Kodak Zi6 Camcorder Review

by David Kender
Published on Oct 12, 2008 5:00 PM

 
Intro Performance
Format Auto / Manual Controls
Still Features Handling and Use
Audio / Playback / Connectivity
 Other Features
Conclusion & Comparisons Photo Gallery
Specs and Ratings


Audio (3.0)
The audio options on the Kodak Zi6 are laughable. On the front of the camcorder, under the lens, is a tiny grille concealing a mono microphone. The mic has a very small range and is meant only to record audio in the most limited manner. Because YouTube tends to compress the audio so terribly, anyway, it's arguable that this is no great loss. However, Kodak made the Zi6 a high definition camcorder, which means that you'll likely want to plug it into your HDTV. When you do, be prepared for some disappointing audio results.

Playback (3.75)
The playing back of clips on the Kodak Zi6 is remarkably simple, just like everything else on this camcorder. To enter playback mode, press the button to the right of the joystick. The LCD screen fills with a frozen frame of your last video clip. To shift from clip to clip, move the joystick left and right. Numbers appear at the bottom of the screen to tell you which clip you're looking at, and how many total clips there are (i.e. "5/20" means this is the fifth clip out of twenty total).

You can fast forward and rewind by pushing and holding the joystick left and right. To delete clips, push the only other button, the one to the left of the joystick.

That's it. There are no options to edit within the camcorder.

Connectivity (5.0)
The Kodak Zi6 has three ports onboard. The easiest to spot is the pop-up USB arm, which springs out from the left side. The implementation of this design is no doubt eye-catching, but potentially weak. Moving parts break first. The USB arm extension has not one, but two types of movement. The arm is spring loaded to pop out at a 90-degree angle from the body when you push the release button. But the arm itself is broken into two segments, the metal USB connection point and an outer sleeve into which it retreats. When you push the arm in towards the body, an internal spring pulls the metal part back into the sleeve automatically. It looks cool, but it will probably break before anything else does. The Flip Mino has a similar movement, but it feels sturdier, if only by a little.

All ports are on the left side. The USB arm extended.
The metal connection point retreats
into the plastic sleeve automatically.		 The tether on this port cover is
waiting to snap off.


Below USB arm are two 1/8th-inch jacks, one for composite A/V-out, and one for component video-out. The former is for standard definition, and the latter for high definition. There is no HDMI jack for a purely digital interface with your TV.



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