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May 1, 2009

Kodak Zx1 review

Product Code: 718413583

The Kodak Zx1 is a welcome new weather-resistant addition to the HD pocket camcorder realm.

The Kodak ZX1 closely resembles the Creative Vado HD and, with its metalised front, reminded us of the company’s Zen Micro MP3 players. Its red-on-black colouring, meanwhile, reminds us of props from Disney’s ‘Tron’ film.

More importantly, the Kodak ZX1 is an admirably compact camcorder – approximately a third smaller than the Kodak Zi6 – that tapers down to the bottom and fits naturally into a pocket. We took it on a fairly hectic cycle ride, through forests and down steep hills, where it had no problem capturing our descent. It’s not great at zooming though.

At 90g, the Kodak isn’t much of a burden. But, as with the Flip Video MinoHD, it’s slow to fire up and we occasionally found it didn’t want to switch on, causing us to miss the odd interesting bit of action.

We preferred the ZX1’s rubber casing to the scratch-prone examples found on several of its rivals. Kodak claims this casing makes the Kodak ZX1 weather-resistant, which is good news given the track record of the British summer.

The Kodak ZX1 has a 2in LCD screen and snags 1,280x720 footage at 30fps or 60fps. You can then view the results on an HD screen, thanks to the provision of an HDMI output alongside USB. You also get an AV connection and the cable to hook it up this way.

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What we liked far less was that the Kodak ZX1 doesn’t really come with any internal memory. You can record approximately 15 secs before having to resort to an SD or SDHC Card. We were also surprised to find AA batteries powering this camcorder, which make it significantly heavier than the svelte Vado and Flip.

Unlike some of the other contenders, the ZX1 can take 3Mp stills as well as standard-definition and HD footage. The footage you end up with offers pretty good approximation, with colours turning out fairly natural and not too much overexposure.

NEXT PAGE: our original review, from April 2009

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Independent customer reviews from

Kodak Zx1 scored:
8.8 out of 10 100% real reviews

The 2 most helpful reviews based on 7 reviews:

19 Jul 2009 Roger, Fowey

10

Good Points

Brilliant image quality, light and easy to use

Bad Points

None

24 Jul 2009 Owen, Walsall

10

Good Points

Superb value, very light weight, very quick

Bad Points

No pause feature.

See more Kodak Zx1 reviews on Reevoo.com

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Kodak Zx1

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