Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Purple)

OK lets start off with this camera is $149 keep that in mind.

The 5.3MP still photos are fairly good, not to bad, but remember this is a video camera first

a dedicated 5MP still photo camera will take much better photos, but again hey these aren't to shabby it just depends on what your trying to do. Quick shots here and there...excellent and better than any cell phone I've had. At a wedding where you want crystal clear and sharp photos....well not so much.

The HD video camera is pretty nice, easy to use and I was just stunned at the digital zoom.

It actually works and works well, not to blocky or grainy...more so at the extreme 4x level but at 2x to about 3x the camera compensated nicely and actually cleared up the image...not sure how they do it, but they do.

As others have noted, with rapid movement of the camera you will notice your image jumps or shakes.

Now remember what I told you to keep in mind $149. Yes it does have that little "feature", but it's not

a $299 video camera with a higher quality lens and CCD. Slow down, don't go from left to right or up and

down at 100MPH and it's not bad. Moving images within the video are fine, it's just if you move the camera

itself very rapidly you will notice it.

I tried the 3 HD video modes, and it also has a standard resolution mode as well that I did not try.

I compared all 3 with and with out the image stabilization on which did not seem to improve or degrade the

image at all.

At 720p 30 fps Not to bad, noticed the jumpyness or shakyness of the image as I moved left to right in my test,

but slow down and it's not to bad.

At 720p 60 fps Now were getting better, really not bad at all, again not $300 video camera good, but

pretty darn nice, and clearer and the shakyness of the video smoothed out a bunch, again slow down in your

movements for best quality.

At 1080p 30fps Nice quality...really nice, but the jumpyness of the video is back, you have to take it a bit

slower but nice quality all in all.

I did not try the underwater mode, but assume it works as advertised everything else has so far.

Now I throughly loved the fact that there are no CD's with this camera, nothing in the box to load.

You simply plug in the provided USB cable and the software...every bit of it and all the drivers you need for

the camera are built right in and install on your PC from the camera...this is an excellent feature, I always

misplace the CD's and have to download from the website anyhow.

Speaking of downloading from the website ... this camera is flash upgradeable with new firmware I went to the

Kodak website and found that there was an upgrade I could download to correct a few minor anomalies that they

found...cool so hopefully this camera gets even more corrections in the near future and maybe a feature update

someday?

I also loved the fact that ALL the cables came with the camera. HDMI, USB, and Component video cables...

All of them... they can charge you at least $10 for each individual cable, but they give them to you with

the camera for $149, now how great is that ?!?!

As at least one other reviewer has said, yes there is no case or protective sleeve that comes with the camera,

but I would take the cables over a case anyday, you know what ever they included it wouldn't be what you wanted.

Either they gave you a sleeve and you wanted a case for your accessories or they gave you a case and you didn't

want to carry all the accessories so you go out and buy yourself a protective sleeve or pouch. So just go get what you want ...

I myself purchased the Kodak Case that Amazon recommended to me .... also a nice purchase, perfect size not to big,

not to small and has a little accessory area that you can carry one of the cables and a spare battery if you need.

This camera feels rugged and well built. It's easy to use, lots of features like image stabilization and face

tracking, it comes with all the cables, free software that's always with you in the camera, and costs only $149.

So not to bad at all, and my conclusion is this if your looking for a sharp and crisp still photo camera drop the

$100 just for that and buy one, if your looking for a excellent video quality camera drop the $300 just for that

and buy one. But....If your looking for a pretty nice, simple and decent quality camera that does it all and

is rugged enough to go out in the rain or underwater drop $149 and buy this one.

I've included a video I compiled and edited down to show the different resolutions and the photos. Keep in mind

that while your viewing that this is an flv file and the actual quality that the camera will give you will be

much higher than what I was able to upload to Amazon, meaning you'll get better quality than what you see on here.

I shot this using the Kodak PlaySport while snorkeling off of Ixtapa, Mexico. The water wasn't the clearest, but I did get pretty good results. It looked really great in the pool. It also looks great above water! I use it at my son's baseball games and I have been amazed at the quality. Hands down the best thing about this camera is the size. It's so easy to slip in a pocket and just carry around. Great little vacation camera. My only complaint is that the control wheel is a little small. I would often accidentally stop recording while trying to zoom in or out. You get used to it though and it is a minor annoyance. I highly recommend this camera.

Buy Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Purple) Now

I am a Canon diehard fan. But Canon does not have anything that compares to Kodak Playsport HD waterproof pocket video camera. At 1080P the video recording is acceptable. But, at 720p and 60 frames per second this camera rocks, the results are great. I have used it around and in water, the blue filter helps under water. I am planning to use this for our Disney World vacation this year in the Water Parks.

This camera takes 5MP HD Stills, so now I have a camera that can take video and stills on demand wet or dry. I have other camera's in the same category like Flip and Samsung both do not compare, even at 720p 60 frames per second. $150.00 pricetag is also very affordable.

Easy to carry, very user friendly to move files from the camera to the computer or directly to Youtube. Nightvision would be nice but most of my recordings will be in Daylight. Bottom line great camera and I have no cons to talk about.

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Over Christmas, my wife decided to award my awesomeness by getting me a Zi6. I loved this camera like a fat kid likes cake and took it with me everywhere that I went. Suddenly, my daughter was living her own personal Truman Show and everyone on my Facebook friends list was subject to video after video that I'd shot just about anywhere that we were of her being cute.

Not even a half a year had passed before I was totally devoted to the idea of the Zi6 but still wanting something with a little more horsepower under the hood (Image Stabilization, Facial Detection, Backlight Suppression). I was planning to go with the Zi8 but then I found this little bad boy. The Zx3 is essentially like the dashing, more adventurous midget version of the Zi8. It has the Zi8's guts but in a pint sized, water-proof body.

Pros:

1. Its freaking waterproof! In my opinion, this is almost 100% necessary with a camera that you carry around with you all the time. I'm often too stupid to come in out of the rain so the mere fact that this camera can take the moisture makes it a perfect fit for me.

2. Facial Detection, it works! The camera does an outstanding job of metering from whoever's grill that I happen to be getting all up in while using it. There's a noticeable lag when panning from the shadows to some sun-worshiping hippy but it's not that much. Maybe 1/3 of a second.

3. The image stabilization keeps my shots steady even when I'm jogging behind my 4 year old little girl as she goes from one place to the other being totally riot. It's digital instead of optical so it isn't perfect but it's still a far cry better than the Zi6. It¡¦s definitely a welcome upgrade as my footage no longer looks quite so much like every scene in Cloverfield.

4. I don't use the backlight suppression as much as I thought that I would (mostly don't need it) but its nice having it there.

5. I personally think that the low light performance of this camera is quite crunk! I've read lots of other reviews with people complaining about it but these folks probably complain that they don't get a side of caviar whenever they order a drive through happy meal. It's a pocket-sized camera. In my opinion, the Zx3 has the best low light resolution that you're going to find without upgrading to anything larger and more financially damaging to your checking account.

Cons

1. The thing runs on a proprietary battery so, unlike the Zi6 there's no more relying on AA's and Viagra to keep me going all day long. Kodak says that you'll get 90 minutes out of a full charge but they're lying to you like a bunch of dirty liars. Expect an hour without previewing.

2. Oddly, the 1080p recording mode doesn't make that much of a difference. The Zi6 maxed out at 720p and definitely got a worse picture than this Zx3 but that's mainly due to the internal processing differences between to two devices. It's not really a complaint, I guess. I've just found that 720p at 60fps is just as good or better than 1080p at 30fps.

3. This camera's lack of a macro mode makes it impossible for me to film my fungal infections to email to my doctor for diagnosis.

4. No case was provided! :( WTF Kodak? My Zi6 came with a case. True, it wasn't a very good case but it was there and I loved it! This one doesn't have one. I'm currently using one of my kid's unmatched socks to keep the screen and lens from getting scratched while it's in my pocket. Why does Kodak want me to be so ghetto?

5. The codec records in the .mov file format. This format is big and really annoying to edit in as it eats up processing power and makes your computer stupid. Know going into this that you're going to have to convert your files into a more manageable format before splicing together the next Citizen Kane.

All in all, I'd say that the Zx3 is pretty much the most amazing thing that I've owned ever since my wife got me my Zi6. The better image quality alone makes it worth the $150 that I paid for it but it's also waterproof! My wife didn't know that before I dropped it into my koi pond. The look on her face alone was priceless and worth every dollar spent.

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End Result: The video attached here was shot at 720p, 60 frames per second, uploaded and processed by youtube.com, then downloaded and posted to this review to show the quality of the final results you can achieve online. The camera will shoot even higher resolution at 1080p.

Overall: I have been using this tiny camera hard now for eight months, and I have almost nothing but praise for it. It's the size of a cell phone, shoots HD, has image stabilization, contains software for making movies and uploading them to YouTube and other social media site, is rugged, water proof, and best of all, shoots better video than the Flip cameras. The "almost" is minor, in that most users shooting for more than 20 minutes in the wild will want a second battery. It really is best-of-class in tiny video cams, and nothing else comes close to its environmental ruggedness. Buy it. Have a blast. Kodak did it right.

Hardware: I purchased the Black PlaySport ($150), the Kodak High-Speed 16 GB 60x Class 4 SDHC Flash Memory Card ($40), the Kodak 1706290 Resilient 1 Camera Case ($7), and a tiny flexi-leg tripod ($6). The camera comes with a wrist strap, USB charger, USB cable to connect to your computer or charger, and an HDMI cable for your HD TV. The enclosed user's guide is minimal in its explanation of the controls, and does not include shooting tips, but the camera is so simple to operate that you really don't need much more. All components worked flawlessly out of the box. The leash runs through a strong hole in the camera body, and you can use the wrist strap or even run a long leash to your belt for extended-arm shooting while paddling or skiing. I attach the tiny tripod to my life jacket with a leash, and do most of my shooting with the tripod stuffed in the life jacket's breast pocket and camer facing forward.

Charging: Initial charging and all my subsequent charges via USB took about 20 minutes. The USB cable has a standard plug on one end, and a micro-SUB on the other, which is great for me, because my Blackberry car charger also uses a micro-USB. When I shoot intermittently, turning the camera on and off a lot to save battery, I am getting 20-30 minutes of video at 720P at 60 frames per second. You can shoot while charging, which is great for the car or indoors where you have wall power. If you plan to do lots of outdoor shooting, get at least one spare battery. Charging and HDMI ports are on the right side of the camera behind a gasketed waterproof door. The battery and flash card are on the left side of the camera behind a separate gasketed door. Both doors seal very well if you keep the gaskets clean.

Controls: The center select button is used to start and stop shooting, take a still picture, or start and stop playback. Surrounding it is a black control ring that lets you choose from 720P, 720P-60FPS, 1080P or still shots. When shooting, the ring lets you zoom in and out, displaying the zoom level in a red bar-graph on the display. The ring also allows you to choose settings for underwater, sound, image stabilization, and other options. The top left thumb button selects shooting mode. The second button selects playback mode. The third button is the trash-can. The fourth button lets you set the camera's options. The controls make sense and are easy to use, even with light gloves on.

Start and Stop: When you start shooting video, the camera emits a quick chirp, and when you stop it emits a lower tone chirp, neither of which appear on the video itself. This audible feedback is wonderful when you are shooting blind, which I often do by stuffing the camera on a tiny tripod into my lifejacket pocket while kayaking. The camera takes about three seconds to power up when off, and it automatically turns off after about 4 minutes of no shooting to conserve battery life. I love that feature!

Shooting: The camera has an F2.8, 5.54mm lens, and software that tracks and focuses on faces (switchable). I frequently hold the camera in hand, arm extended, and shoot myself from the front, side, or even over-the-shoulder. The focal length is perfect for self-portrait shooting and narration. The zoom works nicely, though occasionally jumps slightly as it approaches full zoom. Image stabilization really helps when at full zoom big kudos to Kodak for this feature. It also helps when shooting trail running with arm extended.

Video quality: The video quality is excellent, and to my eyes, far better than that of the various Flip cameras. When I shoot calm subjects, I use 702P at 30 frames per second, which gives great results with a minimum of memory use. When I shoot action with a lot of subject motion or camera motion, I switch to 60 frames per second, and the results are stunningly good. The camera responds reasonably quickly to light level changes, such as panning up and down between a bright sky and dark ground, but you may see about 1/3 of a second of under or over exposure s the camera responds. If you zoom all the way in with the digital zoom it's not an optical zoom the picture will become slightly bluer and fuzzier, since you are using a smaller area of the sensor chip.

Image stabilization: I shoot sea kayaking videos, which contain lots of water movement as well as camera movement, and the image stabilization works pretty well. If you start seeing "jumpiness", such as when you rapidly pan, turn off image stabilization and it will get smoother. If, on the other hand, you are not panning, but simply trying to hold your palsied, shaking hand steady, turn on image stabilization and the result is very good.

Uploading to your computer: The first time you plug the camera into your computer it detects that the ArcSoft software is not installed and ask you to install it. The software is located in the camera; there is no external CD to lose, which is brilliant. Once installed, the software is extremely easy to use to select and upload shots and clips from the camera to your computer.

Making movies: The software lets you easily make movies by dragging and dropping clips into a sequence. Clips can be edited so you only get the good stuff, and you can tweak the light and color levels. You can add transitions, music, voice-over and even text frames with a variety of fonts, font sizes and colors. This is not a full-featured editing studio, but rather one that is incredibly easy to use for things like YouTube, Facebook and burn-to-DVD videos. You can save the "project", which contains all the settings for your move in an editable format, so you can come back later and add that missing scene and delete uncle Ed's belch.

Uploading to social media: The same software allows you to upload to a whole variety of social media, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and burn your video to DVD. The upload process automatically formats the movie for best results on the particular social media you select. It then connects to your account and uploads the movie. I regularly upload 720P videos to YouTube. YouTube then automatically converts the upload to 360P, 480P and 720P, and lets viewers select the speed that works best on their computer/connection. You can see uploaded examples, each labeled with the shooting resolution and speed search youtube for "erikhy". (Note that these videos are from someone who has never shot ANY video before getting this camera.)

I'm in love with this camera for travel and adventure shooting.