoiceStar rating: 4

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