Comments on: Kodak Zx1 First Impressions

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:40:03 +0000

Personally I like having a separate device for personal video recording, as all experiences with multi-purpose phones are less than enjoyable.

By: Jorge

Jorge — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:53:41 +0000

There is a mobile phone that has HD video recording, the Samsung Omnia HD

By: Lynx

Lynx — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:39:58 +0000

Do you know if any configuration is needed in GNU/Linux ?
(p.e. Ubuntu)

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sat, 02 May 2009 22:51:44 +0000

I really want one of these… but does it take regular pictures? I’ve read many reviews and nothing found that mentioned still capture quality, or provided any samples (or right out stated whether or not it has this function). I’m sorry if it’s a stupid question, but I really would like to know!

Thanks in advance.

By: John

John — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:19:16 +0000

Ryan – the lenses come with metal rings that have thin double sided tape already on them….you just peel and stick. The lens then connects to that ring via the magnet on the lens itself (which is glued onto the back of the lens).

Both a great cameras….it boils down to do you want smaller/weatherproof or do you want a bigger screen/macro option. The lenses will work with either camera.

As I’ve said before, if I could do it again, I’d buy the Zx1 over the Zi6 simply because of the form factor but that’s just me.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:56:50 +0000

Hey John,
I’ve really enjoyed your posts about using different lenses with the cameras, so thank you :). Because the face of this device is not magnetic, I am curious as to how difficult it would be to attach a ring to the face as you suggested? Glue? Any more theoretical yet specific advice would be helpful. I am interested in either the Zi6 or the Zx1 but buying the former seems like a bad decision with the big brother present.

Thanks again

By: John

John — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:56:29 +0000

I haven’t really noticed any difference in the sound between the two cameras…but I haven’t actually done any kind of comparison. It’s been pretty rainy here for the last while but if the sun does come out, I’ll try a shot with both at the sun. The Zx1 has been confirmed by Kodak reps that it is just a repackaged Zi6 as I suspected…I haven’t really noticed anything significant between them from a video quality standpoint. The firmware update on the Zi6 certainly improved things but it’s still not the same firmware as the Zx1 so the eV gain could be one of the differences. It can be hard to tell unless you view the source clips from the cameras since putting them on the web always introduces some kind of loss.

By: du BoisPerdu

du BoisPerdu — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:19:00 +0000

hi John,
nice site and greatly appreciative of your wide/fisheye tips on vimeo. Real reason I write: have u seen the latest post on vimeo comparison Zi6/Zx1. The sound qual on the Zx1 is noticebly deficient… have you compared the two? Also, in one shot, the sun saturates the two cams and the the old Zi6 handles this much more successfully. Makes me wonder if they’e just upped the eV gain on the newer model to give the impression the lo-lite performance is better.
Just some thoughts!…

By: John

John — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:52:16 +0000

Paul: I think all the videos I’ve shot have been at 60fps….and with the exception of the low light test, all were straight from camera to Youtube.

By: paul

paul — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 07:08:48 +0000

hi John, i checked again on my linux box and it’s a lot smoother. so i guess it was just my vista box at work. were the movies that you uploaded on youtube straight off the camera? and were you filming in 60 fps or 30 fps? thanks again for the reviews.

By: John

John — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:38:48 +0000

Yes, the fisheye and wide angle lenses I have work fine with the Zx1 since the lens opening is the same size as the Zi6…but to use them effectively, you have to attach a small metal ring to the camera so they can stay magnetically attached. Since this is a loaner camera, I won’t be attaching the lenses to them…but I really want to.

By: Bento

Bento — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:35:00 +0000

Great Review. All the early reviews I’ve seen so far don’t have any video clips. Nice work. First low light videos I’ve seen and it looks alright…praise Jeebus.

Just out of curiosity. Do the little lenses you played with on the Zi6 work on the Zx1? They look pretty cool.

By: John

John — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:37:30 +0000

I posted a low light test video...I never noticed the high pitched audio on the Zi6 until you mentioned it and I shot the low light videos...the Zx1 is definitely quieter in that respect.

By: carl

carl — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:04:10 +0000

Great review! I’m pretty much sold on this over the Flip. There are a few key points though that you have yet to cover. Those being that annoying high pitched hum that can be heard in most Zi6 videos. Then, the low light situation.

Looking forward to more!

By: John

John — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:34:57 +0000

It could be your machine…the video is pretty smooth for me. My work PC (XP) had choppy issues but my MacBook Pro played it back fine.

By: paul

paul — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:29:28 +0000

thanks for the review. is it me or is it a little choppy? i saw your youtube videos and thought it might’ve been youtube. but i downloaded the esplanade.mov file and watched it on youtube and the van seems to be teleporting up the street? have you noticed the same thing on your machine?

By: jonathan daly

jonathan daly — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:56:55 +0000

nice review, would be interested to see any low light samples or opinions on that supposed improvement. Otherwise perhaps the lack of macro is too much of a tradeoff for being splashproof..