Kodak - Playsport ZX5 (Generation 2) 1080p HD Flash Memory Camcorder - Black

We purchased this camera because of its underwater capability (up to 3m) and use it during our Hawaiian vacation to film our snorkling excursions. It did great in filming land scenes during a variety of activities and the features and quality of video is outstanding. However, once I got it into the water, to film some great looking fish along a shallow reef, the camera froze up! None of the buttons would work and the camera would not turn off even after rinsing thoroughly in fresh water per the instructions. I noticed that the LCD display was discolored due to the seepage of moisture and the camera lens had water droplets condensed all over it. The camera also got very hot at this time. I opened the SDHC memory card door to get the flash card out and when I blew into it, a spray of water blew back onto my face. I finally got the camera to turn off by pressing the "reset" button per instructions found in the manual. It took over 24 hrs to evaporate all the water in the camera and return the LCD display to normal coloration. I was disconcerted by the fact that the user's manual anticipates this water leakage and gives trouble-shooting instructions on what to do--but that did not work! When I put the charger on the camera it again would not turn off unless I pressed the reset button. Also, the latch on the memory card door will now not close and is stuck in the open position. I went online and discovered that these symptoms are common to this camera (e.g., refer to reviews under "black" version of this camera). The camera is useless now and my only hope is to buy a separate memory card reader to extract the approximate 4 hrs of land video and still pics that are on the Class 10, 32GB memory card. If this does not work, then all our vacation activities (which included a helicoper tour, zip lining and sight seeing to beaches and the volcanoe) will be lost. By the way, our son bought the same camera and took it to Maui for their 10th wedding anniversay and the same exact thing happened to him: fine on land but once in the salt water the camera froze up. Fortunately, we were able to tell them what happened so they took HD video camera back-up with them (we did not). Do not buy this camera unless you intend to use it ONLY for filming HD on land for which it performs extremely well. The fair rating is primarily because this camera cannot be used for its advertised underwater use. Very disappointing and frustrating for a Kodak product. We are returning ours for a refund.

I was pretty reluctant to purchase this camera after all of the negative reviews, but I'm happy I did. I wanted something besides my Nikon to document my trip to Thailand, but was on a budget after the plane ticket and so on. I knew that I wasn't buying something that I could make a blockbuster motion picture with, but the videos I've been taking are pretty darn cool! Basically, I'm using this little camera to get close proximatey footage and self shots. I've been extending one arm, holding the camera, and talking to it while I'm doing stuff. I've used a little 'bendy' tripod with it too, so I can set it a few feet away and film things such as, eating meals, talking with people, ect. Another thing about this camera is that it kind of looks like a cell phone, so its not too invasive when I'm walking through crowded areas. I'm sure I look funny walking through outdoor markets talking to a cell phone looking thing, arm extended, but I'm getting the footage that I want. I haven't taken into the water. Earlier this year, I managed to dump it in a river while paddling in my kayak. I had my Canon digital camera and Blackberry with me. Long story short, niether worked that same after that. The point is, unless its specifically made for underwater use, or you have some sort of underwater encasement like Go Pro makes, you might want to think twice about intentionally taking any electronics in the water with you, no matter what the box says. I found that there is one negative with the Play Sport, since it has its own internal battery, you have to be by some power source to recharge it. I haven't been able to fill an 8 GB card before the battery meter was in the red zone, and that can be a problem when you're hangin' the jungles of Southeast Asia! Treat this camera like a cell phone without a hardshell cover, be realistic about your expectations, don't forget that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and I believe you'll have a fantastic time with this camera!

I just got this, used it for the first time at a birthday party. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. The stills are decent, it works well in average room light, the video is really good for something this size, and the battery life is not horrid. I didn't have time to charge it completely, and it lasted through the party with about 50% left. I was very happy with the video - the quality is good, and the mic seems to pick up pretty well. It doesn't have a flash, so very low light conditions are NOT going to give you good pics. But average room light (and it wasn't the brightest light at the party) was fine. I have a lot of cameras. Too many, probably. I have a decent mini-DV camcorder, a DSLR, and 2 other small digitals as well as an old 35mm SLR and of course, the camera in my smart phone and iPad. The video quality is as good as with my camcorder, the stills are about the same quality (not the same density though) as my point and shoot digitals. The biggest advantage is that this is SMALL - way smaller than any of my others. It's much easier to carry, doesn't require a special charger (when I take the camcorder and DSLR I'm carrying 2 extra chargers/batteries as well as the phone/iPod chargers), and it's VERY easy to use. A camera really isn't much good if you don't use it. I rarely used my camcorder because it was not only too big to fit in my pocket, it was hard to get the video off. This is a piece of cake - hook it up, grab the pics/video, upload. MUCH easier. And it's easy to throw in your pocket or purse, and grab it anytime you want to snap a pic. Which is the whole purpose of having a camera, isn't it?

To preface the review my wife and kids use daily the Sony bloggie duo, kodak playtouch, iPhone 4, and lastly a canon vixa hf10 camcorder for sports, fun, and family events. It is troubling to see such negative reviews most in regards to a screen freeze. Video quality in well lit venues and outdoors is great. The autofocus is quick and it is super user friendly. I think that of all the portable quick cams ive used this is the best quality video. The Sony has the best audio recording so if that's a must it may be a better option.. Of course this will not come close to the low light indoor quality of my canon hd camcorder but that's not what this camcorder is about. It is so easy to use that my 5 and 6 year olds get great video with it and it's durable enough to have survived several drops. I highly recommend this and am not sure what all the talk is about the screen freezing. If anyone is concerned about video quality go on you tube and see some of the great hd video folks have captured with this. In summary great camera perfect for outdoor fun with in my opinion better video quality than the iPhone, Sony, or flip products I've used. This does not shine in low light performance and is not a replacement for a standard hd handheld when it comes to that. I originally bought the Sony thinking it's brand qould be sure to produce better optics but was surprised when my kids were shooting much better quality video image wise with the kodak. Lastly, I have not used the camera photo aspect as we use stand alone cameras an therefore can not comment.

I picked this up just before I went on vacation, knowing I would be spending a lot of time in the sand and surf. I have two other point and shoot cameras, and usually use them (and my phone camera) on vacation, but wanted something that I wouldn't have to worry about getting wet or broken. This camcorder did everything I hoped it would. It took clear, true photos with the same resolution as my camera phone, and while I won't be framing any pics I took with it, were still good photos. The videos the camera took were really very good. With the option of a 720p high speed or full 1080p, I was able to take good quality videos in most daylight situations. The videos I took at the pool and while snorkeling were really amazing! The quality of the underwater images and video were more than I expected. Using an HDMI cable, I hooked it up to several tv's, and while playback functions were a little limited, it was very entertaining to review the photos and video on the camera. Downloading to a computer was also a snap. I only had to charge the camera once in the two weeks of vacation. The ability to swap out SD cards made it easy to keep on filming. Low light use is fairly limited, and any darker it really wasn't all that useful. I really only found myself wanting an optical zoom, but beyond that I was really impressed with it. The combination of full HD recording, 5 MP photos, and the rugged and underwater use, make this a very nice camcorder for daytime, outdoor and underwater use.

I purchased this camera for my spouse to replace his low quality camcorder that stopped working. We primarily wanted a camera to document our baby's shenanigans, and this one does not disappoint. The video and audio quality is fantastic, especially compared to the Flip cameras that my family owns. It has a 5 megapixel lens to take still photos, which does an okay job, but I would HIGHLY suggest that you don't zoom in on still pictures...they get really grainy when you download them to the PC. The ones we took without zooming in are actually quite nice, though (as long as you don't print them out larger than 5 X 7). The product is SUPER easy to use...I think our 9 month old will figure it out before her first birthday. The sharing options are pretty cool, too...if you're into that sort of thing. We haven't dropped it yet, or used the underwater feature, but maybe this labor day weekend we'll give it a shot (the underwater, that is)! Also...the battery life is GREAT! We took it on a 5 day camping trip, and used the heck out of it, without running out of battery. I also love the fact that it accepts SD cards (up to 32MB), which gives great flexibility to take it on a long trip and have plenty of time to record by bringing extra memory cards. That's a feature that I feel trumps the Flip (and similar internal memory camcorders). I love this camera...size, quality, features, and price and would highly recommend it to everyone I know! You can't beat the quality for the price ($149 on sale)!

I guess there is a reason why this flip style camera has gone down in price in 3 weeks , $110 ,$99, and currently $69. Out of the box it looks great cosmetically , but the camera freezes up if the the SD card is not compatible while trying to format or if you just push buttons in the wrong sequence, worse part is you're gonna have to carry a toothpick or paperclip to reset the camera because you can't power it down , Kodak has some sort of fix if you're willing to download and update the firmware. Having owned 2 digital cameras that can also do video I really thought owning this camera would be an upgrade on the video, but mounting it on a bicycle proved to be disastrous when stabilization offered no good results and when presented with low light this camera didn't fare much better, sure I saw some nice videos on YouTube but these were best case scenarios that with proper camera handling and shot during a sunny day really made this camera shine, bottom line is that if you just want a pocket video camera or something the kids can play with now that it is on sale for the much lower price , it's not at all that bad but if you already own a decent pocket digital camera that can do video , then why buy the Kodak ZX5. To be fair the battery life was close to 2hrs , the menu was simple and easy , and if used outdoors and you have a steady hand the video looks pretty good , the buttons on the camera were also placed pretty nice , I received compliments because most people thought it was a phone. I had much higher expectations , but the freezing up upon using it in the 1st 10 minutes out of the box really bothered me, Kodak should've tested this unit thoroughly before selling it , I guess they did since there was a note inside that said before you return calll our 1-800 number and as a added bonus register product online and we will send you a free HDMI usb cable connection for HDTV's, which they should've included in the box.

I bought this camcorder four days ago and have been messing around with it quite a bit. The first day I got it, I shot some video and was editing when it froze on me. The only way to turn it off was to press the reset button. Luckily I found a firmware update on the kodak website that seems to have fixed the problem. The video quality is great... as long as your in good lighting. The 1080p looks really good but is somewhat choppy because it shoots at 30 frames per second. The 720p at 60 frames per second still looks good (not as good at 1080p) but is noticeably smoother because it is shot at higher frames per second. Outdoors during the day, everything comes out really clear but when you shoot indoors or in cloudy weather, the quality somewhat suffers. The coolest thing about this device is the underwater capabilities. I have to admit i've only taken it a foot or two underwater so I cant say how it performs ten feet underwater. But the footage I have made with this underwater comes out really great. Taking it underwater doesn't affect the video quality. One other gripe I had with the product is that the editing software isn't compatible with mac. I knew this before I bought the camcorder so I can't say I'm disappointed but it would have been nice to have. Overall this is a great camcorder for the money. Don't expect Blu-Ray quality video from this device but if you looking for something that produces really clear footage for vacationing, home videos, blogging and more, then this is the camcorder for you.