Kodak PlayTouch

The PlaySport has barely had time to get its feet wet but Kodak has already come up with a replacement pocket camcorder! Although it's not waterproof, the PlayTouch it has plenty of interesting new features that should please users looking for a functional camcorder for under £200.

Handling

The PlayTouch looks and handles more like a smartphone than a classic camcorder. It has an impressive 3-inch LCD that can be used horizontally in playback mode for more comfortable viewing. This may not be anything new in the world of smartphones but it's the first time we've seen it in a pocket camcorder. The screen is also now entirely touch-sensitive, but it can take a little getting used to as there's a slight lag between what you press and what the camera does. Once you get the hang of it you'll find it works quite well, and you can scroll through your video collection by sweeping a finger across the screen like on an iPhone. The only physical buttons are the on/off button and the record button. To play back clips, zoom in on a photo or adjust settings in the menu, you have to use the touchscreen. The menu features much more options than Kodak's previous pocket camcorder as you can now choose the video resolution, use a face detection function, adjust the brightness of the screen and apply a selection of fun effects (saturated colours, 70s-style film, black & white). The screen also has an anti-glare function but, to be honest, we couldn't see any difference with it switched on or off when standing next to the window.

You can upload videos to Facebook or YouTube directly from the Kodak PlayTouch—just press the 'Share' button in the corner of the video, then the camcorder will automatically send it to the site of your choice (Facebook, YouTube, FlickR etc.) via the pre-loaded software as soon as you hook it up to a PC. That means you don't have to sort through all your videos and then upload them individually to each and every site.

Kodak has equipped the PlayTouch with plenty of connections. There's an HDMI output (cable supplied), an A/V output and, more unusually, a microphone/headphones socket. A USB connector is built into the camcorder body and the PlayTouch records to SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards as it has no internal flash memory (apart from the default 128 MB). You'll therefore need a card of at least 16 GB or even 32 GB (class 6) to get started with this camcorder. The PlayTouch same cable is used for both thanks to the handy adapter supplied.

Video Quality

There are four video resolutions to choose from in the PlayTouch: 1080/25p (1920 x 1080 pixels), 720/60p (1280 x 720 pixels at 60 fps), 720/30p and WVGA (848 x 480 pixels). It can also take 5-Megapixel photos. You're therefore rather spoilt for choice! The 1080p mode obviously offers the sharpest image, but as the focal length varies in relation to resolution, the 1080p mode only has a focal length of 44 mm (24 x 36 equivalent), whereas in 720p mode there's a genuine wide angle of 33 mm. The difference is clearly visible in the two frames below.

Filming the same scene: 1080p video mode on the left (44mm) and 720p mode on the right (33 mm)

This varying field of view is seen in other pocket camcorders, such as Kodak's PlaySport and the Sony Bloggie, and is caused by the image sensor being used to varying extents when capturing different resolution images. We would recommend the 1080p mode for anyone who wants to watch their videos back on a Full HD TV and the 720p mode for users who are more interested in sharing videos online, as the 720/60p mode is perfectly smooth, even in videos of sports events or other fast action scenes.

It's not surprising to see that the PlayTouch has a fairly poor sensitivity as its lens is tiny. There's quite a lot of noise in videos shot in low-light conditions but it's not quite as bad as the Flip MinoHD 2. Note that you can flip a switch to film or take photos in macro mode, and that the PlayTouch has a digital image stabiliser that's pretty much useless since there's no optical zoom.

On the whole, the Kodak PlayTouch is a good pocket camcorder that's definitely one step ahead of the competition!