Kodak Playtouch Digital Video Camera

Kodak PlayTouch – How Does It Measure Up?

October 5, 2010 | Author: Kodak Playtouch

Kodak’s PlayTouch digital video camera is a pocket sized contribution to the industry of amateur directors which is aimed at bringing back an increasingly disloyal flock of filming enthusiasts who are straying towards smart phones and tablet PCs with fitted cameras. Kodak seem to have hit the mark by picking a portable and attractive style for their new video camera, but does it have the hardware to back it up?

Touch Screen

A digital video camera is venturing into unknown territory with a touch screen, but in fact the touch screen on the PlayTouch is well worth the effort. It happens to be a much handier shape for using with a touch screen and has clearly been ergonomically designed to match the shape of easy to hold smart phones, allowing your thumb and the finger of your other hand to do the work.

The PlayTouch doesn’t exactly have a lot of tricky operations that you couldn’t manage without the touch screen, but the key feature here is that it avoids the face of the camera becoming cluttered with unnecessary buttons. It’s intuitive and very quick to react to touch so while the touch screen doesn’t revolutionize the process of filming it works so well that you hardly notice it’s there.

Kodak haven’t cut any corners with the LCD screen either, which is the perfect size for the size of the video camera and big enough to give you a good idea of whether you’ve filmed what you wanted to. The majority of video cameras have screens that are so small you can hardly see what you’ve just recorded and you’re forced to wait until you get it on a PC to see the fruits of your labor, so it’s refreshing to see a camera with a decent size screen. There’s also a useful anti sun-glare feature that can be turned on for you to view your video on the camera without trying to shield it from the sun.

Lens & Image Quality

Focusing is a little restricted on the Kodak PlayTouch, but once you get used to the controls and how the camera reacts, it’s very easy to get good quality footage. The lens is 33 or 44 mm, the latter being available with 1080p and the former with 720p or WVGA. The PlayTouch manages to get a good grip on the still capture market too, offering 16:9 ratio pictures at 5MP. Up to 4x digital zoom is possible and with macro you can focus to 15cm.

Frames per second are between 30 and 60 depending on the quality of video you’re filming and videos are recorded in MPEG-4 format. The Kodak PlayTouch offers reliable, good quality performance and images that are obtainable for all users no matter your technical ability. It might not be the best choice for professionals who are reaching for superb macro shots or a huge digital zoom, but it has very impressive capabilities for a camera of this price and range.

Compatibility

Here is where the Kodak PlayTouch really makes it easy for you, especially in comparison to the majority of digital video cameras which require lengthy transfers between file formats and computers before you can do anything practical with your videos. AV out and HDMI interfaces are the simplest way to plug the PlayTouch into a TV or HDTV, but it’s just as simple and hassle free to connect it to your PC or Mac with the USB lead and upload your videos straight to the internet with just a touch of a button. It doesn’t require any complicated transfers and it’s possible to edit pictures on the camera, so the computer just becomes a simple bridge to the internet.

The Kodak PlayTouch is by no means the most technically able of the filming equipment available, but that becomes irrelevant when you realize that that is not what it is intended for. Kodak are trying to seduce casual videographers with the PlayTouch, offering them a camera that is easy to use, has the same upload capability and touch screen as some of their other gadgets and still retains higher than average filming specifications, especially for a camera at this price. And it has to be said: they seem to have succeeded.

The Kodak Playtouch – Value For Money

October 5, 2010 | Author: Kodak Playtouch

The Kodak PlayTouch is a pocket sized digital video camera, available for around $230. It has high definition 1080p video recording functionality at 30 frames per second and a 3 inch LCD touch screen, which ticks the boxes for capability. But with the PlayTouch, it’s all the little added extras and the care that Kodak have taken trying to make a camera that doesn’t take three hours, an instruction manual and an IQ above 140 to figure out.

The Kodak PlayTouch comes with a one year warrantee, but it’s safe to say that the PlayTouch is a well built little pocket video camera that is very unlikely to break and cause you to use that warrantee. Kodak have always produced reliable and quality products, and although the PlayTouch is part of their first step into the world of this kind of pocket digital video camera, they are one of the leading manufacturers of cameras, for both video and photo.

Forgive me for being overly excited about Kodak’s generosity, but I was far too elated when I found that the PlayTouch comes with not only a USB cable, but an HDMI cable included. I’ve become so used to buying a product and having to search around the store for the right leads to connect it to my PC, laptop, TV, etc, that it was more than an added extra when I found that I didn’t have to with the PlayTouch – it felt like a miracle. With the extra time I hadn’t wasted trying to match lead to device, I bought myself a coffee and silently praised Kodak for doing what all manufacturers should do.

Continuing with the buy-and-use approach that Kodak have taken with the PlayTouch, another valuable added extra that you don’t find with every digital video camera is the ability to use it with Macintosh and Windows computers without having to download and install any uncooperative software to make them compatible. The Kodak PlayTouch might not be the cheapest pocket video camera around, but those extra few dollars are paying for all the extra work Kodak have already done to make it as hassle free for you to use their product as possible.

So far user reviews have been very positive about the PlayTouch, citing how simple it is to use and the impressive video results you can create without having a huge amount of experience with video cameras. It’s also one of the few touch screen digital video cameras available, which works so well with the PlayTouch because it’s unusual shape and styling make it the perfect shape to make the most of the touch screen. There’s no point in having a touch screen if you can hardly reach it around the shape of the camera, but the PlayTouch looks just like a touch screen cell phone – so much like one in fact that if you leave it with a friend there’s a good chance you’ll return to find them with it pressed to their ear looking confused.

The Kodak PlayTouch is well worth the price tag, for the quality alone. In my mind, buying a video camera is a little like choosing a bank. You can choose the brand that is well known for reliability, quality and customer care, and find yourself pleasantly surprised by all the effort the company has put into making you comfortable and your life slightly easier. Or you can choose the bank with the best short term interest rates, which will suddenly plummet, leaving you with no choice but to stay on hold to a help centre in another country for two days to close your account. With the PlayTouch, you’re getting value for money, and the reassurance that you won’t be buying another video camera next Christmas.

Kodak Playtouch – Overview

October 5, 2010 | Author: Kodak Playtouch

The world of video recording is a competitive one, especially as high definition content isn’t as unique to video cameras as it used to be. These days it seems as though everything with a battery has an added camera or two, so the choice of what to buy comes down to that all important factor that fortunately Kodak excel in: Quality.

Appearance

The PlayTouch is unusual looking for a video camera, weighing just 100 grams without the battery at 2.3 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches. It’s entirely rectangular – no delicate lens to keep safe here – and could easily be confused with a phone or a digital camera. The 3” LCD screen displays a very good representation of the videos to give you a good idea of what they will look like on a TV or PC monitor, and it’s a touch screen which is an unexpected bonus. Overall the PlayTouch has a nice appearance and its size and shape make it the perfect shape to slip into a pocket or bag.

Video Quality

The Kodak PlayTouch doesn’t hold back on video quality – at its best it’s capable of 1080p high definition content at 30 frames per second. The videos are produced at 1920 x 1080 pixels in MPEG-4, so there won’t be any time lost converting them into a more compatible format to watch on the TV. If you want a smaller file – though I’m not sure why when video is available in such high quality – you can choose between 720p at 30 or 60fps, and even WVGA at 30fps. Helpfully, Kodak have offered you the ability to take still photos at 5MP, which I find indispensible with a video camera. If there’s an image you want to capture, video isn’t always the best medium and it feels pointless to carry around both a video camera and a digital camera. The best part of it is that the 5MP pictures are very good quality, so you won’t find yourself missing your old camera.

Added Extras

This is where the Kodak PlayTouch really excels, with a whole host of tricks up its sleeve. To take a good picture, the PlayTouch has the ability to reduce blur when your hand moves during filming and the LCD screen has a feature to reduce sun glare so you can see your videos without sprinting into a darkened room or squinting.
Special effects include sepia, black and white, high saturation and a particularly inspired 1970’s film effect to play around with, and once you’re done filming it’s possible to edit you film on the camera without involving any specialist software from a computer. In fact, the PlayTouch dispenses with a computer completely, only requiring it as pipeline to link to the internet so you can upload your films and photos directly with a simple ‘share button’.

Compatibility

That aforementioned handy upload technique offers you the chance to upload to a range of photo and video sharing sites, which is a particularly clever and generous move from Kodak. After all, they could have limited you to uploading to their own Kodak Gallery, but they also offer Facebook, Youtube, Orkut and Flickr. If you’re not keen on sharing your videos with the world, the PlayTouch is compatible with both Apple and Microsoft operating systems, or you can plug in the included HDMI cable and watch your high definition movies on a high definition TV screen.

The Verdict

The Kodak PlayTouch has a lot to compete with, as many cameras and phones can offer high definition video recording. However, Kodak are clearly aware of this, because they’ve cut out the hassle of transferring your videos onto a computer, so that it’s no easier to upload a photo taken on a phone than it is on the PlayTouch. It’s wealth of extras alone should convince you of the difference between a digital video camera and a phone with high aspirations.

Kodak Playtouch – Making Video Easy Again

October 5, 2010 | Author: Kodak Playtouch

The Kodak PlayTouch is a newcomer to the HD video camera field, equipped with a touch screen and high-end features that are packed into the most unusual shape you could imagine for a video camera. Maybe I’m stuck in the 90’s, but when I think of a handheld video camera, it has a lens, a strap so thick that you could lift a pile of rocks with it and a slightly ungainly ‘lumpy’ appearance to it.

Perhaps this is the reason that I – like many other people – haven’t bought a video camera in the last couple of years, the other being that many digital cameras also have the ability to record video. Kodak have locked onto this problem and vowed to make digital video cameras accessible again, and their solution barely resembles the hefty video cameras of ten years ago at all. In fact, leave it lying beside your cell phone and it will take you a few seconds to identify the Kodak PlayTouch in all its smooth, streamlined beauty.

The front face has one button and 2/3 of the space occupied with the 3.0 inch LCD touch screen, and the back possesses one small square lens, indistinguishable from that of your phone or camera. Kodak have gone out of their way to give us a video camera so familiar that there are no tricky buttons to compete with or lens caps to remove – if you know how to take photos with your phone, the PlayTouch is completely intuitive.

The PlayTouch also follows the latest trend of taking a digital device and giving it all the features it would normally have, then throwing in a load of software that makes it several other gadgets too. It has HD recording at 1080p resolution with 30 frames per second, but it also lets you edit on the video camera, before it gets anywhere near a computer. Another handy feature is the automatic upload – just plug the PlayTouch into a USB port in your computer, press one button, and it automatically uploads your videos to the site of your choice.

Fortunately, because Kodak don’t have any alliances to Apple or Microsoft, it’s possible for the PlayTouch to communicate with Macintosh and Windows operating systems. It also offers up a range of photo and video sharing sites for you to upload to, including but not limited to: Facebook, Kodak Gallery, Youtube, Flickr and Orkut.

With all this, it’s easy to see that Kodak are trying to broaden the range of customers for video cameras to a more varied crowd than professionals and video enthusiasts. They’ve made every stage of the process more accessible to users, from the interface and design of the PlayTouch that has shed the complicated buttons for settings and film preferences for a simpler, easier approach, to the process of uploading without being forced to transfer the videos between camera and computer, then computer and internet. This isn’t to say that the PlayTouch is oversimplified – it can shoot brilliant quality high definition video and there are more than enough options and settings to fiddle with if you want to make sure your films are picture perfect. But you don’t have to have a degree in technology to use it – it can be as simple or as complicated as you want to use the Kodak PlayTouch.

Kodak PlayTouch – Cutting Out The Computer

October 5, 2010 | Author: Kodak Playtouch

With the new PlayTouch, Kodak have created a pocket sized digital video camera that offers you all the high end performance and quality video recording you would expect, with an easy way to use your videos that you wouldn’t. More than a few tanned vacationers have found themselves ripping their hair out while they try to get photos and videos off their camera and onto their computer, just to then get the benefit of seeing how their holiday films have come out. From there, they have to install editing software on their PC to correct all the camera wobbles and mistakes they’ve made before they even begin to think of sharing them with their friends and family or adapting them to watch on the TV. The Kodak PlayTouch manages to cut out all of that hassle with a clever combination of tricks and shortcuts to save time and potential nervous breakdowns.

Quality Control

The first thing you notice about the Kodak PlayTouch is the unusual shape of it, which makes it look very similar to a cell phone with a screen taking up two thirds of the front face and only one button. The 3” LCD touch screen is larger than the majority of video cameras of this size have the space for, which is perfect for checking that you’ve been filming your kids in the sea rather than the sand two feet in front of you. The PlayTouch even offers a LCD Glare Shield feature, not to shield yourself from the expressions of angry strangers but designed to allow you to see the contents of your screen in strong sunlight.

Reviewing And Editing

If you still aren’t happy with your footage, it’s possible to edit it on the camera, by using the touch function to pick out sections or frames of the film that you don’t like. You can delete, edit or rearrange your film to your heart’s content, and if it still doesn’t have the right atmosphere, you can turn on sepia or black and white functions. The best quality that Kodak offer is 30 frames per second in 1080p high definition, but you have the option to film in 720p or WVGE at 30 or 60fps. Personally, I’m not sure why you would want to unless you were desperate for the memory space, but it’s nice to have the option.

The Big Screen

Surprise, surprise, Kodak are one of the few companies who have decided to take pity on us and actually give us an HDMI cable included in the box. There’s no reason why all gadgets shouldn’t come with HDMI cables – I’m fed up of companies assuming we all have twenty HDMI cables lying around at home – but it’s nice that Kodak haven’t opted to save money by making us buy one. This means that you can hook your PlayTouch up to a HDTV and watch your videos in the high definition glory they were intended to be viewed in.

Sharing The Memories

It’s well known that not all of our relatives are as eager to see our holiday films as we are to show them, but when has that ever stopped us? By plugging the USB cable into a PC, the Kodak PlayTouch uses it as a pipeline to directly load videos to a range of online sharing sites, such as Facebook and YouTube. It’s a surprisingly simple process, and once you’ve edited on the camera, it cuts out the need to transfer videos onto your computer at all.

All in all, the PlayTouch just makes the whole process of filming, editing, watching and uploading feel like a breeze. There are no pesky extra steps you have to take to make it work – it’s fully functioning right out of the box and you don’t have any hidden charges for extra cables and accessories to get the best out of it.