Editorial Review

Heads up, adrenaline junkies. The KODAK Zx3 PlaySport Pocket Video Camera has as much appetite for adventure as you do. And it’s not afraid to get wet. This audacious little camera can plunge up to 10 ft. under water and capture the entire experience in full 1080p HD. And you don’t need to worry about blurry footage when things get a little shaky. With built-in image stabilization, the Zx3 will stay steady as a rock. From the waves, to the slopes, to the mud-soaked trails, this baby was made for the extremes. Bring your adventures to life with the Zx3. The real Kodak moment happens when you share. The bundle includes a Black PlaySport Video Camera, Grippable Tripod, 4G Memory Card, and Remote Control. ... Read more

Reviews

Nice small & rugged, HD Pocket video camera, April 11, 2010
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.

Great little camera, excellent underwater!, March 27, 2010
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.

Best Water Proof HD Video and Still Camera., March 9, 2010
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.

Great video quality- with a fatal flaw, March 20, 2010
I was, and still am, blown away by the quality recording I am getting off of this compact and rugged little camera. the 1080 setting can be a little blurry and choppy, but it is still better than most other compact camcorders I have used. The 720/60 frames setting is wonderful. I was astounded at the smoothness of the video, as well as the quality. Here's the trouble though, and hopefully not indicative of a larger issue.

I recorded an event for about 45 minutes, and after I was through, I looked back at the camera. The record light was still on, the screen still showing a live preview, but the recorded time number had stopped at about 37 minutes. All the controls were unresponsive. Not even the power button worked. After about 5 minutes, I had no choice but to remove the battery to shut the camera off. I turned it back on, and was shown an exclamation point where the video I had just shot was. The video would not play. I removed the 8gb SD card and plugged it directly into my computer, and the file size of the last video shot was only 67MB, not nearly high enough for 37 minutes of 720p @ 60frames per second. I am still unable to get even that fragment to play.

Color me heart-broken.


As I said, I hope this is not a sign of a larger, or more common, problem. But until I hear otherwise, I wouldn't use this camera when you really, really want to make sure you end up with a copy of the video (wedding, birthday, mat mitzvah, divorce, whatever).

Wow! Blown away!, March 9, 2010
I've been waiting for this to be released for several months, and was surprised when I got the notice that the ship date was moved up by a month. I've had this camera only for around 12 hours but have spent a few hours with it so far, and it was definitely worth waiting for. I considered the Flip Mino but decided to wait for this to come out because of the ability to use SD cards and also to remove and change the battery somewhat inexpensively.
I'm really glad I waited, and here's why.

* Picture quality is fantastic. I've uploaded some things to Youtube, and the picture was crystal clear.
* Sound - The mic picked up a nice variety of sounds from office sounds (people typing,etc) to a loud surprise party with clarity.
* Size - It's really small. It's wide and flat. Fits in my jeans pocket and in my shirt pocket as well.
* Battery - I'm waiting to see how long it lasts, but it charged in around an hour and 45 minutes when plugged in to the wall.
* Software - I'm pretty impressed. It's simple but it does pretty much what I'll need it to do. I spent around 30 minutes messing around with it. The video uploaded quickly.It allowed for basic editing, color correction and enhancement,etc. It allows direct upload to Facebook,Youtube,Twitter,and Vimeo.
* Build Quality - It's sturdy. Not heavy but definitely "solid". I like the rubberized surface, I can imagine it will be easier to hold when it's wet. I'm very excited to be able to film my daughter swimming from inside the pool!

We own a traditional video camera but it's rarely used because it's big and bulky, the battery life stinks, and making it work with the computer is almost impossible. The Kodak is a natural companion for the diaper bag and I look forward to recording many future memories with it.

The closest to a negative may just be due to the format itself. I used the Kodak software and burned a standard def dvd from a 1080p source and the video looked awful. Very "blocky". I assumed it would at least be "dvd quality" but it's barely VHS. Of course, I could just be doing something wrong. If I figure it out, I'll revise this review!

Other than that issue, I love this thing! The other camera is going to be sold soon, this is all we need!

The Kodak Zx3 is an utter delight and totally heavenly., April 27, 2010
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.

A Fine and Versatile Video Camcorder, Exceptionally Easy-to-Use, April 7, 2010

Excellent Camera for Wet Sports, April 23, 2010
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.

Kodak Playsport Hands on Review, April 19, 2010
Just a basic hands on review of the playsport.

Great for Outdoor shooting...4 issues to watch out for. B- grade, May 19, 2010
***HAD TO RETURN ONE AND GET A REPLACEMENT, READ BELOW!!***

I must preface this by saying that I have a FLIP Mino video recorder which I liked but wanted to get something that does HD video.

I have had the Kodak PlaySport for about 1 month now and used it numerous times in outdoor and indoor settings. I actually had 2 PlaySport units because I had to return the original unit and get a replacement through Amazon for some issues explained below.

So, I must say this little unit look very promising when I first got it. I really like the look and feel of the unit. It fits in my hand very nicely and it has a nice weight to it. The Playsport definitely feels more rugged than the Flip Mino.



So What I liked about the PlaySport:

1) Great rugged feel. This was a major plus over the Flip mino. The curves of the PlaySport body feel much nicer than the boxy body of the Flip.

2) Great outdoor Video and Images. Well, this is the main reason to get an Camera right? The outdoor images I took are as good if not better than some point and shoot Canon/Sony cameras I have. The great thing to is, the pictures are formatted for my 42in HDTV and look incredible. The outdoor video is better than I expected from a pocket HD cam and much better than the Flip (although it's not HD).

3) I love the fact that it comes with all the accessories like an HDMI cable. Also it uses a standard USB cable to charge and COMES WITH A WALL CHARGER!! The major selling point of the Flip was the flip out USB but I hated it because you had to use it to charge through your computer, not the wall.

4) The removable battery and memory is awesome in case you are on a trip or at an event where you go over the battery and memory capacity (which has happened to me with the 60min Flip).


Some flaws for you to look for/be aware of:

1) the big white record button in the middle was a little loose. What I mean by this is that when you press the button it can stick to your thumb and rattles just a little. I recorded OK but sometimes it felt like the button could have fallen out. This turned out to be issolated to that first unit because my replacement wasn't like this.

2) The battery door and the hdmi port door were pretty loose on the first unit. I would be a bit afraid to take that one in the water. My replacement unit was a bit better but one of the doors is slightly loose.

3) Battery life didn't seem very good or the indicator is not very accurate. In fact, after charging the Playsport over night and then using for about 5 minutes it will often show that the battery only has 3/4 power left. But after 1hr of use it only was about 1/2 power used. I purchased a spare battery and it seems to be different. So maybe the battery that came with the unit is faulty?

4) Indoor pictures are pretty bad. There is no flash or video light. The indoor pictures are very noisy (grainy) and blur is a major issue. Quality wise, it is on par, or maybe worse than my smartphone camera. Keep in mind, this is a small lens and we can't expect fabulous pictures from it. I have a SLR for my indoor pics so I'm not so worried about it...however, if you are expecting to use this as a party-cam out on the town in dimly lit restaurants and bars...it will disappoint you.

5) The major one...while shooting video indoors or low light, I noticed a gray haze and splotchy dark marks (one noticeable one in the bottom center) on the image in the screen as well as in the final recording...almost like the lens was dirty. I cleaned the lens but it didn't change anything. I started testing in different environments and noticed THIS ONLY HAPPENED IN LOW LIGHT/INDOOR situations. I could get the gray haze/ dark spots to go away by pointing the camera to a brighter area of the room or out a window into daylight then back to a low light area. This happens in all of the video settings (WVGA,720p,1080p). I found this to be the case with both the original unit I had and the replacement unit Amazon sent me. I also went to Best Buy to look at there display unit and found it to be the same. When You point it at a white wall indoors what I am talking about will be very clear to see. I have since read some user posting similar problems on Amazon.

So, bottom line:

I will be keeping the PlaySport because the outdoor video and pictures are excellent and the price was right. I will use it indoors but will keep my expectations low on the results. For the price, and what is available out in the market, this camera is probably the best option available. Just make sure your unit doesn't have the built quality issues I had.

Nice small & rugged, HD Pocket video camera, April 11, 2010
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.

Great little camera, excellent underwater!, March 27, 2010
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.

Best Water Proof HD Video and Still Camera., March 9, 2010
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.

Great video quality- with a fatal flaw, March 20, 2010
I was, and still am, blown away by the quality recording I am getting off of this compact and rugged little camera. the 1080 setting can be a little blurry and choppy, but it is still better than most other compact camcorders I have used. The 720/60 frames setting is wonderful. I was astounded at the smoothness of the video, as well as the quality. Here's the trouble though, and hopefully not indicative of a larger issue.

I recorded an event for about 45 minutes, and after I was through, I looked back at the camera. The record light was still on, the screen still showing a live preview, but the recorded time number had stopped at about 37 minutes. All the controls were unresponsive. Not even the power button worked. After about 5 minutes, I had no choice but to remove the battery to shut the camera off. I turned it back on, and was shown an exclamation point where the video I had just shot was. The video would not play. I removed the 8gb SD card and plugged it directly into my computer, and the file size of the last video shot was only 67MB, not nearly high enough for 37 minutes of 720p @ 60frames per second. I am still unable to get even that fragment to play.

Color me heart-broken.


As I said, I hope this is not a sign of a larger, or more common, problem. But until I hear otherwise, I wouldn't use this camera when you really, really want to make sure you end up with a copy of the video (wedding, birthday, mat mitzvah, divorce, whatever).

Wow! Blown away!, March 9, 2010
I've been waiting for this to be released for several months, and was surprised when I got the notice that the ship date was moved up by a month. I've had this camera only for around 12 hours but have spent a few hours with it so far, and it was definitely worth waiting for. I considered the Flip Mino but decided to wait for this to come out because of the ability to use SD cards and also to remove and change the battery somewhat inexpensively.
I'm really glad I waited, and here's why.

* Picture quality is fantastic. I've uploaded some things to Youtube, and the picture was crystal clear.
* Sound - The mic picked up a nice variety of sounds from office sounds (people typing,etc) to a loud surprise party with clarity.
* Size - It's really small. It's wide and flat. Fits in my jeans pocket and in my shirt pocket as well.
* Battery - I'm waiting to see how long it lasts, but it charged in around an hour and 45 minutes when plugged in to the wall.
* Software - I'm pretty impressed. It's simple but it does pretty much what I'll need it to do. I spent around 30 minutes messing around with it. The video uploaded quickly.It allowed for basic editing, color correction and enhancement,etc. It allows direct upload to Facebook,Youtube,Twitter,and Vimeo.
* Build Quality - It's sturdy. Not heavy but definitely "solid". I like the rubberized surface, I can imagine it will be easier to hold when it's wet. I'm very excited to be able to film my daughter swimming from inside the pool!

We own a traditional video camera but it's rarely used because it's big and bulky, the battery life stinks, and making it work with the computer is almost impossible. The Kodak is a natural companion for the diaper bag and I look forward to recording many future memories with it.

The closest to a negative may just be due to the format itself. I used the Kodak software and burned a standard def dvd from a 1080p source and the video looked awful. Very "blocky". I assumed it would at least be "dvd quality" but it's barely VHS. Of course, I could just be doing something wrong. If I figure it out, I'll revise this review!

Other than that issue, I love this thing! The other camera is going to be sold soon, this is all we need!

The Kodak Zx3 is an utter delight and totally heavenly., April 27, 2010
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.

A Fine and Versatile Video Camcorder, Exceptionally Easy-to-Use, April 7, 2010

Excellent Camera for Wet Sports, April 23, 2010
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.

Kodak Playsport Hands on Review, April 19, 2010
Just a basic hands on review of the playsport.

Great for Outdoor shooting...4 issues to watch out for. B- grade, May 19, 2010
***HAD TO RETURN ONE AND GET A REPLACEMENT, READ BELOW!!***

I must preface this by saying that I have a FLIP Mino video recorder which I liked but wanted to get something that does HD video.

I have had the Kodak PlaySport for about 1 month now and used it numerous times in outdoor and indoor settings. I actually had 2 PlaySport units because I had to return the original unit and get a replacement through Amazon for some issues explained below.

So, I must say this little unit look very promising when I first got it. I really like the look and feel of the unit. It fits in my hand very nicely and it has a nice weight to it. The Playsport definitely feels more rugged than the Flip Mino.



So What I liked about the PlaySport:

1) Great rugged feel. This was a major plus over the Flip mino. The curves of the PlaySport body feel much nicer than the boxy body of the Flip.

2) Great outdoor Video and Images. Well, this is the main reason to get an Camera right? The outdoor images I took are as good if not better than some point and shoot Canon/Sony cameras I have. The great thing to is, the pictures are formatted for my 42in HDTV and look incredible. The outdoor video is better than I expected from a pocket HD cam and much better than the Flip (although it's not HD).

3) I love the fact that it comes with all the accessories like an HDMI cable. Also it uses a standard USB cable to charge and COMES WITH A WALL CHARGER!! The major selling point of the Flip was the flip out USB but I hated it because you had to use it to charge through your computer, not the wall.

4) The removable battery and memory is awesome in case you are on a trip or at an event where you go over the battery and memory capacity (which has happened to me with the 60min Flip).


Some flaws for you to look for/be aware of:

1) the big white record button in the middle was a little loose. What I mean by this is that when you press the button it can stick to your thumb and rattles just a little. I recorded OK but sometimes it felt like the button could have fallen out. This turned out to be issolated to that first unit because my replacement wasn't like this.

2) The battery door and the hdmi port door were pretty loose on the first unit. I would be a bit afraid to take that one in the water. My replacement unit was a bit better but one of the doors is slightly loose.

3) Battery life didn't seem very good or the indicator is not very accurate. In fact, after charging the Playsport over night and then using for about 5 minutes it will often show that the battery only has 3/4 power left. But after 1hr of use it only was about 1/2 power used. I purchased a spare battery and it seems to be different. So maybe the battery that came with the unit is faulty?

4) Indoor pictures are pretty bad. There is no flash or video light. The indoor pictures are very noisy (grainy) and blur is a major issue. Quality wise, it is on par, or maybe worse than my smartphone camera. Keep in mind, this is a small lens and we can't expect fabulous pictures from it. I have a SLR for my indoor pics so I'm not so worried about it...however, if you are expecting to use this as a party-cam out on the town in dimly lit restaurants and bars...it will disappoint you.

5) The major one...while shooting video indoors or low light, I noticed a gray haze and splotchy dark marks (one noticeable one in the bottom center) on the image in the screen as well as in the final recording...almost like the lens was dirty. I cleaned the lens but it didn't change anything. I started testing in different environments and noticed THIS ONLY HAPPENED IN LOW LIGHT/INDOOR situations. I could get the gray haze/ dark spots to go away by pointing the camera to a brighter area of the room or out a window into daylight then back to a low light area. This happens in all of the video settings (WVGA,720p,1080p). I found this to be the case with both the original unit I had and the replacement unit Amazon sent me. I also went to Best Buy to look at there display unit and found it to be the same. When You point it at a white wall indoors what I am talking about will be very clear to see. I have since read some user posting similar problems on Amazon.

So, bottom line:

I will be keeping the PlaySport because the outdoor video and pictures are excellent and the price was right. I will use it indoors but will keep my expectations low on the results. For the price, and what is available out in the market, this camera is probably the best option available. Just make sure your unit doesn't have the built quality issues I had.

... Read more

Editorial Review

Kodak HD ZX3 Pocket Video Camera Blue--Like the Zi8, you'll be able capture HD video in 1080p or 720p, shoot 5-megapixel still images, and easily share your creations on YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook. However, what's interesting about the PlaySport is that you can take this thing underwater (up to 10 feet). While we've seen other pocket camcorders that do this, the Zx3 is arguably the first mainstream model to offer this feature. ... Read more

Reviews

Nice small & rugged, HD Pocket video camera, April 11, 2010
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.

Great little camera, excellent underwater!, March 27, 2010
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.

Best Water Proof HD Video and Still Camera., March 9, 2010
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.

Great video quality- with a fatal flaw, March 20, 2010
I was, and still am, blown away by the quality recording I am getting off of this compact and rugged little camera. the 1080 setting can be a little blurry and choppy, but it is still better than most other compact camcorders I have used. The 720/60 frames setting is wonderful. I was astounded at the smoothness of the video, as well as the quality. Here's the trouble though, and hopefully not indicative of a larger issue.

I recorded an event for about 45 minutes, and after I was through, I looked back at the camera. The record light was still on, the screen still showing a live preview, but the recorded time number had stopped at about 37 minutes. All the controls were unresponsive. Not even the power button worked. After about 5 minutes, I had no choice but to remove the battery to shut the camera off. I turned it back on, and was shown an exclamation point where the video I had just shot was. The video would not play. I removed the 8gb SD card and plugged it directly into my computer, and the file size of the last video shot was only 67MB, not nearly high enough for 37 minutes of 720p @ 60frames per second. I am still unable to get even that fragment to play.

Color me heart-broken.


As I said, I hope this is not a sign of a larger, or more common, problem. But until I hear otherwise, I wouldn't use this camera when you really, really want to make sure you end up with a copy of the video (wedding, birthday, mat mitzvah, divorce, whatever).

Wow! Blown away!, March 9, 2010
I've been waiting for this to be released for several months, and was surprised when I got the notice that the ship date was moved up by a month. I've had this camera only for around 12 hours but have spent a few hours with it so far, and it was definitely worth waiting for. I considered the Flip Mino but decided to wait for this to come out because of the ability to use SD cards and also to remove and change the battery somewhat inexpensively.
I'm really glad I waited, and here's why.

* Picture quality is fantastic. I've uploaded some things to Youtube, and the picture was crystal clear.
* Sound - The mic picked up a nice variety of sounds from office sounds (people typing,etc) to a loud surprise party with clarity.
* Size - It's really small. It's wide and flat. Fits in my jeans pocket and in my shirt pocket as well.
* Battery - I'm waiting to see how long it lasts, but it charged in around an hour and 45 minutes when plugged in to the wall.
* Software - I'm pretty impressed. It's simple but it does pretty much what I'll need it to do. I spent around 30 minutes messing around with it. The video uploaded quickly.It allowed for basic editing, color correction and enhancement,etc. It allows direct upload to Facebook,Youtube,Twitter,and Vimeo.
* Build Quality - It's sturdy. Not heavy but definitely "solid". I like the rubberized surface, I can imagine it will be easier to hold when it's wet. I'm very excited to be able to film my daughter swimming from inside the pool!

We own a traditional video camera but it's rarely used because it's big and bulky, the battery life stinks, and making it work with the computer is almost impossible. The Kodak is a natural companion for the diaper bag and I look forward to recording many future memories with it.

The closest to a negative may just be due to the format itself. I used the Kodak software and burned a standard def dvd from a 1080p source and the video looked awful. Very "blocky". I assumed it would at least be "dvd quality" but it's barely VHS. Of course, I could just be doing something wrong. If I figure it out, I'll revise this review!

Other than that issue, I love this thing! The other camera is going to be sold soon, this is all we need!

The Kodak Zx3 is an utter delight and totally heavenly., April 27, 2010
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.

A Fine and Versatile Video Camcorder, Exceptionally Easy-to-Use, April 7, 2010

Excellent Camera for Wet Sports, April 23, 2010
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.

Kodak Playsport Hands on Review, April 19, 2010
Just a basic hands on review of the playsport.

Great for Outdoor shooting...4 issues to watch out for. B- grade, May 19, 2010
***HAD TO RETURN ONE AND GET A REPLACEMENT, READ BELOW!!***

I must preface this by saying that I have a FLIP Mino video recorder which I liked but wanted to get something that does HD video.

I have had the Kodak PlaySport for about 1 month now and used it numerous times in outdoor and indoor settings. I actually had 2 PlaySport units because I had to return the original unit and get a replacement through Amazon for some issues explained below.

So, I must say this little unit look very promising when I first got it. I really like the look and feel of the unit. It fits in my hand very nicely and it has a nice weight to it. The Playsport definitely feels more rugged than the Flip Mino.



So What I liked about the PlaySport:

1) Great rugged feel. This was a major plus over the Flip mino. The curves of the PlaySport body feel much nicer than the boxy body of the Flip.

2) Great outdoor Video and Images. Well, this is the main reason to get an Camera right? The outdoor images I took are as good if not better than some point and shoot Canon/Sony cameras I have. The great thing to is, the pictures are formatted for my 42in HDTV and look incredible. The outdoor video is better than I expected from a pocket HD cam and much better than the Flip (although it's not HD).

3) I love the fact that it comes with all the accessories like an HDMI cable. Also it uses a standard USB cable to charge and COMES WITH A WALL CHARGER!! The major selling point of the Flip was the flip out USB but I hated it because you had to use it to charge through your computer, not the wall.

4) The removable battery and memory is awesome in case you are on a trip or at an event where you go over the battery and memory capacity (which has happened to me with the 60min Flip).


Some flaws for you to look for/be aware of:

1) the big white record button in the middle was a little loose. What I mean by this is that when you press the button it can stick to your thumb and rattles just a little. I recorded OK but sometimes it felt like the button could have fallen out. This turned out to be issolated to that first unit because my replacement wasn't like this.

2) The battery door and the hdmi port door were pretty loose on the first unit. I would be a bit afraid to take that one in the water. My replacement unit was a bit better but one of the doors is slightly loose.

3) Battery life didn't seem very good or the indicator is not very accurate. In fact, after charging the Playsport over night and then using for about 5 minutes it will often show that the battery only has 3/4 power left. But after 1hr of use it only was about 1/2 power used. I purchased a spare battery and it seems to be different. So maybe the battery that came with the unit is faulty?

4) Indoor pictures are pretty bad. There is no flash or video light. The indoor pictures are very noisy (grainy) and blur is a major issue. Quality wise, it is on par, or maybe worse than my smartphone camera. Keep in mind, this is a small lens and we can't expect fabulous pictures from it. I have a SLR for my indoor pics so I'm not so worried about it...however, if you are expecting to use this as a party-cam out on the town in dimly lit restaurants and bars...it will disappoint you.

5) The major one...while shooting video indoors or low light, I noticed a gray haze and splotchy dark marks (one noticeable one in the bottom center) on the image in the screen as well as in the final recording...almost like the lens was dirty. I cleaned the lens but it didn't change anything. I started testing in different environments and noticed THIS ONLY HAPPENED IN LOW LIGHT/INDOOR situations. I could get the gray haze/ dark spots to go away by pointing the camera to a brighter area of the room or out a window into daylight then back to a low light area. This happens in all of the video settings (WVGA,720p,1080p). I found this to be the case with both the original unit I had and the replacement unit Amazon sent me. I also went to Best Buy to look at there display unit and found it to be the same. When You point it at a white wall indoors what I am talking about will be very clear to see. I have since read some user posting similar problems on Amazon.

So, bottom line:

I will be keeping the PlaySport because the outdoor video and pictures are excellent and the price was right. I will use it indoors but will keep my expectations low on the results. For the price, and what is available out in the market, this camera is probably the best option available. Just make sure your unit doesn't have the built quality issues I had.

Nice small & rugged, HD Pocket video camera, April 11, 2010
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.

Great little camera, excellent underwater!, March 27, 2010
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.

Best Water Proof HD Video and Still Camera., March 9, 2010
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.

Great video quality- with a fatal flaw, March 20, 2010
I was, and still am, blown away by the quality recording I am getting off of this compact and rugged little camera. the 1080 setting can be a little blurry and choppy, but it is still better than most other compact camcorders I have used. The 720/60 frames setting is wonderful. I was astounded at the smoothness of the video, as well as the quality. Here's the trouble though, and hopefully not indicative of a larger issue.

I recorded an event for about 45 minutes, and after I was through, I looked back at the camera. The record light was still on, the screen still showing a live preview, but the recorded time number had stopped at about 37 minutes. All the controls were unresponsive. Not even the power button worked. After about 5 minutes, I had no choice but to remove the battery to shut the camera off. I turned it back on, and was shown an exclamation point where the video I had just shot was. The video would not play. I removed the 8gb SD card and plugged it directly into my computer, and the file size of the last video shot was only 67MB, not nearly high enough for 37 minutes of 720p @ 60frames per second. I am still unable to get even that fragment to play.

Color me heart-broken.


As I said, I hope this is not a sign of a larger, or more common, problem. But until I hear otherwise, I wouldn't use this camera when you really, really want to make sure you end up with a copy of the video (wedding, birthday, mat mitzvah, divorce, whatever).

Wow! Blown away!, March 9, 2010
I've been waiting for this to be released for several months, and was surprised when I got the notice that the ship date was moved up by a month. I've had this camera only for around 12 hours but have spent a few hours with it so far, and it was definitely worth waiting for. I considered the Flip Mino but decided to wait for this to come out because of the ability to use SD cards and also to remove and change the battery somewhat inexpensively.
I'm really glad I waited, and here's why.

* Picture quality is fantastic. I've uploaded some things to Youtube, and the picture was crystal clear.
* Sound - The mic picked up a nice variety of sounds from office sounds (people typing,etc) to a loud surprise party with clarity.
* Size - It's really small. It's wide and flat. Fits in my jeans pocket and in my shirt pocket as well.
* Battery - I'm waiting to see how long it lasts, but it charged in around an hour and 45 minutes when plugged in to the wall.
* Software - I'm pretty impressed. It's simple but it does pretty much what I'll need it to do. I spent around 30 minutes messing around with it. The video uploaded quickly.It allowed for basic editing, color correction and enhancement,etc. It allows direct upload to Facebook,Youtube,Twitter,and Vimeo.
* Build Quality - It's sturdy. Not heavy but definitely "solid". I like the rubberized surface, I can imagine it will be easier to hold when it's wet. I'm very excited to be able to film my daughter swimming from inside the pool!

We own a traditional video camera but it's rarely used because it's big and bulky, the battery life stinks, and making it work with the computer is almost impossible. The Kodak is a natural companion for the diaper bag and I look forward to recording many future memories with it.

The closest to a negative may just be due to the format itself. I used the Kodak software and burned a standard def dvd from a 1080p source and the video looked awful. Very "blocky". I assumed it would at least be "dvd quality" but it's barely VHS. Of course, I could just be doing something wrong. If I figure it out, I'll revise this review!

Other than that issue, I love this thing! The other camera is going to be sold soon, this is all we need!

The Kodak Zx3 is an utter delight and totally heavenly., April 27, 2010
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.

A Fine and Versatile Video Camcorder, Exceptionally Easy-to-Use, April 7, 2010

Excellent Camera for Wet Sports, April 23, 2010
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.

Kodak Playsport Hands on Review, April 19, 2010
Just a basic hands on review of the playsport.

Great for Outdoor shooting...4 issues to watch out for. B- grade, May 19, 2010
***HAD TO RETURN ONE AND GET A REPLACEMENT, READ BELOW!!***

I must preface this by saying that I have a FLIP Mino video recorder which I liked but wanted to get something that does HD video.

I have had the Kodak PlaySport for about 1 month now and used it numerous times in outdoor and indoor settings. I actually had 2 PlaySport units because I had to return the original unit and get a replacement through Amazon for some issues explained below.

So, I must say this little unit look very promising when I first got it. I really like the look and feel of the unit. It fits in my hand very nicely and it has a nice weight to it. The Playsport definitely feels more rugged than the Flip Mino.



So What I liked about the PlaySport:

1) Great rugged feel. This was a major plus over the Flip mino. The curves of the PlaySport body feel much nicer than the boxy body of the Flip.

2) Great outdoor Video and Images. Well, this is the main reason to get an Camera right? The outdoor images I took are as good if not better than some point and shoot Canon/Sony cameras I have. The great thing to is, the pictures are formatted for my 42in HDTV and look incredible. The outdoor video is better than I expected from a pocket HD cam and much better than the Flip (although it's not HD).

3) I love the fact that it comes with all the accessories like an HDMI cable. Also it uses a standard USB cable to charge and COMES WITH A WALL CHARGER!! The major selling point of the Flip was the flip out USB but I hated it because you had to use it to charge through your computer, not the wall.

4) The removable battery and memory is awesome in case you are on a trip or at an event where you go over the battery and memory capacity (which has happened to me with the 60min Flip).


Some flaws for you to look for/be aware of:

1) the big white record button in the middle was a little loose. What I mean by this is that when you press the button it can stick to your thumb and rattles just a little. I recorded OK but sometimes it felt like the button could have fallen out. This turned out to be issolated to that first unit because my replacement wasn't like this.

2) The battery door and the hdmi port door were pretty loose on the first unit. I would be a bit afraid to take that one in the water. My replacement unit was a bit better but one of the doors is slightly loose.

3) Battery life didn't seem very good or the indicator is not very accurate. In fact, after charging the Playsport over night and then using for about 5 minutes it will often show that the battery only has 3/4 power left. But after 1hr of use it only was about 1/2 power used. I purchased a spare battery and it seems to be different. So maybe the battery that came with the unit is faulty?

4) Indoor pictures are pretty bad. There is no flash or video light. The indoor pictures are very noisy (grainy) and blur is a major issue. Quality wise, it is on par, or maybe worse than my smartphone camera. Keep in mind, this is a small lens and we can't expect fabulous pictures from it. I have a SLR for my indoor pics so I'm not so worried about it...however, if you are expecting to use this as a party-cam out on the town in dimly lit restaurants and bars...it will disappoint you.

5) The major one...while shooting video indoors or low light, I noticed a gray haze and splotchy dark marks (one noticeable one in the bottom center) on the image in the screen as well as in the final recording...almost like the lens was dirty. I cleaned the lens but it didn't change anything. I started testing in different environments and noticed THIS ONLY HAPPENED IN LOW LIGHT/INDOOR situations. I could get the gray haze/ dark spots to go away by pointing the camera to a brighter area of the room or out a window into daylight then back to a low light area. This happens in all of the video settings (WVGA,720p,1080p). I found this to be the case with both the original unit I had and the replacement unit Amazon sent me. I also went to Best Buy to look at there display unit and found it to be the same. When You point it at a white wall indoors what I am talking about will be very clear to see. I have since read some user posting similar problems on Amazon.

So, bottom line:

I will be keeping the PlaySport because the outdoor video and pictures are excellent and the price was right. I will use it indoors but will keep my expectations low on the results. For the price, and what is available out in the market, this camera is probably the best option available. Just make sure your unit doesn't have the built quality issues I had.

... Read more

Editorial Review

Kodak HD ZX3 Pocket Video Camera Blk--Like the Zi8, you'll be able capture HD video in 1080p or 720p, shoot 5-megapixel still images, and easily share your creations on YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook. However, what's interesting about the PlaySport is that you can take this thing underwater (up to 10 feet). While we've seen other pocket camcorders that do this, the Zx3 is arguably the first mainstream model to offer this feature. ... Read more

Reviews

Nice small & rugged, HD Pocket video camera, April 11, 2010
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.

Great little camera, excellent underwater!, March 27, 2010
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.

Best Water Proof HD Video and Still Camera., March 9, 2010
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.

Great video quality- with a fatal flaw, March 20, 2010
I was, and still am, blown away by the quality recording I am getting off of this compact and rugged little camera. the 1080 setting can be a little blurry and choppy, but it is still better than most other compact camcorders I have used. The 720/60 frames setting is wonderful. I was astounded at the smoothness of the video, as well as the quality. Here's the trouble though, and hopefully not indicative of a larger issue.

I recorded an event for about 45 minutes, and after I was through, I looked back at the camera. The record light was still on, the screen still showing a live preview, but the recorded time number had stopped at about 37 minutes. All the controls were unresponsive. Not even the power button worked. After about 5 minutes, I had no choice but to remove the battery to shut the camera off. I turned it back on, and was shown an exclamation point where the video I had just shot was. The video would not play. I removed the 8gb SD card and plugged it directly into my computer, and the file size of the last video shot was only 67MB, not nearly high enough for 37 minutes of 720p @ 60frames per second. I am still unable to get even that fragment to play.

Color me heart-broken.


As I said, I hope this is not a sign of a larger, or more common, problem. But until I hear otherwise, I wouldn't use this camera when you really, really want to make sure you end up with a copy of the video (wedding, birthday, mat mitzvah, divorce, whatever).

Wow! Blown away!, March 9, 2010
I've been waiting for this to be released for several months, and was surprised when I got the notice that the ship date was moved up by a month. I've had this camera only for around 12 hours but have spent a few hours with it so far, and it was definitely worth waiting for. I considered the Flip Mino but decided to wait for this to come out because of the ability to use SD cards and also to remove and change the battery somewhat inexpensively.
I'm really glad I waited, and here's why.

* Picture quality is fantastic. I've uploaded some things to Youtube, and the picture was crystal clear.
* Sound - The mic picked up a nice variety of sounds from office sounds (people typing,etc) to a loud surprise party with clarity.
* Size - It's really small. It's wide and flat. Fits in my jeans pocket and in my shirt pocket as well.
* Battery - I'm waiting to see how long it lasts, but it charged in around an hour and 45 minutes when plugged in to the wall.
* Software - I'm pretty impressed. It's simple but it does pretty much what I'll need it to do. I spent around 30 minutes messing around with it. The video uploaded quickly.It allowed for basic editing, color correction and enhancement,etc. It allows direct upload to Facebook,Youtube,Twitter,and Vimeo.
* Build Quality - It's sturdy. Not heavy but definitely "solid". I like the rubberized surface, I can imagine it will be easier to hold when it's wet. I'm very excited to be able to film my daughter swimming from inside the pool!

We own a traditional video camera but it's rarely used because it's big and bulky, the battery life stinks, and making it work with the computer is almost impossible. The Kodak is a natural companion for the diaper bag and I look forward to recording many future memories with it.

The closest to a negative may just be due to the format itself. I used the Kodak software and burned a standard def dvd from a 1080p source and the video looked awful. Very "blocky". I assumed it would at least be "dvd quality" but it's barely VHS. Of course, I could just be doing something wrong. If I figure it out, I'll revise this review!

Other than that issue, I love this thing! The other camera is going to be sold soon, this is all we need!

The Kodak Zx3 is an utter delight and totally heavenly., April 27, 2010
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.

A Fine and Versatile Video Camcorder, Exceptionally Easy-to-Use, April 7, 2010

Excellent Camera for Wet Sports, April 23, 2010
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.

Kodak Playsport Hands on Review, April 19, 2010
Just a basic hands on review of the playsport.

Great for Outdoor shooting...4 issues to watch out for. B- grade, May 19, 2010
***HAD TO RETURN ONE AND GET A REPLACEMENT, READ BELOW!!***

I must preface this by saying that I have a FLIP Mino video recorder which I liked but wanted to get something that does HD video.

I have had the Kodak PlaySport for about 1 month now and used it numerous times in outdoor and indoor settings. I actually had 2 PlaySport units because I had to return the original unit and get a replacement through Amazon for some issues explained below.

So, I must say this little unit look very promising when I first got it. I really like the look and feel of the unit. It fits in my hand very nicely and it has a nice weight to it. The Playsport definitely feels more rugged than the Flip Mino.



So What I liked about the PlaySport:

1) Great rugged feel. This was a major plus over the Flip mino. The curves of the PlaySport body feel much nicer than the boxy body of the Flip.

2) Great outdoor Video and Images. Well, this is the main reason to get an Camera right? The outdoor images I took are as good if not better than some point and shoot Canon/Sony cameras I have. The great thing to is, the pictures are formatted for my 42in HDTV and look incredible. The outdoor video is better than I expected from a pocket HD cam and much better than the Flip (although it's not HD).

3) I love the fact that it comes with all the accessories like an HDMI cable. Also it uses a standard USB cable to charge and COMES WITH A WALL CHARGER!! The major selling point of the Flip was the flip out USB but I hated it because you had to use it to charge through your computer, not the wall.

4) The removable battery and memory is awesome in case you are on a trip or at an event where you go over the battery and memory capacity (which has happened to me with the 60min Flip).


Some flaws for you to look for/be aware of:

1) the big white record button in the middle was a little loose. What I mean by this is that when you press the button it can stick to your thumb and rattles just a little. I recorded OK but sometimes it felt like the button could have fallen out. This turned out to be issolated to that first unit because my replacement wasn't like this.

2) The battery door and the hdmi port door were pretty loose on the first unit. I would be a bit afraid to take that one in the water. My replacement unit was a bit better but one of the doors is slightly loose.

3) Battery life didn't seem very good or the indicator is not very accurate. In fact, after charging the Playsport over night and then using for about 5 minutes it will often show that the battery only has 3/4 power left. But after 1hr of use it only was about 1/2 power used. I purchased a spare battery and it seems to be different. So maybe the battery that came with the unit is faulty?

4) Indoor pictures are pretty bad. There is no flash or video light. The indoor pictures are very noisy (grainy) and blur is a major issue. Quality wise, it is on par, or maybe worse than my smartphone camera. Keep in mind, this is a small lens and we can't expect fabulous pictures from it. I have a SLR for my indoor pics so I'm not so worried about it...however, if you are expecting to use this as a party-cam out on the town in dimly lit restaurants and bars...it will disappoint you.

5) The major one...while shooting video indoors or low light, I noticed a gray haze and splotchy dark marks (one noticeable one in the bottom center) on the image in the screen as well as in the final recording...almost like the lens was dirty. I cleaned the lens but it didn't change anything. I started testing in different environments and noticed THIS ONLY HAPPENED IN LOW LIGHT/INDOOR situations. I could get the gray haze/ dark spots to go away by pointing the camera to a brighter area of the room or out a window into daylight then back to a low light area. This happens in all of the video settings (WVGA,720p,1080p). I found this to be the case with both the original unit I had and the replacement unit Amazon sent me. I also went to Best Buy to look at there display unit and found it to be the same. When You point it at a white wall indoors what I am talking about will be very clear to see. I have since read some user posting similar problems on Amazon.

So, bottom line:

I will be keeping the PlaySport because the outdoor video and pictures are excellent and the price was right. I will use it indoors but will keep my expectations low on the results. For the price, and what is available out in the market, this camera is probably the best option available. Just make sure your unit doesn't have the built quality issues I had.

... Read more

Editorial Review

Kodak HD ZX3 Pocket Video Camera Purple--Like the Zi8, you'll be able capture HD video in 1080p or 720p, shoot 5-megapixel still images, and easily share your creations on YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook. However, what's interesting about the PlaySport is that you can take this thing underwater (up to 10 feet). While we've seen other pocket camcorders that do this, the Zx3 is arguably the first mainstream model to offer this feature. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Did that just happen? Some moments in life need an instant replay button. With the KODAK Mini Video Camera, you've got one with you wherever you go. This itty-bitty video camera easily slides into a pocket - even your skinny jeans. With one touch the Mini captures all the highlights, and the pop-out USB arm makes it seriously simple to share the fun on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE sites. Plus it's built to withstand your craziest days - from a fumble in the rain, to a trip to the bottom of your bag. The Mini is ready when you are - so the next time you hear, “Did that just happen?” you can show the instant replay. The real KODAK Moment happens when you share. ... Read more

Reviews

small and water proof, October 22, 2010
I wanted something small and waterproof for kayaking and canoeing...and of course geocaching.. I have a kodak zx1, a flip mino, but I wanted something smaller than those....I thought about this camera for a while/watched sample videos on youtube,finally broke down and bought this at a "best" store for $89 without a card. This camera is simple to use! turns on very quickley,and starts recording quickley.I like the 1.8" screen....big enough to see what your recording/but small enough not to use too much power...I fully charged the battery/took 2 hours of video, and I still had battery to spare! battery life is great!...this is a simple video camera/ captures video very well!small enough to put in your pocket/battery still charged after a week of frequent use!Sound quality is very good/however the only "downside" for me is......no image stablization/not a big deal/ but is slighty noticed when quick movement happens...small,waterproof,long battery life,good quality video,good quality sound, simple and easy to use.I like it/and now at the time of my review/it is $20 less than what I paid AND you get a micro card included!great deal..if you go to youtube and type ......snow2112dog..... you will see my kodak mini video test...it shows indoors.outside at night and outside during the day...and the 3x zoom at the end of the airplane....all in under 1 minute.

Eh Not the best, November 24, 2010
I have been on the look out for a great, small easy to carry around GOOD QUALITY video camera and this one just doesn't fit the bill. It IS small and it does carry well and I DO like that it's waterproof, but other than that, the video and camera quality are not that great. My phone takes just about the same quality.

BUT if you are looking for small, easy to carry, grab and go video to capture those random moments, especially poolside, then this camera would be fine (IF you're OK with just a so so quality) I also own the Flip Camera both the original and HD, which takes fairly good video but not great sound and it was not waterproof for those summer months where we live by the pool.

When I DO find that perfect, compact, waterproof, quality video camera, I will be sure to post. Until then, still searching.

A good little video cam, November 30, 2010
I have two of these - on in this version and one in the HD version. The pros and cons are the same for both.

Pros

Size
Easy to use
Intuitive
Takes good video
Waterproof
Inexpensive

Cons

Not great for still pictures
Not great in low light

The camera works great right out of the box. Bought it initially for a trip to hawaii. Was able to read through the instructions and start recording right away. As noted in the manual - sound playback on the device is poor - because the device is waterproof - no good speakers outside. Once imported to PC - sound was really good.

Still pictures were grainy - unless I really concentrated on holding the camera steady. Again, since it is waterproof - there is no place for even a mini tripod.

Overall - fair price for what it is - a fun little video cam to keep around for those spur of the moments. Great for kids and grandparents who don't want to invest in something more expensive. Smaller and lighter than a Flip.

The software uploaded to my pc just fine. But again - read the directions (at least once) as most of the complaints I have seen about this camera are due to people who just won't read through the instructions.

Simple and easy to carry, November 30, 2010
The portability of this camera is great. Easy to carry everywhere. It is simple to use without any hassle. The battery life is fine, can last for about 2 hrs of recording. The video quality is not as good as HD ones, but acceptable as casual shooting. Personally I feel it a little overpriced at 50-ish. $30-40 is fair.

Not quite the Flip, December 5, 2010
I have an early model Flip mino. The Flip works quite well and has an easy-to-use interface and a built in USB out connector. I did have some major frustrations going from Mac to Windows uploads with the Flip. Seems like the Flipshare software on the camera is forever dictated by the first computer you use with it. That's another story...

This Kodak mini was about 25% cheaper, so I got one for a gift for my wife. It is a bit smaller, build seems pretty solid, but the cover for the memory card doesn't seem like it will last as long as the rest of the device. Kodak minitakes smaller memory cards than I has expected. Since it saves video onto memory cards, I expect it can be used interchangeably on both Mac and Windows, but I honestly haven't tried this yet.

Other reviewers talk about reading the directions. Maybe I missed it, but there wasn't much useful info in the very minimal printed matter that came with our Kodak mini. I intend to go online someday and find and print instructions. The Flip came with better basic instruction manual. We took a few test shots with the Kodak. The video quality,to me, looks comparable to the Flip. Still, I think if I had been in a bricks and mortar store I would not have purchased the Kodak. This is remarkable video technology in a small solid state package. Neither camera is perfect, but I think Flip comes closer to getting the mini-video camera concept right.

Great for what it is., December 10, 2010
Obviously before you purchase this you should realize it's not going to take videos that look like Quentin Tarantino directed it. It takes quick, awesome videos, it's water proof and can take a couple of bumps. I bought it so I can chase my nieces and nephews around and not use up my cell phone battery from using the camcorder on it. The battery lasts for a while, I've used it all week and haven't had to charge it. It shots decently enough at night time. You're able to use it in dim light. The videos are clear in better light.

Overall, I'm really happy with it. I would suggest it to everyone. I even bought one for my sister and my aunt bought the same one for my uncle.

LOW RESOLUTION VIDEO, December 5, 2010
I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS CAMERA EXCEPT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL THE VIDEO RESOLUTION IS VERY POOR. WITH ALL THE CHOICES IN THIS DAY AND AGE FOR BETTER QUALITY VIDEO AND JUST A FEW DOLLARS MORE. I AM SORRY I WENT THE CHEAPER ROUTE THIS TIME. IT NEEDS TO BE ALL ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE VIDEO ESPECIALLY IN LOWER LIGHT SITUATIONS WHICH HAPPEN FAR MORE OFTEN THAN NOT. ... Read more

Editorial Review

14.1 MegapixelAdvanced Tough Design (10m Water, Shockproof) Waterproof: 10M Shock Shockproof: 2M Freezeproof: -10 C AVCHD Lite HD Movie Recording Record HD quality movies Power OIS Enhanced technology to further prevent blurring caused by vibrationSilver ... Read more

Editorial Review

The Flip Video Underwater Case lets you safely capture video of your underwater excursions and poolside adventures. This clear acrylic case protects your Flip Ultra Camcorder to depths of up to 30 feet, while granting full access to the camcorder's controls. The case comes with a convenient wrist strap, so you don't have to worry about losing your camcorder while shooting underwater action. Note: The Flip Video Underwater Case is compatible only with Flip UltraHD and Flip Ultra 2nd Generation Camcorders. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Fujifilm FinePix XP10- 12MP, Fujinon 5x Periscopic Optical Zoom, 2.7" LCD, New uni-body chassis with a tactile grip finish, 4-Way Protection: Waterproof - 10ft (3M), Shockproof - 3ft (1M) and Freezeproof 14*F (-10*C).Other features include: Face Detection w/ Red Eye Removal, Digital Image Stabilization, High Sensitivity 1600 ISO, 6 Scene - SR Auto Automatic Scene Recognition, One-Touch HD Movie 720p w/ Sound, Thin Metal Body 21.7mm, Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery. ... Read more

Reviews

Stylish little digicam that screams "take me outdoors!", June 1, 2010
The Fujifilm Finepix XP10, newly available in April 2010, is a stylish little ultra-compact camera that invites you to have fun outdoors while taking pictures. It:

- is waterproof to 10 ft. under water, perfect for swimming pools, beach, snorkeling (note: do not use in hot water!)
- is shockproof up to 3 ft., great for jogging, cycling, or even letting your baby learn to take pictures
- is freezeproof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius)
- is dustproof
- has 12.2 effective megapixels
- has 5x optical zoom and features a Fujinon lens for great clarity; lens focal length is 36-180mm in 35mm film camera terms
- takes 720p widescreen, VGA or QVGA video
- can zoom optically in video mode (but see note on audio recording below)
- is really small and weighs just a little over 5 oz. with battery and SDHC card
- uses SDHC memory card, no more xD that was championed by Fuji and Olympus

I bought a green XP10 because I love spending time in the water. I find that, outdoors during the day, the XP10 takes pictures with excellent clarity and excellent color saturation and contrast. Using fill-in flash in daylight truly enhances the picture. Indoors, because the XP10 lacks Fuji's legendary SuperCCD technology, picture quality is average for a compact or super-compact camera. It does have two natural-scene modes where it boosts the ISO (light sensitivity of the image sensor) at the expense of increased noise. I bought my XP10 to be used outdoors, in the pool and at the beach, so I haven't taken many indoor pics.

Video shooting at 720p yields smooth, clear HD video clips. BTW, video size is limited only by the 2GB FAT32 file size limit -- this means even if you pop in a 16GB SDHC card, the longest video clip can only go up to 2GB in file size, due to the limit imposed by the FAT32 file system. Video is recorded as motion JPEG in an AVI container, so it can be played on many, many devices, at the expense of slightly larger file sizes than a more compact format like MPEG-2 or MPEG-4.

While you can zoom optically -- a feature that every digital camera should have -- audio recording's volume level is lowered during zooming. Instead, the camera picks up some noise from the lens mechanism and that noise overwhelms the ambient sounds you want to record, which can be annoying when played back on a large TV. My advise is to use zooming sparingly during video mode. If you want great video recording on a compact digital camera, you should get a Sony or Canon or Panasonic camera (be prepared to pay a lot more for the waterproof feature, though).

Anyway, my sample video clip shows how the camera works under water. The video resolution was set to QVGA (320x240) for easy upload to Amazon, but you should be able to see the amazing clarity both in and out of water.

In summary, the XP10 is a great waterproof, shockproof camera that every water enthusiast should bring along to record fun memories.

Waterproof:Yes;Good Pics: NO, June 23, 2010
Just took the new camera on a white water rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. Clearly the camera met the specs for water tightness and shock ability as this type of trip had both. Pictures were of low quality, with little ability to handle a mix of shadows and light. Shutter is slow and unresponsive to the moment. In bright sunshine, or very low evening light, the lack of a view finder rendered most pictures a pure guess. Controls at the top of the camera for on/off and snapping the picture were too low a profile to allow for handling in tough situations. Worst of all was dismal battery life--only able to get about 100-125 pictures, while carefully turning the camera off in between, before battery was exhausted. Overall--very disappointing.

Surprisingly good little camera, with a couple of shortcomings, May 14, 2010
I got this camera to replace my previous underwater / shockproof Canon D10, which died after about 8 months for no apparent reason. When I got the D10, it was the only low-cost point-and-shoot I could find for light underwater use, which made it good in its own way, but the electronics and sensor and etc. were already a couple of years out of date on the Canon, plus it was really big and bulky.

I don't do serious underwater work, but do want a camera I can take out in the rain and occasionally in a swimming pool or to the beach, without worrying about it. Also with small kids, the likelihood of a camera getting dropped is high, so a sturdy model is key.

This little Fujifilm advertises the same kind of water- and shock-proof characteristics as the Canon, but it's a whole lot more modern in its features, and a whole lot smaller, which is great. I haven't used it underwater yet, but for everyday use it takes good pictures.

A few issues I have with it. One, the cable connector is nonstandard. It should be mini-USB, like so many other things - I keep a mini USB hanging off my computer anyway, and if I lose a mini USB cable it's easy to find another, vs. the Fuji cable which doesn't match anything else I own.

Second, the mechanicals are not quite as polished as I'd like. The waterproof cover for the cable connector doesn't seat well - it's very hard to get in. And the battery cover has a strange hinge device that was confusing to figure out and I fear will not last well, since I have to open it frequently to extract the memory card, because the cable connector is nonstandard and hard to reseal.

All in all I would still recommend this camera, and I hope these few flaws get corrected in a future model.

Touted As Waterproof; Warranty Says Otherwise...., September 11, 2010
Took the Fuji XP10 out twice; once camping at Lake Tahoe and again at Kern River. The Fuji functioned well on the first outting, but started developing problems on the latter camping trip: moisture started developing in the lens area, causing photos to appear foggy. The display became disrupted, as the moisture that permeated the camera began to make it's way through the housing.

I sent the Fuji XP10 back to Fuji in hopes of getting it replaced, but received an invoice stating, "Water damage in camera not covered under warranty."

Um, no kidding.

The invoice also requested a payment of approximately $118 for an exchange of the same camera, with $100 of the cost going towards "labor"... Labor for what?!?! That's like buying a new XP10 with a little over a $20 discount over what I paid originally!

What's the point of marketing a "waterproof" camera, when it's not really waterproof and Fuji won't even honor the warranty to make things right? It would serve Fuji well to learn from other companies that unconditionally back the products that they sell, like Pelican Products and Strider Knives. Don't claim your product is waterproof, freezeproof, dustproof, and shockproof, unless you can back your product under warranty. I'm going to pass on Fuji's offer to exchange my camera for the $118 fee, which I can use towards an Olympus Tough camera! ;-)

As clean and compact as the Fuji XP10 appears, I will suggest to potential buyers of this camera to spend the extra money for the Olympus Tough series, which I am now considering. The Olympus Tough series may not be aesthetically pleasing as the Fuji XP10, but, like the AK-47 and Glock, the Olympus will probably work.

Buy the Fuji XP10 at your own risk.

Great, fun camera!, May 17, 2010
Pros:
Great outdoor pics!
Great under water!
Tough
SR Auto works well
Indoor pics are fine for parties
720p HD video!
12mp!!
5X optical zoom

Cons:
Battery life!!!
Software kind of sucks
Not crisp indoor/lowlight pics (please read more about this below - it's not so bad)


So I got this camera as soon as it came out. This is my first camera actually. I never bought one before bc anytime that I want a camera I am at the beach, river, fishing, pool, drinking, etc (i live in FL). I couldn't bring myself to buy a camera that i know would break with my lifestyle. I liked the D10 but it's so expensive and I'm not gonna carry that egg thing in my pocket. The previous WP Fuji camera got pretty good reviews and I liked the sample pics people uploaded from them the most. Even more than the Olympus or Pentax. The new XP10 was about to come out with better resolution etc so I pre-ordered it.

I am very happy with this camera! It looks real nice (silver), fits in my pocket, is super tough (i've thrown it around), the waterproof is great, 5X opt zoom (great for video), HD video, and the pics look real good for my purposes. I wasn't sure about the buttons behind rubber(?) before but they click when you press them so it's nice.

I'm not a pro photographer, i'm not making posters of landscapes or anything. These pics are for facebook basically. I wouldn't have any pics at all if it weren't for a tough waterproof camera. My sister's SLR takes much better pictures indoors of my aquarium and food (we like to take pics of food we make). But this is still an awesome camera.

The battery does suck on this camera. It will only last for one day of fun. The next day it will die pretty quick if you try to keep going on it. So i'm gonna have to buy another battery or hope for an extended life one to come out :/ I've used friends' cameras that last weeks on a charge. But, they're not WP. I'll deal.

The other thing - low light pics. They don't come out crisp at all. It's not a big deal to me bc it's usually at parties when i'm drunk so it kind of captures the moment being a little warm and blurry looking. People actually seem to kind of like it. But just a warning.

Overall this is a great camera for most every situation and is a good deal at $200 (mine came with a 4gb memory card). I highly recommend :]

I can't wait to try it on my next ski trip!

I will upload sample pics.


UPDATE: The camera is still awesome. I took it snorkeling off Key Biscyane National Park. The camera held up great and the HD video of the reef is pretty cool. We went down further than 10ft a bunch of times but only briefly. That was a few months ago and the camera is still running great.

One problem: the film that gives the rubber over the buttons that matte look is peeling off. I think it's from the chlorine in the pool. I peeled it all off and it's fine now. But just a heads up.

I think the price is down to $140 w/memory card at Costco (awesome return policy). Can't beat that with a stick! My aunt went and bought one.

I'll upload some new pics.

NOT Waterproof, June 19, 2010
I bought this camera for the waterproof feature, for beach and snorkeling photos. I took it to the beach and within 30 minutes it broke. The camera was never more than 2 feet underwater and it never hit anything. Water began leaking in the back display screen and the camera stopped functioning. Water also got in the front lens area and battery. Fortunately I was able to get the photos I had taken off the memory card.

Picture quality was really nice and the display screen size is large for easy viewing. But if you plan on taking it in the water I suggest buying a different camera.

Good (at least for my life), June 10, 2010

Love, love this camera!, June 21, 2010
Seems like several people aren't happy with this camera. I was showing my husband the reviews on here and we were really surprised by how many are disappointed with their camera. Maybe I don't expect enough however, I did drop it and it didn't break; it took great pictures in and out of the water and the video works nicely as well.

I bought this for $139 at a local warehouse club and I think it's worth every penny for the underwater pictures and video alone. We've had a blast using it!

BTW, the video image isn't grainy. Their are water sprinklers that shoot over the pool, so what you are seeing is sprinkles and not a bad video. I uploaded this video to FB and for whatever reason the FB looks clear while the same video on Amazon looks pixelated. Go figure.

Perfect for Summer Fun!, June 7, 2010
I purchased this camera to take pics of our 18 month old who loves the water. We have an DSLR and a very nice point and shoot but I worry about taking those cameras on the boat or to the pool. The first day we had it my wife dropped it on the sidewalk getting out of the car, no problem. This past weekend we took it out on the boat, I used it in and around the water, works better than expected. Only problem we found was we got sun tan lotion on the front blurring the images, easily fixed with a towel....I even took a quick video of my daugher jumping in the water, video quality is better than our Flip video. Can't wait to take it along when we go hiking in the mountains.
I would recommend this camera to anyone who already has a nice digital camera, if it is going to be your only camera you might want to look at the Panasonic.
Pros:
Worry free (only cost $150)
Waterproof
Rugged
Cons:
No lens cover
Doesn't float (use wrist strap)

One use and done! :-(, September 1, 2010
I used the camera once with nice results. Then took it to Hawaii for some snorkeling fun! Ha! My mistake. Wouldn't even turn on. I tried lots of things and nothing helped. Am trying to return it, but I won't have those images of turtles, dolphins, fish, etc... ... Read more

Editorial Review

what is in the box: Battery Charger, Battery Pack, Battery Case, Silicon Jacket, Brush, AV Cable, USB Cable, AC Cable, Hand Strap (with stopper), CD-ROM (PHOTOfunSTUDIO 5.0 HD Edition, QuickTime (TM), Adober (r) Reader (r)). ... Read more

Editorial Review

Did that just happen? Some moments in life need an instant replay button. With the KODAK Mini Video Camera, you've got one with you wherever you go. This itty-bitty video camera easily slides into a pocket - even your skinny jeans. With one touch the Mini captures all the highlights, and the pop-out USB arm makes it seriously simple to share the fun on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE sites. Plus it's built to withstand your craziest days - from a fumble in the rain, to a trip to the bottom of your bag. The Mini is ready when you are - so the next time you hear, “Did that just happen?” you can show the instant replay. The real KODAK Moment happens when you share. ... Read more

Editorial Review

14.1 MegapixelAdvanced Tough Design (10m Water, Shockproof) Waterproof: 10M Shock Shockproof: 2M Freezeproof: -10 C AVCHD Lite HD Movie Recording Record HD quality movies Power OIS Enhanced technology to further prevent blurring caused by vibrationBlue ... Read more

Reviews

Great Execution in a Pocket Camera, April 15, 2010
At the price point of this camera you really should need the ruggedness and waterproof features to justify the expense. I'll have to update this over time because at this point it hasn't been on the slopes or under water, but it has been in the rain. I'm not going to try the six foot drop test. The camera is compact, lighter than I expected and seems to be made like an precision aircraft. Great looking body. The display is crisp and bright. The few pictures I've taken so far, both inside and out, look great, including macros. I'm informally comparing this to a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 (point and shoot, 10X zoom) I've had for a couple of years (best non-SLR I've ever owned).

It comes with an optional protective silicone sleeve.

This camera has "O" ring sealed (and locked) doors for the battery and memory card, and for the data access ports. These will leak under water if their seals aren't scrupulously clean as described in the factory literature. So while I'm sure this can be used under water if you're careful, a user will want to be very sure they've carefully examined and cleaned the sealing surfaces before submerging.

I've taken photos inside with the flash in a 40' darkened room to compare the flash depth of the older camera with this one, they seem to be the same, so the built in flash is acceptable and typical of this kind of camera; point is no compromise with the flash.

This is the camera you can stick in your back pocket and go. It fits in a SPI belt and fits in a small Amphipod case if you use either of these for running or other exercise.

Downside: So far just two things. First, there's no viewfinder, not a big issue usually but if you try to wear sunglasses on a bright day using the screen can be problematic. Second, and potentially more important, there's no protection over the lens, though it's recessed. It's small and it's one of those things a user will have to watch to be sure it's clean. Viewing screens seem to mask dust, fingerprints and water spots on a lens, but they show up as an artifact or blur on a computer screen or print. If you're used to a self covering lens you can get into the habit of ignoring this. A pop off cover would be nice.

Even though this is rugged and waterproof, I'll keep it in a case. Based on descriptions, it's tough to figure out what fits, especially if you want to use the included silicone sleeve which is not included in product dimensions. The Kroo semi-hard case is a snug fit without the silcone sleeve, too small if you use the sleeve. The VanGoody neoprene case works even with the sleeve as does the small, but unpadded Amphipod case (which I like for it's water resistance, ballistic nylon construction and belt loop).

Great waterproof camera for the price & size, June 8, 2010
We bought this camera for a trip to the Galapagos because we wanted something light & small for underwater pictures. I had considered a Canon G10 or G11 with the underwater housing and then saw a review of this camera. It is a very fair trade-off for something that is less than half the price and very compact. We got some excellent still photos; the video underwater is OK, but not good enough if you're really interested in getting a lot of sharp u/w video.
We used the camera throughout a nearly one-month trip for other stills and videos and are very pleased with the results in daylight or moderate light conditions. The flash is like most small P&S cameras - useful in limited settings only.
We kept the silicone cover on all the time; it protects the edges and access points and provides a non-slip surface making it easier to hold in the hand. When underwater, the silicone cover protects against accidental opening of an access point and is an additional protection against even a drop of water getting in. We tried it out in the kitchen sink before taking it on a trip just to make sure we knew how to use it. We used it to deep-water snorkel many times without any problems. I intend to buy a floating strap for the camera - inexpensive insurance against losing it in the water.
I took off one star for the underwater video quality and the flash; otherwise, it's a great little camera and at 14 megapixels, the images (only jpg) have enough resolution so you can do some color tweaking and cropping and still have something that will make a nice 8x10 or bigger.

Second Rate Pictures, April 27, 2010
I was convinced by several of my outdoorsey friends that I needed a weatherproof camera so I bought this on the basis of reviews for a backpacking trip to the canyons of Utah. I also brought along my old smaller lighter much cheaper Canon 850IS. I left the Pana hanging around my neck and snapped away- 600 pics in 4 days. I was pleased with its very fast response and it kept on ticking even in dirty and wet conditions. When I got home I found the screen had been scratched by the sand and dust. (So it is only sort of weatherproof) When I downloaded the pictures, there were some really good ones but none were the GREAT ones I had planned on. Most had poor color saturation, strange color balance and were not sharp. Almost 35% were completely ruined by camera shake (yes I had the IS on). I had taken a few pictures with the Canon and they were magnificent. So I sat down at home and did a head to head comparison. The Canon blew away the Panasonic - no contest whatever. In less than full light the Panasonic consistently takes noisy, undersaturated, fuzzy images. In bright light it still lags in sharpness and saturation. I think would rather keep my camera in a bag and pull it out for a great picture now and then rather than fill up endless disks with 14MB crummy ones. This baby is going back.

THE PERFECT ACTION CAMERA, June 15, 2010
In brief: if Batman had a camera, this would be it!

I was looking for a camera I could take with me to the beach or rafting without ever worrying about it. I wanted something I could drop in a backpack, leave it on the sand and take it in the sea without giving it a second thought. By now I am a satisfied PANASONIC/LUMIX customer, ever since my favorite FZ28K (the most convenient creativity camera) and my trusted TZ8 (the perfect city-tourist camera).
So, when, after all the research it came between this camera and the Olympus Stylus Tough-8000, I showed some brand-name loyalty and went with the LUMIX. And the important thing is that I never regretted it.

This camera comes with a very bright wide-angle 28mm Leica lens which is optically stabilized, capturing on a 14.1MP sensor and an adequate 4.6x zoom (128mm). Typical for a LUMIX, it has a working intelligent Auto (iA) setting that gives you a piece of mind: perfect photos every time, without having to fidget with the settings.
Departing from the auto settings, the camera offers almost 20 shooting modes, 5 color modes, 6 focus modes and decent aperture range (f/3.3 to f/10) and shutter speeds (8 to 1/1300).

The camera is Waterproof up to 10m/33ft (which means you can safely take it splashing and snorkeling but not diving without an extra casing). So far, neither condensation nor sand have slipped through the seals.
It is also advertised to be Shockproof to drops up to 2m/6.6ft and Freeze-proof -10C (claims I have yet to test - no, I am not putting it in the freezer, it will have to wait 6 months for the slopes to open!).

For such a small lens (and such a dense sensor - will the MegaPixel-war ever cease?) there is surprisingly little noise. Given enough light the pictures are flawless. When indoors or with limited light the ISO will increase and so will the noise. I can understand such things to be important to photography enthusiasts but for the purposes I bought it, this is an excellent camera.

I don't usually use my photo camera for videos but it is nice to know the option is there. The video (up to 1280x720) can be captured either in AVCHD Lite format or AVI (make sure to have a large enough memory card if saving in AVI). As an added bonus, you can zoom while shooting a video and (almost) no whirring noise registers.

My only gripes are that the position of the lens is something I had to get used to (unless I wanted to both include my left hand in the shot and leave smudges on the lens) and that there is no viewfinder. Understandable for a compact camera but having the sun behind you will test the anti-glare capability of the 2.7' LCD.

The camera comes in 4 colors: inox-gray, royal-blue, metallic-yellow and safety-orange. I opted for the later out of vanity (it... matches the orange details of my summer watch) - but as an added bonus it is really easy to find even if it has slipped to the bottom of your backpack.

An excellent (made in Japan) action camera.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

does it all -best price was amazon's, May 16, 2010
I love the color size shape and FUNCTION of this camera. I went snorkeling and took great photos underwater, that is, when the fish stayed still enough. Be very careful however to make sure the doors are sealed. I was concerned where the springs on the battery compartment mesh. a couple of drops got in which fogged a great shot of a stingray. And I had been conscientious and doublechecked. not sure if that will ultimately make the camera fail. But for now, I love the photos it takes, even the videos I shot of songs at concerts are youtubable. Its better than the olympus and others in its class.

Great pictures in a durable camera, June 24, 2010
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 withstood swimming, snorkeling, etc. quite well on a recent trip to the Caribbean. It came in really handy for taking pictures of horseback riding in the water as well. I expected a rugged camera, but was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the photos. the screen is average, but the photo detail and colors look great after downloading.

The camera is probably a bit bulkier than comparable non-waterproof versions. However, it is still definitely small enough to throw in a pocket while land-based and forget it is there.

Quick shipping from Amazon, too.

Maui trip, October 30, 2010
I bought this camera for our trip to maui..we went snorkling,road to hana,luau,molokini,turtle town...beaches you name it...I really am happy with this camera ..it took awesome underwater pictures...it did fog up when we were on the road to hana..it was raining hard and very humid..i put the camera up the heater vent and it dried up right away.. another thing that happened was we went to 2 snorkeling spots..the camera stopped taking pictures after being in the water for over an hour..it just froze up...which it says there is a limit of 60 minutes for under water use...I cleaned it, charged the battery overnight and let it dry out...it worked fine the next morning :o) I did my research on these underwater cameras before buying and I am very happy with this choice ...this one will go 33ft..but you can also buy a case for it and take it down to 150ft ...if you go down that deep....also bought a transcend 32gb schc class 6 card with usb reader ..works great

HD + Waterproofing!, October 7, 2010
Well, it's still got a ways to go but I like it...

I've owned 2 previous digital waterproof cameras before and they both needed improvement. I buy underwater cameras for the main purpose of going underwater & taking photos or video. First was the Olympus waterproof to 15 feet and the next one was the Olympus 770SW = essentially the same but you can go deeper underwater. Both of these excelled at being able to fit in a pair of board shorts and looked really sleek. However, they lacked a LOT. It had a lot of lag time between shots and the shots were mostly blurry underwater. The color was off and it wasn't that easy to switch between macro & wide modes. It was even more difficult to take a video when the opportunity arose.

Enough about the Junk of the past, Let's go over the Lumix. The Lumix has many advantages to the older Olympus. It shoots in HD and the pictures are Huge! It's really easy to use; even underwater, especially due to the iAuto mode which adjusts things for you. The color sometimes needs some correction after the shot and you can use any digital photo program to fix this, but it gets a bit tedious. I like that it fits in my pocket and the seal has a lock, so you know it's sealed tight. It comes w/ instructions on how to keep water from getting inside the camera. I haven't ever had a camera where the Sunset mode does much of anything, but with this one it works like a charm. Also it's nice to use the lock focus mode, in where you can lock onto an object in your picture, then move the camera around until you get the framing right. It's a bit difficult to understand, but when you see it you'll love it. Oh, last thing I can remember is the flash has an interesting feature of highlighting your shot in the dark w/ a really bright LED light to get the aperture settings correct before you shoot.

Overall, it's a step up from what I had before. Also, it's one of the best reviewed cameras.

I give it one less star for the coloring of my pictures being a bit off.

If you're careful, it kicks butt., October 7, 2010
I bought this camera in anticipation of a Caribbean cruise. I wanted something to capture snorkeling pics, as well as a rugged camera that I didn't have to worry about on the beach or while climbing through a jungle. This thing was perfect.

I should mention that reading reviews of this camera gave me an extreme paranoia about using this thing in water. Each day before heading out, I would meticulously brush any tiny dust particles and hairs off of the bright orange rubber seals. Worth mentioning is that the color of the seals provides a good contrast to see if they really are clear of any materials. That said, I never had a single problem with water intruding into the watertight compartments. Never did the camera fail on me, and I abused the hell out of it. I didn't ever go below 10ft of water, so I can't say I tested it to the extremes of its capability, but as far as I'm concerned, this thing is as waterproof as it claims to be. Now if you're not willing to be meticulous about cleaning those seals, I would not suggest taking this camera in the water.

As far as shockproofing, this thing took a beating in stride. I dropped it on the floor from 4 feet several times while it was on, and it never had an issue. I had it on the wrist strap while climbing ladders out of the pool and cringed every time it smacked against those metal poles. Never did I notice any problem with its operation. I even recorded a video of me holding the camera while diving six feet into the ocean (which I'm sure was a pretty nice shock), which came out very nicely.

Now on to my last point, and my only real issue with the camera, picture quality. The quality on the pictures is passable at best, but what would you expect with such a small aperture? Pictures looked good on my monitor at 20" diagonal. Any zooming past that and it started to look like an oil painting. I did a lot of messing around with the settings (do not use anything higher than ISO 200, it looks like crap), and found that the issues were simply a limitation of the hardware. You will not be taking award winning photos with this thing, but it does a good enough job to capture memories in situations you'd normally be afraid to take a camera.

A few minor points. The warning that shows up on the screen every time you start the camera is annoying. The image stabilization feature is worthless. The strap feels really flimsy (like the old wiimote straps, though it didn't ever break for me.) The door latches are really easy to open, so you need to be careful. And the interface is not the friendliest (though also far from the worst I've seen.)

In a few months I'll be doing a snowboarding test with this camera. I'll try and remember to update the review with those results.

great camera, bad software, September 15, 2010
I really like this camera. Really easy, great picture and video w/ sound quality. Leaving it in the auto setting worked really good. Of course I like more control so I changed the settings many times. Its easy to make the changes and then back to auto for the no brainer picture taking. This camera spent a lot of time under water, in the ocean, on the sand, in the middle of waves. It withstood it all. Sometimes its a bit difficult to get the tiny fine bits of sand off from around the rubber gaskets. The silicone cover keeps the finish from getting scratched and gave me extra peace of mind that I or some rogue sea critter won't some how accidentally open the battery door while under water.
The play back screen is big and bright. Its super easy to record movies. The sound is pretty good too. It picked up some faint little sounds that I was surprised to hear on playback.
The software that it comes with, I don't like. The editing features are good but its not very easy to use. Or maybe its just too different from what I usually use. Good thing that I can use other software that I do like after downloading the pics to my pc.
The battery recharges pretty fast.
I bought a few accessories to go w/ this camera also. A floaty strap is important since this camera does not float. The orange Olympus floaty strap brought my camera back to the surface in both fresh water river and ocean.
I also highly recommend buying a good memory card. This is not where you go cheapo.
Overall, this is a great camera for casual every day use and, the artsy fartsy photographer can have a lot of fun with it too, like me. ... Read more

Editorial Review

PENTAX 16426 12.1 Megapixel Optio W90 Digital Camera (Green) ... Read more

Editorial Review

PENTAX 16411 12.1 Megapixel Optio W90 Digital Camera (Black) ... Read more

Editorial Review

OLYMPUS 227635 14.0 Megapixel STYLUS TOUGH-6020 Digital Camera (Black) ... Read more

Editorial Review

OLYMPUS 227655 14.0 Megapixel STYLUS TOUGH-8010 Digital Camera (Black) ... Read more

Reviews

Its tough but its not great, April 17, 2010
I have owned many Olympus cameras in the past but this is my first camera I have purchased from their "tough" line. As advertised this thing looks and feels very sturdy. The seals on it look like they will hold out any kind of moisture and dust and the lens has its own protective shroud and cover to protect it from scratches or damage. The lens also does not extend or retract so dust, sand, and dirt cant jam it up (which is a problem I have had before). It also has a minimum of buttons to break or stick and it has a very soild body construction. So on a toughness scale of 1-10 the Stylus tough 8010 gets an 11. This camera really is in a class of its own on when it comes to durablity, and it is the only camera I have seen my colleagues take with them into combat zones.

On the other hand it looks like Olympus tried to cram all the wrong things into this rugged camera. The first thing you will notice when operating this camera is how slow it is between pictures, even with a class 6 SD card in it, its write speed seems painfully slow. Don't get me wrong I am very happy Olympus finally got ride of the XD card but it doesnt seem like they've fixed their write speed problems. Picture quality also isnt that great but thats not a major hit given the small lens they are working with.

One thing you find on the camera that shouldn't be there is all kinds of picture editing or "Beauty" features in the camera. This software does an okay job but take way to long to proccess. In my opinion Olympus should leave photo editing to photo editing software on a computer and instead focus on making this camera take better pictures with less lag time between shots.

Another grype is that this camera does not come with an external battery charger, you have to plug the camera in to charge it. Why??? For those of us who like to have multiple batteries we now have to buy another charger in additon to the battery. It is also a much bigger pain to leave you camera pluged into the wall/computer than just throwing a battery in a charger.

Over all this camera is great if you plan on going to a very rough part of the world, or even swimming with it. But if your just an average person looking for a camera to take good pictures this is not for you. Instead buy a cheaper camera with a better lens and get a good camera case to protect it from everyday life.

Best UnderWater Camera on the Marktet, April 1, 2010
Being that are Family is in the middle of 3 Year Trip around the World with our daughter who turns 3 this month, we require a camera that is waterproof and durable. This is is our 4th model of the Olympus Stylus so we are not newbies to this Series, though we are on the simple side of taking photos & videos.

The most important features when purchasing such a camera are the following 3 features:

1) Waterproof up to 33ft: This is big for us since most of our destinations are for surf and I also like to take it surfing...in Big Waves!
2) Shockproof from 6.6ft. Between myself, my wife and my little girl...you better believe that there is going to be an occasional drop or 2
3) Freeze proof down to 14F / -10C If we are not in the waves, we like to go snowboarding in the mountains.

Here is the newest of features that had us upgrade to the latest model - High Definition (HD) video. I just purchased the camera over the weekend and have taken amazing HD video while surfing out on the North Shore of Hawaii...and the waves were big and it kept ticking.

The 8010 has many features for picture taking though it has been simplified so that anyone can open the box and start taking quality photos & video right out of the box.

One feature that I very much enjoy, is the dedicated Camera & Video button so that you do not have to change modes when in action.

A disadvantage that I have found is that you have to have your camera plugged in to charge.

Rugged Camera for Inhospitable Environments, April 1, 2010
The Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 digital camera withstands inhospitable environments while taking very good pictures. The heavy-duty housing is well-sealed from the elements, with the battery compartment and usb and hdmi connections sealed by an o-ring protected double-locked door.

Initial camera set-up is VERY simple. After inserting and partly charging the battery (via the camera USB connection), camera initialization can be performed from the attached computer. Image-processing software can also be installed from the camera itself. The software is basic, but does have a couple of Olympus-specific touches.

Out of the box, users must charge the replaceable battery via the usb connection while the battery is in the camera; via a computer or the provided wall charger. In order to continue shooting, I've since purchased an external charger and extra battery so that I can swap batteries and continue shooting while recharging the depleted cell. Each is readily available from online vendors; both Olympus original and facsimiles.

The camera has numerous scene modes, face recognition, and effective anti-shake technology. The panorama mode is nice, but slow to stitch pictures together and is not entirely accurate.

Shot delay from the time that the shutter is pressed sometimes causes a moment to be missed. Save times for 14 mb images to a SDHC card are a bit lengthy.
The non-standard mini-usb connection at the camera end is less-than-secure, causing occasional connect-disconnect cycling.

Overall, I find this camera relatively easy to use; though it can be confusing to a digital photography newcomer. The camera can be set to a fully-automatic mode for those folks. I've not yet explored all of the scene modes, but the three tried thus far aid in obtaining sharp pictures.

For someone who wants a capable camera that can be used at the beach or in the pool; this is the best I've found. For those who don't need weather or environment resistance, other choices at approximately half the price will fill the bill nicely."

So so..., May 1, 2010
If I had it to do again, I'd buy a lesser model underwater camera (ski, impact resistant) and use the extra $120 toward a good point and shoot. All in all it acts like an amazing 2.5 MP camera. The 14MP is too much for the lens I guess. Try and zoom in on a pic during editing and it's grainy. Olympus offered to inspect my brand new camera at a repair facility, but given other online reviews, I think this camera just takes mediocre pics.
It's worth about $200 to me, but I paid twice that, so I'm disapoonted and annoyed. I feel I need to carry another point and shoot camera to take good normal pics; for $400 I feel it should be able to do that.

Completely Disappointed with Functionality, June 3, 2010
Do not assume that I am biased or jaded, my score is based upon real-world usage of this camera. I own the Olympus Stylus 1030SW and have been very happy with its performance as a all-around point-and-shoot as well as an underwater camera, so I was thrilled to see the 8010 come out as the upgrade with higher resolution, better zoom and deeper capabilities. I pre-ordered the 8010 and it arrived just days before we left on our cruise which enabled me to do some real-world validation. I was sorely wishing I had brought my 1030SW as I was trying to capture images on the trip.

The Good:
The overall exterior design is great on the 8010. I really liked the new double-lock on the battery / memory compartment. Kudos for moving to the standard SD format as well. The new 720 video resolution is nice as well. It still feels like it drops a frame or two every so often at 720, but it is very good quality for the optics. The camera performs well underwater with good vibrant images.

The Bad:
The software running this camera is the complete downfall. The menu and selections are very sluggish, going from option to option you have to deliberately think 'go slow' or you will find yourself very frustrated. I am not sure what Olympus did with the white-balance of this camera but its functionality lies somewhere between 'completely broken' and 'completely frustrated'. I could take several pictures of individuals on the beach and one image would be completely blown out like a whiteout and the next image would look like it was a completely dark overcast day. I tried several times to change the settings to compensate for this, and I found that if I angled the camera around enough I could almost get the picture I wanted. The trouble was that for nearly every shot I was taking a picture, then tweaking the settings several times and have to adjust where I am pointing to try and get the image to come out partially descent. I have never had to manipulate a camera so much - EVER. All the while my daughter standing next to me would snap the same shot with her $95 Nikon and it would look great. It also appears that the flash is much less powerful, typically when the individual in the image is too dark, with a lighter background, I would change the settings to force the flash, but with this camera it hardly made a dent. Also on several of the videos take at the beach it was almost as though the sensor was overloaded as I would get a bright white / pink streak on the video as we were shooting on a bright day.

When I returned from my trip, I saw the great reviews here on Amazon and figured i must have bought a defective one so I called Olympus. I received no satisfaction from them, so I ultimately returned it to Amazon. I then purchased a 2nd one to see if truly my original was defective and found the exact same results and as such I have returned the 2nd camera as well. Thank goodness for Amazon's fantastic return policy. I am now using my 1030SW and looking to see what is the real solution for the next upgrade from that camera.

Great easy to use sturdy camera!, June 14, 2010
This was my first underwater video taken in Aruba, off the beach at the Renaissance Aruba's private island! I love swimming off the island - dive boats park nearby. This was also the trial run for my Olympus Tough-8010 camera and since I watched YouTube videos before deciding to purchase it, I thought it was important to post a video, mentioning how satisfied I am with the camera. Natural lighting and conditions had the most significant impacts on pictures - pretty much, what I saw, is what I got in video and still photos. The underwater scene selection was a time saver as is the handy 1 click video button. The only problem I had was probably unavoidable - underwater I could not see the picture preview at all - not enough light, I suppose -so I was forced to point and hope that I was taking the picture as intended. Very satisfied with the camera overall!!!

CHILDPROOF INDESTRUCTIBLE GREAT HD VIDEO, April 9, 2010
PROS:
* WATERPROOF, SHOCKPROOF, FREEZEPROOF, KID PROOF
* GOOD QUALITY 720P VIDEO - LINK TO WATCH SAMPLE VIDEO (...)
* ANOTHER VIDEO - (...)
* EXCELLENT PICS @14 MEGAPIXELS
* GREAT LOW LIGHT PICS
* GREAT LOW LIGHT VIDEO
* ACCELEROMETER FOR GLOVES/SNOW/WATER ETC

CONS:
* SLOW WRITE TO SD MEDIA EVEN SDHC CLASS 6 COMPARED TO PREVIOUS OLYMPUS 1035SW SUPER FAST WRITE WITH XD MEDIA
* MENU IS A CROSS BAR LIKE PS3 THAT REQUIRES MULTIPLE PUSHES VERSUS FAST ACCESS TO FEATURES
* NO SHUTTER SPEED CONTROL

SUMMARY:

BEST DESTRUCTION PROOF CAMERA YOU CAN BUT THAT WILL GO ANYWHERE AND DO ANYTHING AND STILL KEEP TAKING PICTURES AND VIDEO

Tough but Slow, July 2, 2010
After my toddler destroyed a Canon point and shoot, we decided that a tougher camera would be useful for our upcoming trip to Mongolia. We thought the Olympus was an obvious choice. Shock resistant, water resistant, and possibly toddler resistant. Before you buy this product, be warned that it is SLOW.

Pro's
Tough. We dropped it a number of times and the toddler threw it across the room. Survived.
Water resistant. Washed off the sand, almost went into a toilet, survived.
Lost. Toddler lost the camera in a Chinese taxi. Yes, that is a pro.

Con's
SLOW. Fast toddler plus slow camera equals missed opportunity.
Big. Bigger than comparable point-n-shoots.
SLOW. The start up speed and time between pictures should have nothing to do with the "tough" series. 3 year old Canon was MUCH faster.
Usability. Fairly easy to use, zoom was slow and the button was small. Almost a pro.
SLOW. Delay between pushing the shutter button and taking the picture means missing Toddler.

Overall, I'm happy that we lost the camera. Already bought a new Canon that is much faster, smaller, and has more features for a lower price. We are willing to take the chance that it will survive a fall or two to make up for speed and usability.

Not the Camera of Choice, June 25, 2010
Let me start by saying we own and use many camera of all sizes and types. Everything from small point and shoots to high end SLR cameras. We bought this for a trip to Catalina with the thought that it would be good for underwater and general use near the water and at the beach. It is sturdy and well sealed, but the underwater pictures terrible. We have used sealed housings for small point and shoot cameras underwater in the past and the pictures were significantly better. I chose this because I thought it would be easier for my son underwater, not having to mess with putting the camera in a housing. He has used the camera in the housing before underwater and taken great pictures. The regular "dry land" pictures were okay, but nothing special. Less expensive and small Canons and Nikons do a better job with better picture quality.

INDESTRUCTIBLE AND CHILD PROOF GOOD HD VIDEO, April 9, 2010
PROS:
* WATERPROOF, SHOCKPROOF, FREEZEPROOF, KID PROOF
* GOOD QUALITY 720P VIDEO - LINK TO WATCH SAMPLE VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTG41ANirTo
* ANOTHER VIDEO - [...]
* EXCELLENT PICS @14 MEGAPIXELS
* GREAT LOW LIGHT PICS
* GREAT LOW LIGHT VIDEO
* ACCELEROMETER FOR GLOVES/SNOW/WATER ETC

CONS:
* MODERATE WRITE TO SD MEDIA EVEN SDHC CLASS 6 COMPARED TO PREVIOUS OLYMPUS 1035SW SUPER FAST WRITE WITH XD MEDIA
* MENU IS A CROSS BAR LIKE PS3 THAT REQUIRES MULTIPLE PUSHES VERSUS FAST ACCESS TO FEATURES
* NO SHUTTER SPEED CONTROL

SUMMARY:

BEST DESTRUCTION PROOF CAMERA YOU CAN BUT THAT WILL GO ANYWHERE AND DO ANYTHING AND STILL KEEP TAKING PICTURES AND VIDEO ... Read more

Editorial Review

OLYMPUS 227640 14.0 Megapixel STYLUS TOUGH-6020 Digital Camera (Blue) ... Read more

Reviews

A Great Little Camera, March 31, 2010
I have had the camera for a few days now and really put it through the paces. It is by far one of the best little point and clicks that I have had and I have had at least 5 in the past 5 years. It's built well and has a exceptional battery life (275 picks per charge on average with 14 meg pictures) and the recharge is fairly quick. I added a 16gig memory card for the video recording aspect and I love it. I can record 5 hours and 50 mins of 720p on the thing which is way nicer than the Flip that I was looking at. I used to get an occasional blurry shot with my other cameras from them not focusing well on moving objects (kids) but with this one I haven't had a bad shot yet on the kids running in the yard. It truly is amazing.

All in all it's a great little camera for the price.

And don't let the other guy scare you off from this camera. He more than likely put the card in before he hooked the camera up to his computer. By the way, make sure you hook the camera up to your computer BEFORE you put your memory card in. But if you screw up and put it in first all you have to do is clear out your pictures, eject the card and then plug it up to the computer for a fresh install.

Great Camera, Perfect for High Quality Vacation Snapshots, July 13, 2010
I am surprised by some of the negative reviews of this camera. I have a suggestion to those reviewers: READ THE MANUAL! One common complaint - slow start-up time - can be easily fixed by following directions in the manual: Turn "PW on Start-up" to off, this will keep the camera from loading the logo and the camera is immediately ready for use. Another common complaint is the time it takes in order to shoot the next picture. Some people incorrectly refer to this is "excessive shutter lag." This is not the case: The default setting for this camera is to display the photo just taken for about four seconds after pressing the shutter button so the user can view the image. This is a handy feature I appreciate, but if I am taking fast moving action shots, this feature can be turned off in Shooting menu 2, "REC VIEW." Once performed in accordance with the manual, photos can be taken immediately after one another. All of my photos taken with the 6020 are perfect, unless I do something wrong. I am amazed by the number of people who do not comprehend the basic concept of digital focusing: Press the shutter button halfway to focus the subject (focus box turns green to confirm proper focus,) compose your shot while continuing to hold the focus halfway, then complete the photo taking process by pressing the button fully. Read the directions and anyone who buys this great little camera will love it and have great success with sharp, clean, well colored photos! By the way, I have successfully used the 6020 in my community pool for testing underwater and I am looking forward to my upcoming vacation to Aruba this month.

OK for the money, June 19, 2010
So let me start with the positive. The HD video is excellent. It's as good or better than my Panasonic HD camcorder puts out. Now if I was only using it for video, that would give it 5 stars. But we take pictures with it as well, right? So there in lies the problem. The picture quality is average at best. I took 30 pictures at my 3 year old's birthday party (at a water park) and I had to edit every single one when I downloaded them to my computer. Colors were washed out by the aggressive flash on any close-up pics. Far away pictures looked soft and lacked any detail. Now granted this water park was indoors but it was fairly well lit so that's not an acceptable excuse. I also saw the same issue with poor focusing on anyone/anything moving.

Pros:
Superior HD Video (Why video is so crisp and accurate on colors amazes me when the pics are so average)
Rugged Design and feel

Cons:
Picture quality leaves a lot be desired. Olympus should've done much better
Needing to hook up to a PC to "initialize" the camera
Slow, slow, slow (from boot-up to picture taking. Just takes too long for someone with kids)

I already had a Sony DSC-TX5 on order (from Amazon) when I got this one for Father's Day. Although the Sony is $100 more, it's worth it to me to have crisp and accurate photos out straight from the camera. I believe I will have to keep the Sony and return this Olympus. We want to be able to have a portable camera that we can rely on for everyday activities as well as the beach and pool events. And this Stylus Tough just isn't up for the task.

One small update: I found out that you can cut down on the start-up time by turning the "PW" setting to OFF. You can find it under the menu settings. Cuts start-up time down to about 3 seconds or so. You can also cut down your picture to picture time by eliminating the picture review. Still doesn't help the picture quality however. I haven't found a fix for that. :(

Great little point and shoot., April 24, 2010
I liked this camera out of the box. The software is intuitive, the options varied and I took it to the tidepools right away and got some great super macro shots of marine life underwater. Rinsed off the saltwater and took it to the mountains for the long shots. It is small enough for a pocket and great for hiking and backpacking - no worries on dropping etc... Still playing with it and learning all the options but I highly recommend the camera. It does all that it says it does; it is compact and burly. Found the digital zoom fuzzy and worthless but overall a great deal - excellent improvements over the older models and well worth the price.

Returned within 24 hours and bought a Sony, June 25, 2010
I purchased this camera before a trip to Puerto Rico when I realized my scuba diving camera was broken and could not be repaired before the trip. I bought this as a fix so that I could at least take some pictures while snorkeling. Out of the box, this camera was awful. I shoot Canon (SLR and a point and shoot) so I knew I would be facing an adjustment, but I refuse to sacrifice image quality. The picture quality was awful, even in normal, non-low light, situations. In even the slightest low light, the image quality was extremely noisy.

The panorama was also terrible - it was better to do it on manual, which is very time consuming to line up the images, than the "easy" auto. Manual would work, as long as you aren't planning on taking a panorama of anything moving (don't even attempt underwater panoramas of fish!). The auto setting for panorama made it look like three separate pictures were taken - no matter how slow I went, if I couldn't keep the indicators EXACTLY (which is pretty impossible without a tripod) in line, the picture was not seamless.

The magic filters (why I was looking at an Olympus before the need for a waterproof camera arose) are not worth it - the drawing filter comes out very light (can hardly see the contrast) no matter how much you fiddle with the settings; the fisheye simply bulges out the center of the frame; there is virtually no difference between regular and the pop art filter. There are some settings (including panorama) where you cannot change certain settings, such as focus type and image size (this is a BIG problem! 3M for a panorama will NOT look good blown up!).

Lastly, this camera is SLOW. It takes a surprising amount of time just to click through the settings (for instance, to click down to the flash setting and then click across to change the flash took about 5 seconds EVERY time). It takes a long time to turn on. If you are wanting an underwater camera for snorkeling, or to take pictures of anything moving, this camera will NOT do it - the fish will be gone before the camera can get the shot.

The biggest issues I had were with the awful picture quality, the panorama being difficult to operate, and not being able to control settings such as image size. The user manual was NOT helpful, except to tell me that I couldn't change the settings I wanted to change. The only thing that was nice was the fact that it was waterproof to 16ft - 6 feet deeper than other waterproof models, but how often are you snorkeling or swimming at 16ft under? Ugh. So, two days before my trip I returned this camera and bought a Sony TX5. Additional note: the waterproof housing for the Olympus 6020 that makes it waterproof up to 120ft (for scuba) costs $339.00 while the waterproof housing for the Sony TX5, making it waterproof up to 120ft is $149.00 - and I got 15% off by buying the camera itself.

Bottom line: if you are looking for a waterproof camera to take pictures in typical, surface-water type situations, spend the extra $100 and get the Sony TX5. And, if you want a camera for scuba-diving, either buy a scuba specific camera, or just get the additional water housing for a comparatively low price. At least Amazon let me return it!

So Cool, April 8, 2010
I have had this camera for only about a week and I love it! The pictures and movies are so clear. Also I cant wait to use the underwater feature on our next vacation. It also gives me some peace of mind knowing that it can be dropped from 5 ft and not be damaged. Their program you use on the computer is great too. So many awesome features!

Awesome little camera!, May 11, 2010
I just bought this camera at best buy in Miami on vacation. I took it to the beach multiple times, went snorkeling for a couple of hours, and use it for everyday shots. The pictures are crystal clear. The 720p HD video looks awesome, especially on your HD tv. No issues with this camera. No problems with hooking it up to the computer. Just plug it in and there it is. Charges fast. Takes a sd card for extra memory. I don't know what happened with these others peoples' cameras. Probably user error. Don't let the 1 star reviews scare you away.

All in all, great camera. Battery life was long. Took a ton pix at highest resolution, video, and editing on the camera, and it lasted all day. About the same size as my regular didital camera. Nice features. Best buy has it on sale for 269. Go for it

Good, just not perfect, April 26, 2010
Bought a 6020 while on a cruise ship "it was the best they had".
Pros:
Was delighted at the picture quality.. ability to zoom up and still maintain clarity with the image stabilization.
While in the formal dining room getting white balance accurate was a challenge with all of the red hues in the room.. buts thats true for my 600.00 sony too.
Movies are spectacular, while the screen shows good reproduction, its nothing like once you get it on your computer!
Very close shots while moving does cause some pixilation but the only way to solve that is to go from 720 to 1080 full HD and faster shutter speeds.

I took this camera down to maybe 15ft "possibly 20" with no leakage whatsoever. However the little lock switch is easily moved if careless and the door opens rather easy after that... "made me nervous!"

Cons:
The metal lens protector on the front will move and not bounce back to position if the camera is turned off.
This seems to be an issue with the 6020, and I found it to be true on 3 others "as I took mine back" and the lower models "6000 and below" didn't seem to do that.
The way to reproduce the problem is to take a towel or a slightly damp fingertip and gently sweep downward. The metal screen will move and stay in the mid position you leave it rather than bounce back up when released to assume it position to protect the screen.

Another issue which I'm not sure is an issue:.. when you zoom up or zoom back.. there is a funny sound emitted on playback.
I can't tell if its supposed to be there to indicate you are zooming, but if so.. thats a lame feature that should be removed.
I read a review of the 8010 and it had the same issue.

Last.... I wasn't able to find a details view of any picture or movie file to see the kb size.

I expected a 300.00 camera to not have the lens protector issue. They tried to downplay it.. but I figure if you need a protector, you need it.. if you don't, you don't.
And I believe this to be a bug with the 6020 since I didn't see it in the lesser models of they same brand.

The time mostly likely to need a lens protector is when the camera is off and not under your full attention, and thats when it malfunctions.

Arrived defective - had to send it back, September 25, 2010
First Olympus camera ever - got it for my daughter because of its toughness. Wouldn't boot up - very poor manual, no troubleshooting. Did not feel solid. Other things I noticed were although based on USB standard, the camera end of the connector is unusual/proprietary, so yet another cable you need to carry. Also, no external batter charger, so you have connect it with its door open to charge it - not ideal for keeping dust and dirt out of the waterproof compartment. Overall design and build not impressive.

I recently bought the Panasonic Lumix Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 14.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 4.6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 2.7-Inch LCD (Blue) for traveling, and will get my daughter the same. It is solid, well made and works great.

Exactly as advertised., July 26, 2010
Everything works exactly as it's advertised. 14MP produces sharp images, auto focus finds the right subject, waterproof (used it in fresh & salt water), movies work great (very minimal wind noise). Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Fujifilm FinePix XP10- 12MP, Fujinon 5x Periscopic Optical Zoom, 2.7" LCD, New uni-body chassis with a tactile grip finish, 4-Way Protection: Waterproof - 10ft (3M), Shockproof - 3ft (1M) and Freezeproof 14*F (-10*C).Other features include: Face Detection w/ Red Eye Removal, Digital Image Stabilization, High Sensitivity 1600 ISO, 6 Scene - SR Auto Automatic Scene Recognition, One-Touch HD Movie 720p w/ Sound, Thin Metal Body 21.7mm, Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Fujifilm FinePix XP10- 12MP, Fujinon 5x Periscopic Optical Zoom, 2.7" LCD, New uni-body chassis with a tactile grip finish, 4-Way Protection: Waterproof - 10ft (3M), Shockproof - 3ft (1M) and Freezeproof 14*F (-10*C).Other features include: Face Detection w/ Red Eye Removal, Digital Image Stabilization, High Sensitivity 1600 ISO, 6 Scene - SR Auto Automatic Scene Recognition, One-Touch HD Movie 720p w/ Sound, Thin Metal Body 21.7mm, Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Dirt, Snow, Rain, or Shine, capture all the action with the ultimate, all-terrain digital video camera! It's even WATERPROOF up to 3 meters with NO additional casing! With a new expanded 48 degree Field of Vies, the hands free digital video and audio captures all the thrill of your adventure in 640X480 VGA resolution (up to 30 frames per second) with the 32 MB internal memory (expandable to 2GB with built-in SD drive, 2G card not included). It's 3 button operation mode makes the ATC2K incredibly user friendly. This product comes standard with a carrying case, and mounting accessories, making it easy to connect the camera to helmets, bikes, and a wide array of other equipment. It also comes with both USB and RCA cables for quick, direct playback on either your PC or TV (NTSC). PC requirements: Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, OSX10.4 and below. ... Read more