Kodak Playsport Zx3 Waterproof Video Camera
Jan 9, 2011 14:39:49 GMT -1
Post by gerryw on Jan 9, 2011 14:39:49 GMT -1
Kodak Playsport
Quite often there is a major dilemma when buying camera gear between specification and price. Naturally manufacturers will attempt to charge more for higher or broader spec’d products. Add to that the need to use the product in extreme conditions and the price skyrockets, often beyond reach.
So it is no surprise that a mini camcorder costing £81 or less which is capable of 1080p recording with HDMI output straight to your 42” widescreen telly, has 4x digital zoom and 5Mp stills, is WATERPROOF to 3m and which comes with video editing software is a massive hit in the outdoor sports community. That will be the KODAK Playsport Zx3 then…..read on.
My son, who is well into serious downhill mountain-biking first came across these a couple of months ago and let me in on the act. ‘Would be great for your kayak fishing trips, Dad’ he said. So I took a look and surprise, surprise one turn up in Santa’s stocking. Well he’s dead right….it is just what we have all been looking for.
I’ll come to the optical performance later but for me the most important three aspects were its size and ease of use and most important of all that it is waterproof to 3m (10ft) without any additional paraphernalia.
At about 11x6x2cm all in, it is a similar size to a modern mobile phone. It is rubberized on the front and back so doesn’t slip so easily and the rear comes in four colours namely, black, purple, orange and blue. There’s a wriststrap provided and it sports a tripod socket on the base too for ease of mounting to your yak or body if you prefer.
There is a waterproof hatch on either side which covers all the various ports. Beneath the right are USB, a 2.5mm AV jack and mini HDMI – leads are provided for both the video outputs, which saves you having to buy an HDMI to mini HDMI lead yourself. Beneath the left is the SDHC card slot and battery. The battery lasted for one hour and 40 minutes on my first outing, plenty for recording a trip out (launch, catch, scenery and return). You can recharge the battery over USB from your pc, plus a mains adaptor is supplied with both UK and European adaptors – ideal when you're on holiday – and it is surprisingly compact at little more than a three pin plug (which it is!).
It's very easy to point-and-shoot and video quality is on a par with the best mini camcorders I’ve used. There's a 1080p mode as well as two 720p modes. One has a 60fps mode which is great for action photography which the PlaySport is intended for. Most users use 720p/60fps continuously as the extra quality of the 1080p mode is surpassed by the action grabbing ability of the 60 frames per second. In addition for a quick grab there is WVGA and of course the 5Mp stills mode too. All are switchable with ease without having to go through menus too.
Taken today on Kodak Playsport Zx3...
Low light, indoors and general picture quality is brilliant and colours are faithfully reproduced too. If you use the software video special effects such as speed up and slowmo are available along with enhancements.
It just couldn’t be simpler to use. Definitely classed as a point and shoot it sports the now familiar toggle button on the front. So to shoot, switch on at the side (warm up is 4sec !) point at the subject and press the central button. To zoom in press the top of the toggle surround and to zoom out press the bottom of it. To change from one mode to another press left or right. Recording can be in 4:3 or 16:9 format to suit your telly. That’s it.
Other buttons on the front enable a wastebin to get rid of unwanted snaps etc, a replay button that lets you review what you’ve taken and a set-up button so you can set your preferences. Easy to use and for those of us who wear gloves in the winter this thing can be used with neoprene gloves on too.
It comes with manual and automatic features such as white balance, sound control etc as well as image stabilisation and face detection too. Brilliant….
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RKo266vCyI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2-hx5b2hNI&feature=fvst
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROLiII3tG0I
and for the yakkers amongst us...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewIkQQ2dfE0
It supports up to a 32Gb SD card (I use 16Gb) and has a fixed focus lens that approximates to 50mm on 35mm format. Close focus is limited to about 3ft but with the addition of a couple of £10 lens it can go 180deg wide angle or macro as you’ll see.
Playback is simple as it plugs directly into your tv or pc. It is just about as automatic as you can get. Tv playback quality from the camera is extremely good for the price but once converted the files are best played on a pc. The software allows direct upload to Facebook, Twitter or You Tube too so the faffing about is limited.
So what’s my conclusion. Well, having spent a lot of money on waterproof cases, large SLR format cameras and great point-and-shoots over the years both for work and fun, only to find none of them ideal for kayak fishing either because they were too large and unwieldy or just too expensive to damage this one seems to fit the bill. It’s too compact to leave behind, robust enough for the task in hand and completely waterproof in itself so can capture just what we need – a record of those great days out fishing, to cherish for the times we cannot get out. Will your movies be of Hollywood quality – nope, definitely not even if your name’s Spielberg. (After all good editing skills are not easy to master) You will need to think through how you’ll use it – will you hand hold it, attach it to your yak or yourself? All options are open to you. But best of all at £81 or less it is not the end of the world if it goes swimming (it doesn’t float) when you forget to tether it down. And for those of us with kids, we can capture a whole new world on holiday in the pool or sea for posterity.
Seems to me we should all have one….see what you think!
Cheers
Gerry
Quite often there is a major dilemma when buying camera gear between specification and price. Naturally manufacturers will attempt to charge more for higher or broader spec’d products. Add to that the need to use the product in extreme conditions and the price skyrockets, often beyond reach.
So it is no surprise that a mini camcorder costing £81 or less which is capable of 1080p recording with HDMI output straight to your 42” widescreen telly, has 4x digital zoom and 5Mp stills, is WATERPROOF to 3m and which comes with video editing software is a massive hit in the outdoor sports community. That will be the KODAK Playsport Zx3 then…..read on.
My son, who is well into serious downhill mountain-biking first came across these a couple of months ago and let me in on the act. ‘Would be great for your kayak fishing trips, Dad’ he said. So I took a look and surprise, surprise one turn up in Santa’s stocking. Well he’s dead right….it is just what we have all been looking for.
I’ll come to the optical performance later but for me the most important three aspects were its size and ease of use and most important of all that it is waterproof to 3m (10ft) without any additional paraphernalia.
At about 11x6x2cm all in, it is a similar size to a modern mobile phone. It is rubberized on the front and back so doesn’t slip so easily and the rear comes in four colours namely, black, purple, orange and blue. There’s a wriststrap provided and it sports a tripod socket on the base too for ease of mounting to your yak or body if you prefer.
There is a waterproof hatch on either side which covers all the various ports. Beneath the right are USB, a 2.5mm AV jack and mini HDMI – leads are provided for both the video outputs, which saves you having to buy an HDMI to mini HDMI lead yourself. Beneath the left is the SDHC card slot and battery. The battery lasted for one hour and 40 minutes on my first outing, plenty for recording a trip out (launch, catch, scenery and return). You can recharge the battery over USB from your pc, plus a mains adaptor is supplied with both UK and European adaptors – ideal when you're on holiday – and it is surprisingly compact at little more than a three pin plug (which it is!).
It's very easy to point-and-shoot and video quality is on a par with the best mini camcorders I’ve used. There's a 1080p mode as well as two 720p modes. One has a 60fps mode which is great for action photography which the PlaySport is intended for. Most users use 720p/60fps continuously as the extra quality of the 1080p mode is surpassed by the action grabbing ability of the 60 frames per second. In addition for a quick grab there is WVGA and of course the 5Mp stills mode too. All are switchable with ease without having to go through menus too.
Taken today on Kodak Playsport Zx3...
Low light, indoors and general picture quality is brilliant and colours are faithfully reproduced too. If you use the software video special effects such as speed up and slowmo are available along with enhancements.
It just couldn’t be simpler to use. Definitely classed as a point and shoot it sports the now familiar toggle button on the front. So to shoot, switch on at the side (warm up is 4sec !) point at the subject and press the central button. To zoom in press the top of the toggle surround and to zoom out press the bottom of it. To change from one mode to another press left or right. Recording can be in 4:3 or 16:9 format to suit your telly. That’s it.
Other buttons on the front enable a wastebin to get rid of unwanted snaps etc, a replay button that lets you review what you’ve taken and a set-up button so you can set your preferences. Easy to use and for those of us who wear gloves in the winter this thing can be used with neoprene gloves on too.
It comes with manual and automatic features such as white balance, sound control etc as well as image stabilisation and face detection too. Brilliant….
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RKo266vCyI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2-hx5b2hNI&feature=fvst
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROLiII3tG0I
and for the yakkers amongst us...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewIkQQ2dfE0
It supports up to a 32Gb SD card (I use 16Gb) and has a fixed focus lens that approximates to 50mm on 35mm format. Close focus is limited to about 3ft but with the addition of a couple of £10 lens it can go 180deg wide angle or macro as you’ll see.
Playback is simple as it plugs directly into your tv or pc. It is just about as automatic as you can get. Tv playback quality from the camera is extremely good for the price but once converted the files are best played on a pc. The software allows direct upload to Facebook, Twitter or You Tube too so the faffing about is limited.
So what’s my conclusion. Well, having spent a lot of money on waterproof cases, large SLR format cameras and great point-and-shoots over the years both for work and fun, only to find none of them ideal for kayak fishing either because they were too large and unwieldy or just too expensive to damage this one seems to fit the bill. It’s too compact to leave behind, robust enough for the task in hand and completely waterproof in itself so can capture just what we need – a record of those great days out fishing, to cherish for the times we cannot get out. Will your movies be of Hollywood quality – nope, definitely not even if your name’s Spielberg. (After all good editing skills are not easy to master) You will need to think through how you’ll use it – will you hand hold it, attach it to your yak or yourself? All options are open to you. But best of all at £81 or less it is not the end of the world if it goes swimming (it doesn’t float) when you forget to tether it down. And for those of us with kids, we can capture a whole new world on holiday in the pool or sea for posterity.
Seems to me we should all have one….see what you think!
Cheers
Gerry