Kodak PlayTouch Video Camera (Silver)

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by: MissG (United States)
on: Sunday, 31-October-2010

This camera is excellent. Ive experienced freeze-ups a couple of times but this camera is excellent and more than capable of shooting quality footage. Completely upgradeable with camera lights, microphones and wide lens. I had the zi8 and its pretty much the same thing except for the touch screen feature and the ability to trim videos on the camera itself. I love it and have already put it to good use. I definitely reccommend this product.

by: MagicTricks.com (Charlottesville, VA)
on: Sunday, 24-October-2010

This camera is worth having for the special effects shooting modes alone. You can choose to shoot either video or still photos in normal mode, or in high saturation (ultra vivid colors), 70s (muted and faded colors), black and white or sepia. The normal mode is excellent for a cmera in this price range. But I use it for the high saturation and sepia effects. In the past month, I have taken shots of the mountain views with the leaves changing, at dawn and at dusk for the lighting effects. The high saturation mode makes great shots into spectacular shots. Sure, you could take your normal shots and Photoshop them for the high saturation, but its really easy to take them in the high saturation mode and be able to upload them like that to Facebook or Flickr straight from the camera. Being able to shoot video in black and white or sepia is also a lot of fun. Its easy to make old movies or moody movies with those modes. And if you shoot video in the 70s mode, it really looks like the old Super 8 footage. Lots of fun! You can be so creative with this camera, and all you have to do is push a button! Super super easy to use.

I find the quality of the video and still photos to be excellent. Obviously, they wont be as tack sharp as those from my Nikon, but certainly for the price of this camera, the photos are really great. For everyday use, the quality is what you would expect from Kodak.

Also, you can edit your video right in the camera. It allows you to delete parts of the video you dont want, so that you can upload a more finished video clip.

Yes, there are some cons. The video transfer to your computer or to an online site is accomplished via a USB arm that comes out of the side of the camera (just like a Flip camera). The idea is that you can use the arm to plug the camera directly into your computer. The arm is very delicate, in my opinion. I wouldnt plug the arm directly into the computer and let the camera just hang in the air- I think the weight of the camera would break the arm. Rather, I have a short USB cable that I plug the arm into, then plug the cable into the computer. I put the camera on my desk, with the cable running to the computer. Problem solved. You can get such a cable right here on your site. your siteBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (3.3 Feet / 1.0 Meter)

Also, transferring video to your computer or uploading it directly from the camera to Facebook or Flickr takes a few minutes. The transfer is done through Kodaks software interface, and it seems a tad slow to me. But not a big deal.

Some reviewers have complained about the lack of responsiveness of the touch screen. The zoom is indeed accomplished by just resting your finger on the + or - button. Tapping is not necessary, and in fact ruins your photo clarity. Its not necessary. Just practice for a few minutes, and get the hang of it. It can be smooth. I will say that it is easy to touch the wrong part of the screen and switch from shooting mode to viewing mode, but all you have to do is touch the button you use to take the photos and the screen switches back.

Yes, the camera does crash. Not frequently (I use it every day and it has happened twice in a month). I spoke with tech support about this, and they are working on a fix. Meanwhile, if the camera freezes or crashes, simply remove the battery for a few seconds, and then put it back in. Fixed! And by the way, Kodak phone tech support for this camera is excellent, should you need it.

I highly recommend this camera, despite the few problems, because of the different shooting modes. Well worth the price just for those effects!

by: Max_Max_Max (United States)
on: Thursday, 30-September-2010

Ive read the other review that states this product overheats. I wanted to comment on that. In 720p mode, I ran the Kodak Playtouch (Zi10) for 30 minutes with no problems or errors. After letting it rest, I switched it over to 1080p mode and after 10minutes it was hot to the touch. I let it run for an additional 15 minutes and it did not crash nor did it get hotter. It took about 2 minutes for the device to cool off.

The sound quality is mediocore. I needed to set the microphone gain on full to get decent sound out of the playtouch. I listened to a lot of reviews on youtube and test videos to see if it was a problem with the playtouch or my device is defective... the conclusion that Ive reached is that I had very high expectations of such a small device.

The screen is a 3 touchscreen, and thats what sold me to buy it. The touchscreen feature is very nice. But when recording you do not utilize the full 3 (maybe 1/2 of it), during playback you do utilize the whole screen.


Overall, I like the playtouch. Very easy to use, good video quality, etc. I give it 3 stars due to the overheating and mediocore sound.

by: Shawn M. Raffensberger (United States)
on: Friday, 10-September-2010

Let me just start off by saying the low light video quality is absolutely horrible. Its blurry and pixelated. It works alright outside in an overcast sky. It doesnt look HD like it claims. I tried 720p 30/60 and 1080p. All disappointed me...

Jello effect is still there and there is this annoying jerk to video... Where it like stops for a slip second and skips now and then.

The mic on this is very meh... I had to crank it almost to max to get decent sound levels. The bad thing is even a very small breeze tends to make noise in the mic. I got the new firm ware that was released in September for the wind issue. Doesnt seem like it did anything.

Another major issue I had with this is the zoom feature. Given that its touch based... It tends to not function half the time leaving to un-smooth zooming. Your supposed to leave your finger on the area to zoom in and out smoothly... But it rarely works leaving you to tap it... Even then it still doesnt want to zoom when you tell it too. Im not sure why it does this. But all the finger oil might have something to do with it.

The software isnt stream lined like they leave you to believe. It installs many programs each with their own purpose.

The manual is little more then a very quick start up guide. Nothing in depth at all. Leaving people with little knowlage to cave man it.

Overall this cam is NOT worth the $229 asking price. Save money and get a Zi8 for $117... Unless you want touch and share features.