agentsquirrel.com

Tech Review: Flip MinoHD vs. Kodak Zi6 – Part 5

Posted by Agent Squirrel on February 22, 2009

Make sure you’ve read the Intro before continuing on with this part. I also strongly suggest watching the test videos I made. To make this easier, I created a YouTube Playlist. Since I encoded each video in HD, and it just so happens that YouTube is now allowing full HD video, you will get the full effects of the videos if you watch these in HD. Once you click on the individual video, just click the “View in HD” link that is under the video on the right side.

Part 5: My Thoughts on Both of These Camcorders

After using both of these camcorders for the last two months, I have decided that I cannot really pick one over the other because they are both different. I have to admit that there is not a clear winner. Both of these cameras are fantastic. I think that the average person would be happy with either one of these. Having something that fits in your pocket and allows you to capture a moment on HD video within 10 seconds of getting the camera in your hands.

They are both super easy to use. Turn it on, press record and you are recording. One difference is that the Zi6 will let you zoom in on your subject before you hit record; The MinoHD requires you to start recording and then zoom in on your subject. This little difference actually can be annoying at times but overall not a big deal.

With that said, the Flip MinoHD is the one that I use the most. It is so small and easy to carry around that I’m never without it. The battery life is amazing. I thought that I’d have to charge it more, even if I wasn’t using it, but I don’t. I often grab it and capture a few minutes of video and just put it back in my coat pocket. I’ve went weeks without plugging it in to charge.

The Kodak Zi6 does have something very important going for it though. It is the better choice if you want to be able to record longer. Around Christmas time I had both with me to record video of my niece and nephew opening gifts. Since I didn’t want to worry about how long it would take, I just put the Zi6 on a tripod and let it go. I captured about 2 hours total without having to check on it. The MinoHD doesn’t offer that. Between the internal memory and the battery life, you only have a total of an hour of recording. With the Zi6, you are only limited by the amount of SD card memory and batteries you have. You could film all day if you have some extra AA batteries and a few SD cards.

Video/Audio Quality

Okay, this is probably what you really want to read about. Overall, the video quality is pretty close with both camcorders, but there are a few differences. This is just my opinion here. You might feel completely differently when viewing the video yourself.

Image Taken From Test #2 Using the Flip MinoHD - Click to go to YouTube Video (Opens in a new window)

Capture From Test #2 Using the Kodak Zi6

Capture From Test #2 - Using the Flip MinoHD - Click to go to YouTube Video (Opens in a new window)

Capture from Test #3 - Using the Kodak Zi6

• Color – The color on the Zi6 is a bit better. The images above show screen capture taken from Test 2 & 3 that I did on these camcorders. The first two images, showing the stove, are very different in color. The one taken with the Zi6 are much closer to what the colors in the room really look like. Outdoors however, you don’t really see the difference in color as much.
• Sharpness – I actually think the MinoHD offers more detail. If you again look at the screen captures above, you can see more detail of the knobs on the stove when using the MinoHD. The Zi6 image is darker so you can’t see as much detail.
• Low Light – I think the MinoHD wins in low light. Though, as I mentioned above under “Color”, you will lose some of the color in low light. In really, really low light, as seen in the first two screen captures above, the Zi6 appears to be the winner. But again, that was in light coming from the stove light and nothing more. Even in that test, the lighting is better but you can’t make out enough detail. I still think the MinoHD wins out in this category.
• Audio – This might be the biggest difference between the two. While the audio is better on the MinoHD, it doesn’t capture as much. In the 3rd test video I did, the one from my car while I was driving, the audio is louder with the footage from the Zi6 and I think you can hear what was on the radio much better. I didn’t even realize the radio was on when I was doing that test and the volume was very low. Yet the Zi6 really did capture it a lot of the audio. The problem was that it captured the rest of the noise in the car too, such as the outside noise. The MinoHD only captured the audio coming out of the speaker closest to where I had it positioned (the speaker on the door). Because of that, you don’t hear as much outside noise. But, when I used the MinoHD to capture the video of Meg Hutchinson, it had no problems. Had I not been near the front of the stage, maybe the Zi6 would have been better?

A Few of Things I Didn’t Like About Both of These Cameras:

1. Pop-Out USB Jack – While there are plus’ to the pop-out USB jack, I wish they had somehow put it in a different spot or at least included a USB extender. The reason why is because it is hard to use with
   

   The Flip MinoHD connected via USB to a laptop

   most desktop’s. Laptops are fine because the ports are either on the side or back of the laptop. When you plug either of these into a laptop, it will rest nicely on either your lap or the table you are using. With desktops though, both of these can just hang there. One one of my desktops, the front USB ports are hidden behind a door that opens up. It is a great set up because it keeps dust, etc., out of my computer ports, but the door prevents me from using either of these camcorders with the front ports. I either have to use one of the USB ports on the back of the desktop or use a USB extender. Now, even if I could plug it in to the front of my desktop, I don’t like the idea of it just hanging there. I’m sure that after some amount of time this would be a problem since all the weight would be pushing down on either camcorder. I wish that both of them came with USB extenders, even short ones. I noticed that the MinoHD’s official still images shows this being used with a laptop and not a desktop.

2. The lens on both of these is super easy to touch has you are recording. The MinoHD is worse with this because the lens isn’t raised enough to make you feel it before you end up putting your fingers on it. The Zi6 isn’t much better. A good rule of thumb is to carry around the lens cloth that comes with both of these and use it often.
3. Finger prints – especially on the MinoHD – is something you have to get used to. The plastic coating is something that many cell phone users and even the iPod Touch users might be used to. It shows up your finger prints super easy on both the MinoHD and the Zi6.
4. No Mic Jack – I wish they included a jack to use an external mic. That would make these almost perfect. This is especially true with the Zi6 since it picks up all the sound around it. I wish I could hook up a mic to zero in on just the sound I want.

Final Thoughts:

So, you’ve read through all this stuff, you’ve watched the test videos I uploaded and you are still scratching your head as to which one to buy. I don’t blame you. In the end there is such little difference between the two that I think most people will be happy with either one. I think it comes down to how you plan to use it.

Ask yourself the following question(s) and maybe this will help:

I began this review saying there really is no clear winner. It really depends on what you plan to capture really. But in the end, I think most people will be happy with either of them. Considering these pocket size HD camcorders are still a new technology, who knows where they will go? Speaking of, at this years CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Kodak announced a new pocket size HD camera that they said will be available in the spring. Don’t hold your breath for that because often these don’t hit the market until later but you never know. If you are thinking about picking up one of these cameras but don’t need it right now, you might want to wait. And odds are pretty good that I’ll buy that one when it comes out and will review it here.

Update 3/12/09: The Kodak Zx1 will be released on May 15th. Read the brief post about that one.

If you own one or both of these camcorders and have some thoughts to share, I really encourage you to use the comments box below. If you have any specific questions, feel free to use the comments box for that too. It might take me a few days to get back to you but I promise I’ll try my best to answer any questions you have about either the Flip MinoHD or the Kodak Zi6.

If you want more information about either of these camcorders, head over to their official sites to get more detailed specs (no reason for me to duplicate all that info here).

Flip MinoHD

Kodak Zi6