I’m working on the first draft of an update of a white paper I wrote years ago. I will be crowdsourcing the edits on it. As soon as the first draft is up it will be posted here for download.
Also I am working on another special project that is alluded to in the tags section of this blog. Stay tuned and hopefully I’ll have pictures and other things here. I would love help with that as well once it’s up and running as to ideas to improve it all.
At the time of this post the semester is about to start for UTD and the first time for a graduate video class in ATEC.
It seems by popular request a camera review for small cameras is needed.
Well it seems there is a new category of cameras flooding the market; small pocket ones all started by CVS pharmacy.
CVS, really? Yes, really. CVS had a disposable camcorder just like a disposable still camera you turn it back in and get a DVD back. It turns out that the little sticker was just hiding a standard Palm IIIe connector. When connected the camera would mount as a drive and you could see the .AVI files. clear the memory and you’re good to go again.
So what is available in the market now? A lot of different devices and to cover them all I’m not so sure if I know of all. In that case I’ll get what I know of in the max price range of $300 or so and try and stay in the same form factor.
So the list I cover in this post.
Flip Minio SD and HD flavors
Creative Vado SD and HD
Kodak Zi6
DXG 579V
Sanyo Xacti
The Flip
This form factor and style of camcorder may look and sound familiar. The new Flip Minio camcorders are the same cameras as the ones I mention in my little story of CVS. These cameras have good quality and good audio for what they are. The software is pretty bug free and seems to be a good standard video device before moving to something larger than pocket size.
Since it’s one of the originals it’s picked up a good following and quite a fan base. The other big thing that the flip seems to have hit is the perfect price point to make it a good camera as a stop gap between the cellphone and a standard camcorder. Something to allow those spur of the moment videos for youtube.
Pros:
The quality is good for what it is and has great audio for what it is. The functions are easy to use and very simple.
Cons:
Personally I think the price is TOO high for what it offers. I would rather this camera come down in price since it is a repackaged disposable camera.
The memory is limited to on-board storage so once you run out there are limited options.
Final Thoughts:
It’s a good camera and deserves some of the praise it gets; however, there are better cameras out in the market right now.
Creative Vado
This one is the same as the Flip just Creative Lab’s take on the camera. The software on it is different and no harder or easier to use than the Flip. The files the Vado produces are not natively compatible with a Mac.
A camera should be natively compatible with the two consumer friendly operating systems. More and more people are using Macs this should be normal for a large manufacturer to support Apple. Linux or Unix I don’t expect only because people tend to write their own drivers and it’s not an O\S that is used for cases in which this camera would normally be used.
Pros:
As with the Flip it’s a good easy to use small camera that has simple features and is robust.
The outputs include HDMI which of the three is the only one.
Cons:
Not OS friendly only seems to work natively on a PC. Not easily useable on Mac or iLife (specifically iMovie ’08)
The memory is limited as with the Flip and only comes in 8GB.
The highest price tag of the three but of the bunch in the middle.
Final Thoughts:
If you’re exclusively on a PC or want an hard to use a camera with a high price tag then this is a good bet. I’d pick the Flip over the Vado. This is not my favorite pick but it is a good camera.
Kodak Zi6
The cookie cutter is starting to get dull at this point. This writer is also getting to the end of his thesaurus to describe the same camera again. The only different thing again is the software and how the camera records.
The Zi6 breaks from the mold in that it records in .MOV format natively which is easily handled by Mac and PC. The other big mold breaker is the Zi6 records to SD cards and only has 128MB of on board memory.
That’s all I have to say on this camera the rest is the same as the Flip and the Vado for the most part.
Pros:
It takes SD card instead of having limited memory. Records in .mov format easy to use on both OS world.
Cons:
A bit pricey and as mentioned with the other two limited functionality.
DXG 579V
So is a completely different camera from the Flip style cookie cutter.
Main thing is these both have a different form factor and have a nicer bigger LCD panel to see what is being recorded.
The DXG also has a lot off different features and recording formats available to it. Allowing you to record in 60,30 and 24 fps and in progressive or interlaced format.
The still camera functionality is also decent.
Quality wise the DXG is impressive also it has other features besides video it has a voice record function to allow you to use the camera as a simple voice recorder just for audio.
The biggest other option is that this offers an optical zoom (2x). The Flip style cameras don’t seem to offer great zoom functions at all. You even have lots of add options to add zoom lenses and such.
Pros:
It takes all SD cards including SDHC which are the 8GB and higher cards.
There is a zoom feature to zoom in and out allowing for dynamic shots.
Cons:
Needs better battery life but it is a standard AAA battery so its not a complete loss.
Needs better documentation though the camera is straight forward to use.
Sanyo Xacti
Finally my favorite next to the DXG. This camera line has it all and can do it all. The form factor is the same as the DXG camera though it is more ergonomically friendly. The Xacti comes with hi speed frame rate possibilities at up to 60 fps progressive.
The optical zoom on this thing is pretty good it’s up to 10x and has the ability for a digital zoom as well.
This is also a full featured camcorder offering the same functions as the Canon Vixia in that it does full 1080p HD and it can output HDMI, audio through headphones and record to SDHC card of up to 32GB.
Pros:
Full featured it has everything; including zoom feature interchangeable memory cards and rechargeable battery.
Cons:
Price is a bit high; but for the quality you are getting it is well justified. It could use a microphone line in though.
Final thoughts:
Of all the cameras this one is my favorite next to the DXG. The price is a bit steep for this kind of camera but it is feature packed and has won many experts over and rightfully so.
So you’ve gotten my full review of all the cameras; again I write this as an educated opinion on interactions with the cameras. This is only here to help make a decision of all of the cameras that all look and feel the same on the market right now.
I have included a little more in depth explanation of what a sensor does and how it works in the link below of a .pdf file you can download.
This Post as a .pdf file (may be easier to read)
Later Days,
###
So I’m sitting here thinking about what’s going on around me and I’ve realized I’m too broke to have a girlfriend but at the same time I’m not. I’m in the right spot to have a couple of dates and start sorting things out from there. Now the only thing is every girl that is amazing or at least has the quality of being a cutie pie and also has a great mind is taken. So I pose this to you… for all the girls that complain there are just as many guys wondering. C’mon every one let’s find each other.
this is dedicated to the talented A.C. I met this weekend.
Later Days,
insomnia and all that jazz... 