Overview:

Kodak Zx1 is not only small and powerful but also totally weatherproof which sounds really interesting considering its price ($149.95). The camcorder has a bunch of ports so it has great connectivity and an SD/SDHC memory card slot. The camcorder is available is a few colors so you can choose the best one for you and if you don’t fancy the design you can also have a look at Kodak Zi6 which offers very similar performance in slightly different body

Kodak Zx1 pros:
+ Responsive automatic exposure
+ Easy to use and comfortable
+ Nice playback options
+ Good connectivity
+ Very good motion
+ Good low light performance

Kodak Zx1 cons:
poor still features
- sharpness worse than competition
- ambiguous buttons
- poor microphone

The design:

Kodak Zx1 measures 2 x 0.8 x 4.2 inches and weighs 3.2 oz. The Kodak camcorder is available in five colors including black, red, blue, yellow and pink. The Kodak Zx1 and not only interesting design, but it is also made of good materials and so it feels good in hand. The front of the camcorder houses the lens, infrared sensor, record tally lamp, mono microphone and a battery container hidden under a door. The left side houses the power button, and the camcorder’s ports, whereas the right side houses the memory card slot along with the lanyard eyelet. The back of the Kodak Zx1 shows the 2-inch LCD screen and all the camcorder buttons and controls. The top is almost bare and it houses only the playback speaker while on the bottom there’s only the tripod mount.

Performance:

The Kodak Zx1 uses the H.264 codec and records the movies in MOV files so most users should not have any problems with copying the video files. There are numerous recording options including the standard definition VGA mode. The editing software that comes with the camcorder is very user friendly, yet not too powerful. To make your life easier all image adjustments are made automatically and quite accurately, except for white balance which fails to impress. Also, if you like to use manual controls you may be disappointed with the Kodak Zx1 as it has no manual controls for exposure, gain, shutter speed and so on.

Image quality:

The Kodak Zx1 performs quite poorly in bright light. The colors are much worse rendered than in the camcorders made by the competition. Also the noise levels in bright light are higher than in the competition. The 60p motion is very smooth, yet the 30p is only acceptable and looks a bit slower. The overall sharpness of videos taken with the Kodak Zx1 is fine for this class of camcorders. Surprisingly, the Kodak Zx1 does a lot better job in low light than in bright light. The Kodak Camcorder has outstanding low light sensitivity and the colors are all rendered very well. Also, the noise levels are very good and a bit better than the competition.
Kodak Zx1 is also capable of shooting still photos but with limited features. The noise seems too high and the color accuracy is quite bad and when you add to it that the Kodak camcorder can shoot only 3 megapixel photos you can’t expect too much.

Menus/Ease of use:

The Kodak Zx1 is quite easy to use because of its lack of manual controls. However, the button design is ambiguous which may get on your nerves. The menu is easy to use once you manage to find it and the overall impression of the Kodak Zx1 is quite positive.
Selected Kodak Zx1 features and specifications:
Product Type 
Camcorder
Enclosure Color
 Black
Digital Zoom
2 x
Optical Sensor Size
1/4.5″
Optical Sensor Type
 CMOS
Digital Video Format
 H.264
Shooting Modes
 Digital photo mode
Widescreen Video Capture 
Yes

• Main Features

Camcorder Sensor Resolution
 1.6 megapixels
Camcorder Interpolated Still Resolution 
3 megapixels
Color Support
 Color
Still Image Format
 JPEG
TV Tuner
None

• Memory / Storage

Supported Flash Memory 
SD Memory Card
Integrated Memory 
128 MB
Media Type
 Flash card

• Lens System

Type
Lens – 4.1 mm – F/2.8
Focal Length
 4.1 mm
Lens Aperture
 F/2.8
Lens system type
 Lens
Max focal length
 4.1 mm
Focus Adjustment 
Focus free
Min Focus Range 
27.6 in

• Additional Features

Digital Still Camera Function
 Yes
Additional Features
 Weatherproof, 
Built-in speaker, 
YouTube capture mode, 
USB 2.0 compatibility
Software
Drivers & Utilities , ArcSoft MediaImpression
Included Accessories
Wrist strap , Carrying pouch

• Viewfinder

Viewfinder Type: 
None

• Display

Type
: LCD display – TFT active matrix – 2 in – Color

• Digital Player (Recorder)

Type
None

• Microphone

Type
Microphone – Built-in

• Connections

Connector Type 
1 x USB , 1 x HDMI output , 1 x Composite video/audio output , 1 x DC power input
Expansion Slot(s)
1 x SD Memory Card

• Audio Input

Audio input type
 Microphone
Microphone type
 Built-in
Microphone Operation Mode 
Mono

• System Requirements for PC Connection

Operating System Support 
MS Windows Vista , MS Windows XP SP2 , Apple Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Peripheral Devices
 USB port , XGA monitor , CD-ROM drive
System Requirements Details
- 1 GB – 300 MB

• Miscellaneous

Cables Included
 A/V cable , HDMI cable , USB cable

• Power

Power Device
Battery charger – External

• Battery

Supported Battery 
AA
Supported Battery
 2 x AA NiMH rechargeable battery ( Included ) , 1 x Kodak KLIC 8000 Li-ion rechargeable battery ( Optional ) , 1 x Kodak CRV3 Lithium battery ( Optional ) , 2 x AA Alkaline battery ( Optional )

• Manufacturer Warranty

Service & Support 
1 year warranty
Service & Support Details
 Limited warranty – 1 year

• Viewfinder / Display

Display Form Factor
Built-in

Other recently reviewed camcorders:

JVC Everio GZ-HD300, Canon Vixia HF S100, Sony HDR-XR520V, Panasonic HDC-HS300, Panasonic HDC-SD20