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Comment on "Kodak Zi6 Review"
by Scott Stevenson — Aug 21
@Dmitry: Jeez, if that's "great looking video" then I'm a ballerina

I might have not made this clear enough, but I meant "great looking for this price and form factor". I'm sure the Canon is great, but it's more than three times the price and a far more complex device. There's no way it will fit in my pocket, either. The value of the Zi6 is in the price and simplicity.

The stabilization (if any) is so bad, just looking at the video can give one an epileptic seizure. Highlights are blown, there's pretty horrible frame judder as well.

Some of the artifacts you're seeing are absolutely due to compression because I don't see them in the original. In any case, I have no doubt a trained eye can find faults in the source video, and I'm sure a higher-end device would do a better job. The Flip might be better in some respects, but I don't think I'd be willing to give up the 720p.

It's worth noting that the stabilization in some of the cases (particularly the third clip) was heavily affected by the high winds. If you look closely, you can see that the plants themselves are rattling about. Not saying that it's the only cause, just a contributing factor.

But my overall feeling is this: here's this low-cost device that exceeded my expectations in most areas and is fun and ease to use. If you want something higher end in a larger form factor, more features, and a higher price tag, then you have a lot of options.

Some may be happier with the Flip, but personally, I will happily trade stablization for resolution since there's at least an option to use a tripod.

@Torsten: The video of this tiny little camera looks really great! I wonder how it would look if one is filming at a sports event

Not sure, though there is a 60fps recording mode. Haven't tried it yet.

Are there more pixel blocks than in the upper scene?

Not sure what you mean by that.
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