The biggest buzz in camcorders over the last year and a half hasn't been from any of the big manufacturers -- Sony, Panasonic, JVC or Canon, et. al. Instead, it's a little product from a little company called Flip Video. A tiny pocket camcorder that offers simplicity and style over power and performance, Flip Video cameras -- the Mino, Ultra, and Original -- have been hugely popular with the younger, so-called "YouTube" set. About a year or so ago, one of our Born Digital predecessors wrote a story about the Flip Ultra and found it to be "perfect for online video sharing," noting she had captured a short video with the Ultra and uploaded it to YouTube in a matter of minutes. Soon after, Flip Video camcorders were everywhere, it seemed. (Even my mom was asking about them.)
With so much attention going to such a small product, it was only a matter of time before the big boys would want a piece of the burgeoning pocket video camera market. The first major company to weigh in with a potential Flip Video challenger was somewhat unexpected though. Instead of Sony, Panasonic, JVC etc., venerable point-and-shoot camera manufacturer Kodak announced this summer that it would introduce the Zi6 pocket video camera ($179) in early Fall. Though the Zi6 seems to be part of an overall strategy by Kodak to prove that it's no longer a stodgy, old film-based company but an energetic, multi-media, digital imaging company, the message to Flip Video was clear. Watch your ass, buster. Big Yellow is coming after you.
Instant Hit, Just Add High Definition?
I was lucky enough to get an advance test unit of the Zi6 -- which ups the ante on Flip products by shooting in 720p high-definition -- and have been playing with it for a few weeks. What I've found is that while the quality of the Zi6's high-def footage is shaky at best, it's a well-designed little camcorder that improves upon some of the Flip's features and performance. In short, if you're a Biz Fast Tracker who needs to make decent quality video clips either for your website or for demonstration purposes, the Zi6 is a handy little video camera that could be a surprise hit for Kodak. Call it a Flip Video camera for the over-25 crowd; or a pocket camcorder that even your mom would dig.
A Camcorder that Doesn't Make Calls
The first thing that strikes you about the Kodak Zi6 is how much it looks like a cell phone, or rather, like a smart phone. As noted in the headline above though, it doesn't make calls, it just shoots video -- in VGA and two HD formats -- along with capturing 3MP "interpolated" still images.
Quite a bit larger than the offerings from Flip but not so large that it doesn't fit comfortably in a roomy pocket, the Zi6 is solidly built but not heavy, weighing just under 4 ounces without batteries. The front of the Zi6 features a large, 2.4-inch LCD screen which is a marked improvement over the Flip Mino's tiny 1.5-inch screen. The reverse side of the Zi6 is rubberized, giving it a more robust, slightly rugged feel. Though dropping this baby would be a bad idea, you get the feeling the Zi6 could take more of a jolt than a Flip. The Zi6 comes in pink or black.
Another improvement over the Flip -- which only has internal memory -- is the Zi6's slot for SD and SDHC memory cards of up to 32GB. Since the Zi6 shoots in 720p HD (16:9) at 30 and 60 frames per second, a memory card of at least 2GB is essential to provide room for all that high-def footage. The Zi6 also has 128MB of internal memory but that's not going to get you too far unless you're shooting in VGA mode.
Like the Flip, the Zi6 also has a flip out USB 2.0 connection - which lets you plug it directly into a PC or laptop for uploading your footage right away. The Zi6 comes with Arcsoft Media Impression software built into the camcorder though, sadly, it doesn't work with Mac, just PCs. The camcorder ships with two pre-charged AA rechargeable NiMH batteries and a charger.
Be careful about those "pre-charged" batteries though. When I loaded them into the Zi6 they were full but after just few minutes of shooting HD of a press conference at Shea stadium to announce the "Greatest Moments at Shea Presented by Nikon" fan vote, the battery indicator plummeted to just one bar. Though I haven't been able to do extensive testing, this camcorder seems to be a real battery-sucker, particularly in HD mode at 60fps. The Zi6 also accepts AA alkaline batteries but rechargeables are recommended for longer battery life.
Shaken & Stirred
Though it's meant to be handheld in casual shooting circumstances, the Zi6 has a standard tripod mount on the bottom which actually would be quite helpful for long shoots. While using it to cover the press conference at Shea Stadium, I found that holding the Zi6 steady for more than a few minutes was difficult because of its non-ergonmic, smart phone-like design. Also, since there's no built-in image stabilizer in the Zi6 -- an unfortunate omission -- the HD footage I shot of the press conference was very jittery. (In general, HD footage is a lot more susceptible to handshake than VGA footage.)
Though quality of footage, overall, blew away most of what I've seen from Flip's camcorders, HD in 30fps mode was disappointingly herky-jerky. While the 60fps HD mode is better, it will more than double the size of your video files so be forewarned if you have a small SD card and/or not much space left on your hard drive. (Like many small HD camcorders these days, the Kodak Zi6 compresses its footage using the H.264 codec which shrinks file size but degrades quality somewhat.)
I also found that the Kodak camcorder struggled in low-light, producing very noisy high-def footage that looked muddy on a 24-inch LaCie monitor. In regular and bright outdoor light, footage was much better though I recommend staying away from the Zi6's 2x digital zoom which will degrade image quality.
Still images shot with the Zi6's built-in digital camera were only fair and when I used the "Macro" mode I could not get any close-ups of flowers to look sharp. Basically what you're getting here is one step above the camera in a cell phone.
Easy Does It
In terms of ease of use, the Zi6 is about as simple as it gets. The only time I had to look at the enclosed instructions was to figure out how to switch between still, VGA, HD (30fps), and HD (60fps) modes. It's done by pushing the rather stiff mini-joystick on the front of hte Zi6 to the left or the right. Overall though, I loved how easy it was to start shooting video with the Zi6 along with how straightforward it was to upload the footage -- either by memory card or USB 2.0 connection -- directly to my laptop. So easy, maybe even my mom could figure it out.
Final Thoughts
Who would've thought that the first company to take on the Flip Video pocket camcorders would be Kodak and that with the Zi6 they would do it so well? Though its not without its faults -- HD video quality was far from what high-def should look like, particularly in low-light -- the Zi6 is a great little mobile video camera with enough improvements over Flip's line-up that it could be the break-out product Kodak has been hoping for. With a $179 price tag that puts it on par with the Flip Mino, expect Kodak to move a lot these snazzy little camcorders over the holiday season.