Kodak Playsport Zx3 represents a big upgrade over last year’s Zx1 from Kodak, and it also poses a significant threat to the ultra compact camcorder market currently dominated by the Flip. Kodak Playsport Zx3 offers Full 1920 x 1080 HD video, 5-megapixel still image capability, HDMI-output, and an SD/SDHC card slot—oh yeah, it’s also waterproof (up to 3 meters).
Here are my Kodak playsport review. I was yarn-dye with the comfort of cognitive operation. I ragged less than a minute waiting at the manual. I popped a 16GB SDHC card in the camera (good for five hours of 720P recording) and went to town. The controls are intuitive and very easy to use. There are only seven buttons total on this camera. There’s one to turn it on/off. There’s one to put the camera in LiveView mode, there’s a video playback button, there’s a toggle switch wheel for zooming in and deepening recording modes, there’s the seizure button, a trash button and a menu button.
Kodak Playsport HD comes in black, blue and purple. It is smooth to handle thanks to a serious rubber outside border. There’s also a wrist strap and a tripod socket. They still hold in an HDMI cable so you can swipe the Playsport right up to your HD TV right out of the box. Very nice touch. A USB power cable is also admitted that doubles as a download cable so you can take images to your computer. The IS actually works. It’s electronic rather than optical so it only works to a point, but given the price of this unit I’m amazed it’s there at all.
This affordable and portable palm camcorder from Kodak strikes the right notes, but there is already fierce rival out there from other pocket oblations in the Creative Vado HD, Flip MinoHD et al. However in Kodak’s party favor the build premium feels better than both these competitors, and further elective accessories for going that extra mile with the low-priced and fun Zx3 come in the shape of handlebar and helmet mounts. Don’t require too a lot and you won’t be thwarted. So the Zx3 went past what we anticipated to find for its very fair price – and you can catch it out in the rain too.
