Objectified 06: Kodak Zi6

If you stalk me on other parts of the internet you might have noticed I’ve been doing some video for BoingBoing over recent months and I kinda dig it and want to do more of it for them, for metblogs, for myself and whoever else ends up being interested in such things. Anyway, I decided if I was going to be doing this I needed a camera that I could shoot it with easily. I have a Cannon TX1 which I’ve been using for years for still/video and it’s great except the video files are HUGE making it next to impossible to film something out in the world and FTP it somewhere else in a timely manor. I liked the ease of use on the Flip style cameras, but they had a lot of limitations that wouldn’t work for me. So the search was on.

My requirements:
1. Records in HD video so I have that option if I need it.
2. Relatively small file size of video it records.
3. Removable memory so I can shoot lots and lots if I need to.
4. Standard battery size so I don’t need to carry around a charger or batteries that work only in this.
5. Pocket sized, otherwise I won’t take it with me when I go out.
With all those factors in mind, I settled on the Kodak Zi6.

You can read all about it on Kodak’s products page and you can find them for under $100 on ebay if you are diligent but brand new they are just under $200 and well worth it. As far as my requirements – This shoots in HD, 60 fps HD (to allow for slow motion), VGA and takes stills as well. It records .mov files which are easily used by anyone and small on their own, as well as easily compressible. It uses SD cards up to 32GB as far I can tell which is hecka room for filming and is powered by AA batteries. I can’t tell you how awesome the battery thing is, as you are pretty sure that even if you don’t have an extra you can go to any shop and pick them up. Super easy when out recording stuff. Finally it’s small and the built in USB flip plug means there’s no extra cables and crap to lug around. Needless to say I’m a big fan and it was well worth the price. I decided against the Flip brand for pretty much all those reasons as well but built in memory and battery which means limited recording time and power were the killers. Your millage may vary (if you don’t care about that stuff, the white model of the 30-Min Flip is on crazy sale at Amazon right now). A video I shot with this, though with crappy YouTube compression, is after the jump.

I recommend clicking the high quality option BTW.