Kodak Zi8: an ultracompact HD camcorder - anti-nano?

At its last press conference Apple boasted that it would bury small camcorders with its new nano. It was an amusing, provocative not altogether serious claim. If any doubts persisted, the Zi8 is here to turn the clock back to zero. This mini Zi8 films at 1920 x 1080 pixels, 30 fps; the iPod nano at 640 x 480.

Kodak Zi8 Find the best price

Another difference: the Zi8 can also take photos, the nano can’t. But let’s stop our comparison here. The Zi8 doesn’t play music either!

The basics

The idea behind the Zi8 is to make the camcorder as simple as possible. Anyone is supposed to be able to work out how to use it within seconds, without having to open the manual. You hold it and film with one hand, the 2.5'' screen at the back showing the scene being filmed. Just one button is used to start recording or to view the last sequence filmed. An HDMI socket allows you to link the camcorder directly to your television.

Kodak has integrated an image stabilizer. The Zi8 is just 11 cm high, 6 cm wide and 2 cm thick; it weighs just 110 grams (no more than a light mobile phone then).

The problem: the Zi8 accepts SD memory cards (up to 32 GB) to extend its 128 MB of internal space. How small is that! The camcorder might be cheap, but you’ll have to buy an SD card with it.

Product survey: camcorders

 

Here’s an interesting little video we found online made with the Zi8: