I will.

There were some complaints about the earliest firmware, and some think it's not as sharp at 720p as the Playsport. But everything from the Playsport on YT looks oversharpened to me with fringes. So I'm going to an outdoor mini graduation tomorrow and will let you know. Maybe post a clip later in the week. I know I'm going to like 720 60p for slomo.

Heck, it's a toy.

isn't all our (self-owned) hardware really 'toy's'?

(i mean if we were really serious we'd either be renting or working for a network in order to get our sweaty little paws on the really SERIOUS toys ;-))

i know, i know, but i like my toys too....

btw. does it do 50/25p?

btw. does it do 50/25p?

Apparently not. At first glance, it records everything at 30p or 60p, and the PAL setting outputs 25 fps through the hdmi or composite.
Maybe there's a Euro version (?)

apparently not... ;-(

I just bought a Playtouch this morning at a local Target. $106 including tax and they gave me a $10 gift card! I had (and loved) a Kodak Zi8 until the glass cover fell out of the lens assembly and I lost it. What I like most about this camera is that it has an external stereo mic input with DC bias power. Hopefully the quality is as good as the Zi8 was (which frankly was stunning within it's limitations).

laurence,
Since I never owned a zi8, I will eagerly await your subjective comparison.
Check your firmware version to be sure it is 1.18xxxxx

I have watched many tests on YT, and Playtouch looks better than zi8, but Playsport zx5 looks sharper (oversharpened IMO).

With a camera like this, the biggest single thing you can do to improve the quality is to screw a monopod onto the bottom of it. The monopod doesn't have to be extended or touching anything. The think that kills footage from these cameras is vertical shake, since that exaggerates the rolling shutter. A monopod will give it a little extra size and mass on this access and stop most of this. Of course that makes it a lot harder to stuff in your pocket...

I have Zi6's Zi8's and a Playtouch. The smaller sensor in the Playtouch just did not perform as well as the Zi8 did.

There is definitely less rolling shutter with the PlayTouch. I can use the 1080 mode with the PlayTouch handheld whereas with the Zi8 it drove me nuts unless it was on a tripod. I really like the touchscreen.

One negative thing about this sort of camera is that you have to be a good 4 feet away from your subject in order to get good focus. That is unless you use the macro setting which is good for up to maybe fifteen inches. Arms length pictures and video of yourself and your wife or kids is going to be soft in focus.

The Zi8 is going for $87.99 at Office Max down $10 from last week.

http://officemax.shoplocal.com/officemax/Default.aspx?action=entryflash&cm_re=rightrail-_-slot1-_-weekly%20ad%20banner&cm_sp=homepage-_-generic-_-weekly%20add%20bannner

I was going to pick one up but since I already have a PlaySport, 2 Xactis FH1A's, and my Panasonic TM700 so decided to pass. But this is still a good deal imho. I like the PlaySport size and decent quality for carrying around everywhere but has NO manual features so quality is decent but usable.

With retailers dropping prices like this, I suspect we're about to see a new model by Kodak soon. Wonder what it will have?

WRT laurence, we've all seen the $14 Steadycam on YT. Anyone know of a commercial product to stabilize these pocket camcorders? Reasonably priced?

screw on a monopod and leave it unextended. That or extend it down a little ways for a little lower center of gravity. Since the lttle bit of weight of the mini camera is centered above the tripod flange, that is really all you need.

"With a camera like this, the biggest single thing you can do to improve the quality is to screw a monopod onto the bottom of it."

I took a Sanyo HD2000 on a cruise to Alaska and kept it in my pocket always, but with a tiny flex-leg tripod attached - rather like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-Metal-Tripod-Digital-Camera-Sony-Canon-Nikon-/270657667428?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f04744164. I was please to find that usually there was a handrail, tree branch, large rock, or other object to which I could conform the legs to get the shot that I wanted.

The legs stuck out of my pocket a bit, but even so it was a huge improvement over trying to stabilize in post.

I shot my first tests on a tripod at a park today, and my four takeaway impressions are:
-- Edge sharpness and detail are better with DIS turned off, even when camera is stationary, and are much better on pans.
-- On-camera mic is especially sensitive to handling and tripod head noise. External mic is probably essential.
-- At 720 60p, pans are incredibly detailed and smooth. I saw little indication of rolling shutter distortion (except the parking lot stripes).
-- It's going to be good enough for my purposes and cheap enough to carry in the car. My first "inexpensive" mini DV cost over four times as much ($450). And like Leslie implied, I rent when I'm doing something serious.

Here's the best test from today (pardon my unsteady pan).
Right-click and "Save Link As":
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20519276/Kodak720p60.mp4

I picked up my second Kodak Zi8 from OfficeMax for $69.99 US. Now I have 3D capability. The one remote control I have turns on both at exactly the same time, to my amazement.

It doesn't pay to spend too much on one of these anyway. The Flip is a perfect example.

While it still dominates the market sales for these cameras the whole line was dropped in April by Cisco, the company that bought it from Pure Digital Technologies two years ago. They claimed it was because of competition from cell phones yet maintained their participation with the Flip fans on Facebook right up until they dropped the bomb on all of them.

With that in mind, Crutchfield has the PlayTouch online for $99 delivered with a free camera bag.

John

I recently tried the Zi8 as a static camera to get one scene of a play. It did look pretty goofy on a rather full sized tripod, but I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Since the video will be delivered as SD, I was able to crop the Zi8 video to better frame the actors as they moved. Well worth the $99US I paid for it at Christmas.

My one big complaint about the Zi8 is that it is totally useless outdoors in bright light unless you attach some sort of hood to the LCD screen.

RalphM

Well, after two visits to the store, a call to their local corporate office, and nearly an hour on hold with someone whose English was so bad I couldn't understand anyway and was eventually disconnected, I can confidently say I have made my last electronics purchase from Target, ever.

The touch screen on my Play Touch went bonkers this week. The brickwall response I got from everyone at Target was that it was past ninety days (116 actually.) If I had a dollar for every time I heard "We can't" from Target yesterday, I would have enough to buy a new Play Touch.

Trouble is, I resold Kodak retail products for years, and I know they accept warranty returns from retailers past ninety days, usually up to one year. So Target's rigid, pre-emptive return policy locks the gate on people with legitimate returns, and very little else. I think it's called "blowing smoke."

I'm getting an RMA from Kodak, and I'm confident they will repair or replace the camera. In the meantime, my intention of buying a bigscreen panel locally from Target has been deferred, indefinitely. What if I set it up and it went bonkers during the thirteenth week?

Point is, if a retailer is unwilling to resolve a normal return locally and with respect for the customer, they will not get my future business.

musicvid,

Got a Costco near you? They have the best return policy I've ever experienced.

A few years ago I bought an inflatable boat ($1700) from Costco. Shortly after I received it, it developed a leak in the inflatable floor. I went to the manufacturer who replaced the floor. A year later the floor leaked again. This time I called Costco to complain. I was hoping to get maybe half off on a replacement, but they said, "Bring it back to the store and you'll get a full refund!" Whadda store!

...Jerry