Testing Kodak's Zi8 Digital Video Camera

This September Kodak is taking aim at the digital video market with their new Zi8 video camera. To date, the folks at Flip have been cornering a big share of the small, hand-held video devices. I was pleased to get my hands on a preview model of the Zi8 to review.

The folks at Kodak gave this to me with no strings attached...no promise of ANY review let alone a good one. As a mommy blogger, I don't purport to be a technical expert, what I am an expert at is judging whether a time-starved parent can master a new gadget and if it will add value to a family's already crowded home. My job was to see if this camera is a good value at $179.

Set up is a breeze. I started shooting video before I ever flipped through the instruction manual. Working the camera is fairly intuitive.

For the most part, I've been using the 720p setting and find it gives very good videos--perfect for when I post things on the blog or youtube. There are five four video settings in all. HDTV owners will prefer 1080p--it will probably look awesome on the big screen.

Now let's get down to the specifics. The display screen is a big 2.5 LCD giving you a nice picture frame to work with. The entire camera measures 2.4 x 4.5 x 0.9" and weighs in at 3.9oz--making it extremely portable. The device weighs and looks like a Blackberry phone. It is easy to slip in and out of your bag and I now carry mine everywhere.

The Zi8 comes in three color options (my favorite is the berry). The Kodak Zi8 ships with a rechargeable battery, adapter and cable, HDMI and AV cables, wrist strap and guide. Retail price is $179.

Time to move on to how it performs. What I like: The camera feels great in my hand and I was able to enjoy shooting video right away. The Zi8 also provides excellent quality of video AND still images (jpegs) so I don't have to lug around a separate camera in my bag. Uploading images and videos is quite simple. This sometimes frustrating task was painless.

To see the quality, check out the stroller review here. This was shot in a noisy, shady setting--no way would the Flip given me images this good! The camera performs well in low light and does a wonderful job capturing faces.

Since we all know no device is perfect, I'll share my thoughts on the areas for improvement. The sound is difficult to make out with background noise. So I wish the Zi8 came with a portable clip-on microphone. I use my camera for product reviews and this would be might handy. I also feel the USB connection could be improved. When attached to my computer the camera sort of flops around and looks unstable. A final pet peeve: The camera doesn't ship with a memory card (but it does have a small amount if internal memory)-it's always maddening to have a new tech toy and not be able to use it right away without having to pick up a memory card.

All in, I think the Kodak Zi8 is a great value and tool parents will appreciate. Look for the first shipments in early September 2009.