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5 Responses to “Kodak PlaySport HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera NEWEST MODEL”

• 

  Maria Diaz says:

  May 11, 2010 at 9:55 pm

  New Kodak Playsport out of the box did not charge.

  I connect the cable and in about a minute the light goes off as if it has fully charged but it has not. It did this while plugged in to USB or to the wall outlet. I could not isolate if it was a bad camera or battery because it does not come with an external battery charger, only the USB charger cable (which charges the battery inside the camera.

  Kodak’s “support” was horrendous. I only got emails copying the exact same instructions from the camera’s manual (which of course did not help).

  Amazon’s Support is second to none. I got a new camera in the mail the next day (and had 30 days to return the damaged one).

  The New camera charges correctly.

  PLUS POINTS:

  - Very nice form factor – fits very nicely in the hand and the controls are comfortable to operate. Also fits very well in jean’s front pocket.
  
  - Good build – Feels sturdy.
  
  - The video editing software is very simple, easy to use and does what is needed.

  MINUS POINTS:

  - Have to go through the menu to take still shots. (The Xacti’s take pictures while you are recording video if you like).
  
  - No external battery charger. Would be great to charge a second battery while using the camera.
  
  - Video quality was not as good as I expected.
  
  - No flash for still shots. (This was surprising).
  
  - Low light video quality is not as good as advertised.
  
  - No Macro.
  
  - Kodak’s support is awful. It was like trying to have a conversation with email Bots.

  I also own the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 (also water proof), and the Xacti has much better video and jpg picture quality. This Kodak looked so much easier to carry and use that I wanted to get it. Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Digital Camcorder and 8 MP Digital Camera (Blue)

  Bottom line: If I did not own the Xacti to compare this one with, I probably would not have missed so many features and maybe would have liked this camera more. I had high hopes for this camera and it let me down.

  Durability: ***** (5)
  
  Ease of use: **** (4)
  
  Jpeg quality: ** (2)
  
  Video quality: **** (4)
  
  Low light video qual: *** (3)
  
  Kodak Customer Support: * (1)

  If the video quality had been as good as its form factor, it would be a great camera.

  Rating: 3 / 5
• 

  Johnny Succo says:

  May 11, 2010 at 11:55 pm

  I often use this little camcorder to film myself in the shower. It works great. I couldn’t be happier.
  Rating: 5 / 5
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  Danno says:

  May 12, 2010 at 1:05 am

  First, the camera itself is fantastic — real easy to use and handle, seemed to make quality HD video, perfect size, awesome mike. The problem is with the software. When I connected the camera to my laptop (PC running Windows Vista), the new USB drive would appear, then disappear, then appear, then disappear, over and over again. The issue was not with the USB cord because it had no problem charging. Also, the issue was not with the computer; it did the same thing on other PC’s. The software is busted.

  I exchanged the camera twice, and all three cameras had the same problem. Arcsoft, the software company, has done nothing to resolve the problem. The Arcsoft message boards are filled with people having problems with their Kodak cameras, desperate for information or help and receiving no solutions or acknowledgement from the company. After three tries, I gave up and got my money back.

  So why one star? An amazing camera is pretty useless when you can’t transfer the video to computer and watch it.
  Rating: 1 / 5
• 

  M. Hindin says:

  May 12, 2010 at 3:49 am

  There is no BLACK version:

  I bought a black version of this camera, well the heading said it was black.
  
  If you order the camera in [Black] it will arrive in white. They don’t make a black one. The side with the lens will be an off black color more like a gray and the front will be white with fake printed water drops on it. It looks like a little kids toy camera.

  The Flaw I experienced:

  Recording at 1080p made my camera skip frames every time. I was recording onto a brand new SD card that was a class 10 speed! That’s the fastest and newest memory card technology out so it was not the cards fault. Instead of the video lagging it just skipped the frames altogether.

  The lens is always exposed:

  There’s nothing that covers up the lens after you turn off the camera. There are no covers or add-ons to buy. Your lens will be scratched up and dusty in no time. You will have to check your lens every time to make sure no dust, dirt, sand or hair is on it before you record.

  Video Recording Format:

  The camera records in QuickTime format! I’m an encoder and I try to avoid QuickTime format whenever I can. I feel it is the absolute worst format a video camera should record in. I was extremely disappointed with this poor format choice. You need a good video card to play 1080p QucikTime format! My 256MB graphics card had trouble playing it. If you would like to put your recorded footage to DVD it will have to convert the QuickTime format to either Mpeg or Vob format. It’s an extra time consuming step. You may need to buy a converter program and that’s extra money.

  Video Quality:

  The quality is above what I expected. The quality was good but not great. The quality of the colors were amazing though! It recorded like a top quality 3ccd lens when it came to the colors. It’s probably the only thing they did right when making this camera. If the quality was increased then maybe I’d see the imperfections of the colors though. I saw lots of little blocky video even at the highest quality recording settings but for the money it takes nice quality video. When it comes to low light areas the camera will record it as pitch black. Most cameras will be better then this one when it comes to low light conditions.

  Picture Quality:
  
  The picture quality is great! both quality and color. But that’s only if you are in a perfectly lit place with equal lighting. If there is too much shade or too much sun the picture will be horrible. Remember there is no flash on this camera so pictures with low light conditions will not look so nice.

  Sound Quality:

  The camera picked up sound fine. Sounds were clear and the pitches were correct.

  Extra Notes:
  
  With recording out of the water I heard the motor running and the camera vibrates a bit. The camera is working really hard and gets hot very quickly when in record mode.

  Don’t miss-hold the camera in the water. If you do I could see the battery, sd card, usb and hdmi doors popping open for sure and then the camera will be ruined along with your memory card.

  Conclusion:

  The camera is cheep. It’s their first model and there are always glitches and things that will be changed from the first version so if you can wait try holding out for another year until they get all the bugs worked out. I have high expectations for the next few versions of this camera.

  Overall the quality is above what I expected but they need to figure out how to make this camera not skip frames and work better with memory cards and formatting. If this video camera had something that covered the lens when not in use and if it recorded in mpeg2, did not skip frames and the quality was just a bit better it would be an amazing camera.

  I have to return this because of the frame loss recording at 1080p and the fact that it records in QuickTime Format that makes it extremely hard to put to DVD.
  
  Rating: 2 / 5
• 

  Mark Richards says:

  May 12, 2010 at 6:05 am

  The battery would not charge right out of the box. Kodak refused to replace it, instead wanted me to send it in for repair that would take 7-10 business days. For a brand new item that NEVER worked, I thought that was ridiculous. I am returning it, and will buy something better, like maybe the new flip camera coming out.
  Rating: 1 / 5