Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera, Refurbished (Black)

In 4 days and for less than ninety bucks I got this beautiful little hd cam in my hands and I haven't regretted a thing about it. It may not be the hip mino hd that all the youtube kids are using, and it doesn't have the abillity to charge by usb, but it takes great images, it runs on rechargeable AA batteries and is the size of most smartphones. I'd rather feel one of these in my pocket than a metallic candy bar (mino)! Also I prefer being able to drop in AA batteries on the fly, than having to hunt down a usb port to hang my camera off of for an hour or so. The same goes for the card slot memory which keeps me virtually unlimited on how much recording time I need. I scored a couple of 4gb lexar cards for under $10 so overall i'm still spending less than I would have on another pocket cam. And as for this being a 720p only cam: I mounted it in my car and shot my drive over to best buy. Once there I used the included hd av cable to plug in to one of the hd tv's and gathered a small crowd of onlookers. It looked fantastic!

Was leery about a refurb item. It came in a Kodak camera box (some other digital camera box) that had me concerned when I first opened it. I picked up a 16gb SD to run in this. If you understand the limitations of this it is a nice setup for quick video shots. Now some type of anti shake would be great, but it does not have this, so you have to keep it close to you and minimize the urge to wave it around when filming. The Kodak software works great for DVD transfer, but when you run the MOV's on the PC with this software it appears to speed up the the movement of the people. Not too many other devices at this point though that you can stick in a pocket or pack and pull out and start taking decent video with sound.

Three months ago I held Kodak products in reasonably high regard and I was excited to have purchased my Zi6. As of today, I will never by any Kodak product again. Here's the story...

Early May 2009: Purchase a brand new Zi6 video recorder.

Late May 2009: Take Zi6 on vacation. Upon returning home, I discover that there are several bad (hot) pixels that light up like X-mas lights in the videos I take and are terribly evident in moderate to low-light conditions. Although disappointed, I realize that issues like these can be mapped out in software/firmware and plan to contact Kodak to have it serviced.

Early June 2009: I contact Kodak to provide me software to map out the bad pixels; they indicate that they do not offer end users the ability to map out pixels themselves. I ask the online rep to assign me an RMA number to have the bad pixels mapped out; they indicate that I should go to their main support page and use the automated services there. I go to the automated page and there is no category for bad pixels. I have to contact a rep (again) to request an RMA; finally I am sent the information after some toil.

Early June 2009: I send out the Zi6 for service to one of Kodak's subcontractors. I include the actual pixel location areas in my documentation that went out with the unit (no ambiguity here... I want bad pixels mapped out. Period.)

Late June 2009: I receive my Zi6 back and the service memo indication is that the unit was "calibrated"; I was suspicious as to why it was recalibrated and no mention of pixel remapping. I take the Zi6 on a mini-vacation over a weekend. Upon returning home, I discover that the bad pixels are still there.

Late June/Early July 2009: I contact Kodak again and complain that the unit was not repaired as I wanted; the bad pixels were not remapped. I explicitly request that the service request indicate that I want bad pixels mapped out and the rep writes it up that way. I package up the unit and send it off to the same Kodak service contractor (Precision Camera) in CT with documentation indicating where the bad pixels are located and again emphasize that I want pixel remapping service.

Late July 2009: I receive the unit back a second time and the service memo indicates the was issue and the unit checked out; I cringed that nothing was done again.

Early August 2009: I went on a late summer vacation trip and took the Zi6 along to try taking more videos (oh yeah, I took a spare camera too as my trust in Kodak had already been heading South).

Early/Mid August 2009: I review the vacation video taken with the Zi6 and yes, the bad pixels again had not been repaired by Kodak or its service subcontractor.

Mid August 2009: I contact Kodak one final time and rehash all the trouble they've put me through and the fact that they don't listen to their customers. For three months all I wanted was to have the bad pixels mapped out of the unit and instead got a huge runaround. Kodak's final reply... the unit checked out okay with the service company. (Did I mention they don't listen to their customers?)

Buyer beware if you plan to purchase a Zi6 or any Kodak product based on this experience. My opinion is that they just don't care about their customers, their service repair providers are a joke, and they don't stand behind their own products or warranties.

If you have a functioning Zi6 and enjoy it, then good for you. I'll never buy Kodak again after this waste of time and money.

So far I am impressed with this camera. The only thing I have seen that I would change is the fact that the setting for HD60 frames per second cannot be set as a default setting. I have a friend that will be taking this camera on a trip to Africa and then we will really see how it performs.

I like the camera and the features. Sharp picures and video. Decent digital zoom. A little jumpy so you have to really try and hold your hand as steady as possible and be as smooth as possible with your moves. My only real complaint is for the sound. A subject about 5' away speaking in a normal voice is barely audible. Not sure if there is something wrong or just a problem in general with this camera. Considering the price, this is a great deal for a go anywhere camera. I also like the software that comes with it. Easy to install and use. Seems fairly intuitive although I have not used it extensively. I was quickly able (on my first try) to take a video, import it and make a snapshot from one of the frames and send it on it's merry way in less than 5 minutes having never even so much as opened the software. Need to figure out the sound..... otherwise it would have gotten 5 stars. I feel like I'm almost watching a silent movie.