Best Video Camera: Creative Vado HD vs Flip Mino HD vs Kodak Zi6?

Thanks for doing this: I was looking to get a digital camcorder soon, and I was going to get the Zi6. Thank God I didn’t. That thing looks a mess compared to the Vado.

the Zi6 has obvious motion blur in this test. It however has the best sound.
It’s a shame that the most flexible options seems to have the worst results.

Do results vary on the Zi6 with different media at all?

Chris, thanks for guiding me on this. I bought both the MinoHD and the Kodak Zi6. Not too thrilled with either, but at least the Kodak has removable media. The MinoHD doesn’t offer enough features and is locked down, no removable battery, only 4GB, etc. That one is def going back to Amazon. The Kodak…I’ll hold for a bit until they update the software. I like its potential. I’ll consider getting the Creative as well to test.

And as for the frame skipping, don’t most webcams have that problem too? (at least, the cheaper ones)

Great idea to do a comparison of the the three of them. Really enjoyed it I personally choose to get the Kodak Zi6 because I am a fan of Kodak Products I think its great!

Thanks

I think the Zi6 has the best quality compared to the other 2 with the Mino being the lowest.. IMO

Chris, well I have to tell you, the Creative Vado HD bears ‘em all.

bears lol i meant beats, sorry.

Looking at all of them right now for an aerial video podcast using a consumer UAV, so thanks for the review. Also I just found out that Wal-Mart has the VPC-HD100 from Sanyo, the 8gb seemingly Wal-Mart only version of their VPC-HD700 720p camera – Except that the 100 has 1080p.

[...] the same video on three cams……the vado……flip mino……and kodak Zi6……guess who wins!…[Linky]…here is chris original response……watch him lose his mind with the vado [...]

[...] Best Video Camera: Creative Vado HD vs Flip Mino HD vs Kodak Zi6? [...]

love the in-depth review, personally i have to say i wouldn’t pick any one of them. I would be willing to pay lots more for a actually DV or HD camera that a little mini. But if it came down to it my final choice would be the Flip series. Thanks Chris.

i was thinking about getting the flip mino hd

From a contrast standpoint the black levels look crushed on the Kodak Zi6 and Creative Vado and the Flip Mino HD seems to retain more detail. Probably why it is has that washed out look.

The wide angle lens on the Vado is probably the deal breaker. Thanks Chris!

I Believe the Vado was the best of these 3 cameras. Kodak ,however, has good color then again you can change the color contrasts post production and/or with cam settings. Also Kodak you can add SD cards Vado not. If Kodak fixes the frame drop problem it would be the winner.

Great Review! But what about the RCA EZ300HD? I’ve been trying to get a hold of one and can’t seem to find one in stock. HD video on Vimeo looks great and has all the features I would want:
– Removable LLithium battery
– Expandable memory via SD Card Slot
– HDMI connector

Also, reports from CES2009 show the new RCA EZ209HD looks even sleeker.

[...] my friend Chris Pirillo did a review of all three and likes the Creative Vado better. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Wine and Web Party, thanks to Twitter and DeLoach [...]

Thanks for the review Chris, I’ve been anxiously awaiting this direct comparison and appreciate your doing it. Looks like I’m buying a vado…

I bought the Mino HD and the Vado HD and returned both of them. The audio levels were -terribly- low, so much so that I had to turn up the volume on my amp at least 200% in order to get “normal” audio levels. I didn’t notice this in your tests — has anyone else noticed this.
I liked the color of the Mino HD better. The Vado HD looked like the colors were artifically saturated. But I agree, the wide-angle lens is very useful.

The mic on the Vado is just pathetic. It sounds like you are talking into a tin can. That alone makes this camcorder useless.

I just watched 5 other low light Kodak Zi6 vids on Youtube and they weren’t anywhere near as bad as the one you put up here. I think something funky must have happened in the encoding/ transcoding of your vid, or you just got a Zi6 lemon.

I was leaning toward to Vado but the interchangeable storage and the better audio make the Kodak a no brainer for me.

Why not consider the Panasonic TZ5?

Get 720p video, with 10x optical zoom and true image stabilization?

$35 on NewEgg for a 16GB SD card and I have over an hour of recording HD video on it.

I have the Flip Mino HD and the issue I am having with it for most is the FlipShare software, which is very “crashy” on Vista and does not easily (batch-wise) let you export the video clips to a decent editing program. I do a manual batch conversion via SUPER now (mp4->wmv).

Flip support is telling me they are working on the FlipShare issues, but do not seem very responsive…

something’s wrong with FlipShare software. I can’t get it to work on 3 different vista machines. Vista’s bad but not that bad … this one’s on Flip and they need to fix this now!!!

I was just wondering, what SD/SDHC card did you use in the Zi6? What write speed? When compairing these three cameras, this is a pretty important consideration. Thanks!

Sweet, thanks for doing this comparison. I was looking for a small, inexpensive camera for recording dance events, and this has definitely helped me make a decision. Vado it is.

Ian: Check the files sizes of the Panasonic TZ5–their huge. Panasonic has something for motion JPEG. It looks pretty good, but file sizes are way too high.

I went with the Kodak Zi6. The sound kills the other two.
I don’t have a drop frame problem, so I don’t know what you are talking about. Maybe you’re not using the proper speed memory card ?
The Kodak also has a 60fps “higher HD” setting which you didn’t talk about.
I agree about the low light bad quality but they all do that more or less and I just turn on the lights bright in order to make it work.

I also like the rechargeable battery with the kodak. I have 4 so I’m always ready to go.

I’d also recommend viewing them on YouTube (where you can watch the original 1280×720 as recorded and uploaded without editing).

–sigh– I wish I knew why people keep passing this misinformation around. especially people who should know better.

Youtube does NOT DO 1280×720p HD. It does 960×540 at BEST. That includes this blog author’s samples.

That being said, the samples were still quite useful… the Vado, for example, has some sort of auto-chroma gain; I can see the wood in the background constantly increasing and decreasing saturation. Then again, that might just be the regular gain adjusting, as sensors tend to desaturate when they gain up.

I’ve been looking for true 720p test videos from this thing, and no luck so far.

[...] Flip Mino HD video camera Chris Pirillo gave me a bunch of heck and said I bought the wrong camera. He reviewed the Flip against the Kodak Zi6 and the Creative Vado HD. He said the Creative Vado HD is the best. His [...]

[...] Chris also did a side-by-side-by-side review of the three heavy hitters (Mino HD, Kodak Zi6, and Cre… and I have to agree that they all bring a lot to the table.  There are some core features that I’d really love to have seen in the Mino HD, namly – removeable media, and batteries would have been a huge plus.  In the end Pirillo named the Creative Vado HD the best of the bunch, but I really don’t see it, and neither did Robert Scroble in his blog post entitled, “Chris Pirillo is wrong about best pocket video cameras.” Now I’ll also point out that Scroble is on staff at Fast Company – the mag that named the maker of the Flip as cool. [...]

Youtube does do HD at 1280×720 at 2mbit/s h264. I prefer the Sanyo pocket HD camcorders such as the HD1000, HD1010 or the new HD2000 for their better optics and mini-jack audio input for more usable sound recording quality, also for their more ergonomic handle. Though the Sanyo pocketable HD cameras are a bit more expensive I guess.

Great review.. But what about the sound? The Kodak’s sound is much better than the others.. I am really confused! :)

Thanks for the post! I’m a newbie and don’t really need anything to professional so the comparison was really helpful. I just ordered the Vado HD and can’t wait for it to arrive! Hoping to pull still photos from the videos so that I don’t have to buy a new digital camera.

I am debating between Flip Mino HD, Kodak Zi6 or Zx1, or Vado….Vado audio is really bad in those videos…I can hardly hear it. Kodak has the best sound, but weird blurr….Flip has horrible image ( color and all) and bad sound..but they have custom design choice which I am so attracted too! How about Kodak Zx1? Does anyone know if Zx1 is better than Zi6?? I heard the audio on that is really bad too….I’m so confused!! Someone, tell me which one is the best choice for image quality, audio, and features.

nice review :) I like to see the video now :)

Couple things–not that you have to answer–have you tried the sony webbys? I messed with one the other day in natural light at Hover Dam here in Westerville, OH and it did OK around dusk. Had UH mazing zoom.

Also gonna probably get a Blue tech thing.

VERY cool video though.

I’ll have to look at the vado.

Or screw it, I’ll buy all 3.

I rock a man purse, so I don’t know if any will be a problem to cary as my daily driver.

I’m very impressed with what this kid has done here, I wish he worked for me and my company.

I just won a Vado HD in an internet contest, had no idea what it was so googled it and reviews of it and came upon this boy’s site. It hasn’t been shipped to me yet, but it seems I won something that is not a piece of junk and I’m thrilled what this kid has told me about it.

This kid is over 30 years old and has been doing this great job for years and even appears on CNN website in the videos section. Where you beeen all this time lol.

I’m with the zx1.

Thank you. VERY informative.
Does Vado or Kodak support Mac’s?

how do any/all of these compare to onboard video on the canon powershot pocket cameras (which mine doesn’t have hd, so aside from that).

why would you want a pocket video camera. when a camera can take great images, and do decently well with video, even the audio is great.

the creative cam, doesn’t have any optical zoom? seems silly.

I WANT TO PURCHASE ONE. But I can’t warrant carrying two devices. B/c I’m into photography.

Someone talk me into it;)

I just recently went with the Kodak Zi6. I have shot a few videos in different lighting and they all turned out pretty good so far. The audio sounds really good. I do hate the fact that I gotta back up some to get more in the shot though. Ill probably try this out for another week before I decide to keep it. The Vado HD is really tempting. I wish best buy would carry it in store but they don’t. I usually don’t buy many of my electronics online. I guess cause it’s easier to return to the store of whatever. Anyways nice video!!

I’m a BIG fan of the Flip for education …. the technology is transparent so can concentrate on the content/topic of a project.
Am very happy with the results inc audio …

… for the classroom… this is my choice …. for Hollywood … maybe another ;-)

Thanks for the comparisons above ….

examples at
http://www.vimeo.com/user1432134
and
http://www.youtube.com/shamblesguru