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Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black) OLD MODEL
Amazon.com Price: $104.75 (as of 2010-07-30 16:26:06 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Product Description
Product Details
Video Reviews
Customer Reviews
1) When shooting, you've GOT to hold your hand steady, and sure, or camera shake will ruin your HD movies and clips. You can use a tripod to minimize shake to the maximum amount, perhaps one of the "mini" tripods that you see here at Amazon.com. RE tripods, I found that even my Joby GorillaPod "SLR ZOOM" heavy-duty portable, flexible tripod fit the Vado HD easily, and contrary to other reviews, the USB port on the bottom did NOT get in the way of it one bit
2) This isn't a substitute for a full-sized HD camera, like my Canon HG20 AVCHD camera, but it will suffice for casual, quick takes of virtually anything your creative mind will allow, and up to a 1 hour uninterrupted HD+ quality video in true 720P/1080i HD format, with big depth of field, up to 2 x 1-hour videos of course, utilizing a full battery to the limit
3) You've got to watch out, and protect the lens, otherwise it gets to be full of dust and dirt easily, as there's no lens cap with the camera--I carry my DSLR's lens brush and air "poof" when using Vado HD which solves the problem...give the lens a quick brush off a couple times a day during shooting, just to be sure it's clean, and it's ready for action
4) Accessories are REALLY hard to get right now, but maybe that will change soon, as the camera's popularity and rave success has the manufacturer/seller (Creative Labs) scrambling for inventory on the extra battery, charger, etc. In fact, I am on the "waiting email list" at Creative Labs right now because I want to get the external charger, and an extra battery, for those days when I'm using Vado HD for more than its 2-hour battery and filming "window" of opportunity-caveat on the battery, the normal Vado battery will NOT fit in the Vado HD and function!! If you want the extra battery, it's got to be from Creative Labs at this time, and they have been out of stock for weeks now
Those things being written, the rest is just cake, candy, and ice cream-easy to write about, and describe. Here's the positive things I've found about Vado HD so far, and I'll come back and add more after I use it more...this list is compiled after just about 1 week's use, and doesn't represent even 25% of what I have in mind for using Vado HD:
1) It's just like you imagined it would and should be, using the camera that is--it's easy, fun, and with XLNT ergonomics for being so small, pretty much all-user-intuitive controls which I go into further on in the review
2) The camera makes incredible 720P/1080i HD movie/clip footage for viewing onscreen, immediately without editing, by using the supplied Mini-HDMI to HDMI Cable--it's easy to use your HDTV as a viewer/editor vs. wasting all your time downloading the video to your PC or Mac, editing it, etc.
3) A steady hand/tripod yields an XLNT clip or video movie, up to 60 minutes long it turns out (Windows FAT File System limit of 4GB of data problem), so look out for that window once you get rolling and all will work out great...of course you can make 2(two) 1-hour HD+ quality movies which equals the 2 hour "window" of Vado HD
4) To use on a Mac, as I have both PC and Mac here in my studio, it's very simple-have QuickTime Pro (yup, you've gotta upgrade if you want full compatibility with cameras like this, and for other reasons too!) support the movie, use the Export Video command, and a huge array of possibilities is there for the taking--for converting the AVI formatted film from Vado HD into an M4V H.264 QuickTime Video for iPod, iPhone, or other media device from our friends at Apple. Or you can simply import into iMovie/iDVD if you want to go full-boat and edit your footage, add music, etc.
My favorite command is just "AppleTV" command, and in a few short minutes of conversion on an Intel Mac with a lot of C2Duo horsepower, or better yet a Quad single or double CPU in a Mac Pro...but hold onto your hats Mac Heads, I even had success using my "dated" Dual Core 2.3Ghz G5, albeit one with a ton of RAM (16GB), making hour-long AppleTV movies, no editing, no hassle, just straight into ATV format and BAM! It's onscreen with great clarity, depth of field, a true HD experience quickly via Vado HD
5) On the PC, or Virtual Machine in Parallels or VM Ware Fusion, XP Pro/Vista, whatever...I tried them all and they are equally easy. The video codec automagically imports and installs itself into your Windows Client, be it WMV, Windows Movie Maker, or the Vado HD Client itself, Vado Central Software (a bit limited of course in scope, ease of use, or mechanics...but it WILL work if necessary and you don't have fancy video editing software on PC).
Now, to get specific about the controls and functions of the Vado HD, which is important in any review of the camera, let's dive right into it!
The USB 2.0 port, which is necessary to transfer video to your computer for whatever purpose you have in mind, is on the bottom of the camera, and there's a pleasant "Click" that it makes when it's open, or closed, so there's no doubt about it being in either position. I LIKE the flexible port/device USB male plug, which extends out and away from the bottom of the camera an inch so. The design is well-thought out, I think, because there are times when you might need a flexible "cable-like" function, and this provides it. As I wrote above, this does NOT compromise the fitting of a tripod!
Vado HD will take 2 hours worth of HD+ 720P/1080i movies, the default setting of the camera by the way. Then there's HD-quality, slightly less than HD+, but still good quality film, which equals 4 hours of action. Then there's VGA mode, and in this mode (640x480 pixels) Vado HD will shoot up to 8 hours of movies, and that's a LOT of capacity, where you'd need 4 batteries to fill up the camera! Wow! That's an interesting option when you simply want to film things that are not of great import, and you have a lot of it to do, but you'd need that external charger (that I want to purchase badly and can't right now!), and 3 extra batteries!
As to the controls for the camera, let me describe where everything is, and what it does...
The 1.5" x 1" LCD display, a mini-display that is amazingly sharp and well defined, has a "Ready" indicator in the top, left, to tell you the camera is set to shoot. When you are shooting video, there's a RED DOT that replaces the "Ready" indicator. To shoot, just press the "logical controller" once, and to stop, press the control once again...dead straight simple!
At the right, top of the display is the digital Video Quality Display, which is by default set at HD+, and next to it is a Battery Indicator, which shows the state of relative charge of the battery.
In the middle, at the top of the display, is the Recording Time Left indicator, which is in hours, minutes, and seconds, so it's very, very accurate as to what is left in Vado HD's flash memory.
The left, bottom edge of the display has the time, and the right edge has the digital display for the date, all simple, but important functions that you'll use over and over again while filming. The display, "mini" though it is, is XLNT! It gives you all the information necessary about Vado HD without occluding the display at all, each one being small, digital numbers and letters.
The physical layout of the camera is also ergonomically correct, with the lens at the top of the front of the case, up high next to the microphone port. The speaker (it has an external speaker which functions when viewing videos) is on the back in the lower right part of the case. To the left, in the middle of the case, is the "logical controller" as I call it, the master control for the camera. Right side, upper is the Off/On switch, which "clicks" into the case for Off or On. On the left side is the HDMI Mini-Port, and the Video-Out port...all really nicely done!
It's very simple, really, to use and describe the rest of the controls also. There's a 2.5mm button in the middle of the "logical controller", and that's the actuator for everything, the "Selector". That is what you do everything with: film "On", stop, select, and film "stop"...that does it ALL! At the edge of that button is a concave group of touch controls, up, down, left and right arrows, which take a fair press to actuate, just right actually... not too heavy a hand to use these controls. Those control the selection process once into the menus, fast forward, or backward the video clips as you wish to view them, etc...These are LOGICAL controls, and they do exactly what you think they are supposed to do, nothing complex, or "foreign" to this setup.
On the right side are the two "Function" switches, two "clickable" switches, one which selects which video clip you're about to view, the other is the TRASH button, so be careful with it when viewing videos...of course when you want to trash, or "EDIT" the video in question there's a prompt onscreen which confirms your action, so you can't be "burned" by mis-hitting that switch unless it's deliberately done. Again, easy, simple controls that do what you think they are supposed to do.
You use those two "Function" buttons on the right in tandem also. Pressed together, at the same time yields the master menus onscreen, so you can select or change the Video Quality, Time & Date, Anti-Flicker Control (50 or 60Hz filming), Language Used, and the "Instant Record" feature, which I'll explain here and now: Instant Record sets the camera into this mode...any button will actuate an instant recording session, and the "logical controller" turns it off, with 1-minute for power-off and into standby mode. Very nice feature! Just the ticket for getting a quick shot off anytime, and easily turned back off by going into the setup menu by pressing those two "clickable" buttons together at the same time, and getting into the menus.
The Default Mode for Power is 1 minute into "Ready" mode, screen off, and 5 minutes screen off will yield a shut-down of Vado HD, with a pleasant little musical tone that goes off to tell that the camera has powered off.
EASY STUFF, and right-on! These are controls that anyone can get used to in a couple minutes of use...I've just described every single function of Vado HD, and I've done it in about 200 words or so..pretty Kuhl! So that's how you control the action, initiate changes in the menus, everything except:
Play Back Video Clips, which is done by pressing the right side "clickable" switch once, and BAM! You're in "Cue Videos" mode, and the 1st one onscreen is the one you just, or last filmed. Click the controller again to move the clips up, and back, and push down again to view! Simple!!
I like everything about Vado HD's controls, it's a lot to pack into such a small place, and Creative Labs designed the camera to be easy to use, and it is. And now to describe how you use the PC functions briefly:
With a PC an AVI clip is the native format, correct? Make your movies any way, shape you want on the PC with Vado HD, and I'm not going to give a dissertation on that subject here, just suffice to say a fast CPU helps processing a ton, just like on a Mac...it IS video, not photography, and the footprint on the OS, and RAM is huge on PC as it is on the Mac OS, so the more firepower you've got in terms of RAM, and CPU power the better!
Quickly, I'll sum up by giving Vado HD 5-stars across the board. The controls are EASY to master, no room for headway here, zoom works fine with a steady hand, it's just plain simple Jane Simpleton to make great movies, and clips on Vado HD. Like I wrote, be mindful of the caveats above, especially TIME in relation to your content as it will accumulate quickly and an hour will be up before you can admit, "I'm having a great time doing this stuff!"
The LCD is clear, clean, and plenty large enough for viewing/movie making, not in direct sunlight of course, but plenty good indoors with light on the subject. Playing back clips, for viewing and editing in the camera (read "TRASH" the ones you don't like), is simple also...just one click to view, navigate with the controller up and backward in your clips, and BAM! HD video is yours for the keeping!
Vado HD is definitely the Best Bang for the $$$ right now, I mean it's so far ahead of the rest of them it hurts to try to describe all the reasons I bought this instead of anything else. You'll find that 2 hours is plenty of time to do most projects, by the way, and if it's longer, well, take your laptop with you, or netbook, you know? Download the videos into the laptop, erase the Vado HD with the Trash Icon clicker on the controls, and voila! Ready for more shooting!!
You would need an extra battery or two, and the external charger that I am dying to get my hands on and can't buy yet, but that's the state of affairs at this point. Creative Labs said on the telephone that the charger will be in stock next week, and so will be the extra batteries.
That's about it for my "guide" and critique. You Mac folks know that the latest Perian is v1.1.3, right? It has all kinds of enhancements for Mac, so be sure and download the latest driver/plug-in for QuickTime (Pro preferred), and all will be well with Vado HD and your Mac. PC people, you don't have a worry in the world as far as using Vado HD...piece of cake, and remember to not have too much fun!!
Wavey Davey/2-14-2009
I'm an Emmy award-winning reporter/photographer with a serious set of HD gear as my main equipment at home. I was looking for a back-up camera for use in cop ride-alongs and for home use to capture my toddler when my 3-chip Sony HDV camcorder was left behind because of size/weight/etc.
The Flip Mino HD started the whole craze and I can see its small size/price was attractive. After quite a bit of web research, including the excellent side-by-side video comparison of the Flip Mino HD and Kdoak Zi6 on YouTube, I concluded the Zi6 was superior in picture quality and features for its price point ($150).
The Zi6 is awesome. The macro feature has a fixed focal length of 2" and can take detailed close-up photos better than any camcorder of any price/size. The 60-frame mode also captures fantastic slo-mo shots at twice the frame rate of other camcorders.
However the Kodak designers clearly made a compromise on the lens. They decided since it has no optical zoom, they would "cheat" by keeping the field of view a little tighter (zoomed in) than one would expect. The result is disappointing during real-world shooting. In a car or at an intimate gathering when you're just a couple feet from your subject, the Flip and the Zi6 can't frame a head-and-shoulders shot. They get just the face with the subject's hair and chin cut off by the frame. This simply isn't practical for the vast majority of shooting situations I could envision at work and at play.
So I ordered the Vado HD from Amazon for comparison before taking the Zi6 back to the store for a refund.
The Creative Vado HD has a wide field of view with a comparable image quality found on the Zi6. The lens is superior, though the codec and compression seem just a bit lower quality than the Zi6. At low light, the Vado is darker but does not suffer from the slow-shutter-speed blur that the Zi6 imparts to achieve lower-light sensitivity. The picture is stunning for a camera this size and the HDMI output to TV is a big plus.
The Vado HD is considerably smaller than the Zi6. It comes with the 8GB of storage already built in for two hours recording time at highest quality. The Zi6 requires the purchase of additional SD or SDHC storage which is both an asset and a liability. The Vado can shoot for two hours and then you have to upload to a computer whereas the Zi6 can keep shooting until you run out of SD cards (think vacation).
I use a Mac and found the .avi files of the Vado HD just as easy to use as the .mov files of the Zi6 when editing in Final Cut Pro or viewing in Quicktime, so long as you download the free Perian plug-in. In both cases, rendering is required to import the video into a timeline.
The Vado HD can be recharged using the USB connection (lithium ion removable battery) while the Zi6 uses rechargeable AA batteries and an external charger. The biggest advantage of the Zi6 is that you can use standard AA alkaline batteries in a pinch.
But let's get back to why the Vado HD wins hands down: the wide angle lens. It not only captures MORE of the scene in a single frame, it is STEADIER. A fact of videography is that the more you're zoomed-in, the more shake is amplified in the image. Conversely, the wider the shot, the less shake appears in the image. While neither camera has an image stabilizing system, the wide angle lens makes the Vado HD appear much smoother.
The microphone on the Zi6 does seems superior to the Vado. That and the 60 frame slo-mo mode, along with the macro feature, could be the difference depending on your chosen application. I'd actually like to have both cameras in my tool kit if the budget allowed.
But the Vado HD is the clear winner for me. Add the $29.00 underwater housing good to 5m (16 feet), and you've got a great system for shooting in the rain/pool/snorkeling/exterior car mounts, etc.
Oh, you'll see a lot of reviews saying this camera is shaky -- you've got to have a steady hand. It's light and the viewfinder is "screen only," meaning there's no camcorder-style eyepiece viewfinder. In my experience shooting video in Iraq, relying on a screen on any camcorder can be deceiving. As your hand moves, the screen and the background make the shot look more stable than when you're looking through a viewfinder. And that extra anchor point against an eyepiece makes the camera more solid. Finally, this is a VERY SMALL and VERY LIGHT camera. Practice shot composition and holding things steady (not walking for example, slower pans and tilts) and you'll be very happy. Add a Gorilla Pod for portable stability!
So instead of spending $150 on the Zi6 and $50 on SD cards, buy the Vado HD for the same $200 and get a better camcorder.
I took a couple of quick 2 minute videos of my son running around and playing and then hooked it back up to my laptop. The software to edit videos is located on the device, so you navigate to it through Windows Explorer and run the executable. The program loads up the videos you have on the device at which point you can watch them or run the stripped down Muvee software to add some music or effects to the video. All very easy and not too many things you can do, but it is quick and easy and can be done on anyone's computer just by plugging up the device. Pretty slick. Or you can just browse to the folder where the videos are stored on the device and run them straight from there with your default viewer (they are saved in .avi format).
I then plugged up the HDMI into one of my free ports on my Panasonic 46 inch plasma and played the videos back through that. Very easy and since I can leave the HDMI cable tucked behind the tv, it makes playing video back for the family a very quick and painless thing to do. My son made me play his videos back quite a few times!!
The quality of the video is actually better than I expected. I have never owned a pocket camcorder before, up to this point I have only used my Sony Handycam using digital 8MM. I was worried that I would not be happy with the quality of the video indoors, but it was perfectly acceptable for what I plan on using it for, which is to record family events. There is no zooming to speak of, but for me that is a good thing. I am always attempting to zoom in and out when I video and the result usually causes people to get sick when they watch one of my recordings!
All in all, I am very pleased with the device. This being the first time owning one of these, I was shocked by the size and weight of this thing. I was expecting it to be small, but man, this thing is tiny and is light as a feather. Not crazy about the milky white cover that you comes with it, but it's better than nothing I suppose. If it annoys me too much I can always take it back off.
Highly Recommended!
In looking at my alternatives, I was almost set on buying one of the Canon flash units, probably the Vixia HF100. However, as I learned from my old Sony experience, the odds of my using the camcorder extensively was nil. One of the issues is size; a regular camcorder such as the Canon is relatively compact and lightweight, but it doesn't fit in the pocket. I will be less likely to use what I don't carry around with me.
Thus, my attention turned to the pocketcams. Now, I know they aren't "full HD", i.e. they record in 720P rather than 1080i, and with their slower bitrates and smaller lenses, the picture quality just won't match up with the most popular HD camcorders on the market today. However, after thinking about it, I realized that form factor was more important to me than getting the top picture quality, and from what I had read on Amazon and elsewhere, these pocket HD videocams have remarkably good pictures anyway. Plus, with the embedded software that boots up when plugging the camera into the computer's USB port, it's easy to upload to a video site like YouTube. Heck, these gadgets are so convenient, I might actually use it to broadcast my own videos to the world after my stay in China!
That, and the dirt cheap price of about $300 less than the cheapest of the regular sized HD camcorders made this an easy decison to go small. After all, in a couple years I'll be able to get one of those regular units if I desire for at least $200 less than today's prices, and they'll have more and better features. Not that I'd really want to have the Canon HF100 or a successor at that point, but at least I know I could own one AND a pocketcam in the future for the price of a Canon alone today.
So, with that decided, I had to pick between the Flip Mino HD and the Creative Vado HD. The Flip is much better known, and Creative seems to have a marketing problem. You can't find it anywhere except on their own website, Amazon, and maybe one or two other e-tailers. The cute gadgets, which should be big sellers, cannot be found anywhere in the Denver area since the big box retailers don't carry them. That's a shame, because I think Creative would have a hit on their hands if they distributed it widely. Maybe they still will do that since it's a pretty new product, but so far, no dice. Thus, I am only the 36th person to write a review for this product on Amazon. That's really a low number for such a neat device.
Getting back to the Vado HD versus the Flip, I have to say that after doing the due diligence, the decision was easy. The Vado HD is a clear winner, with more built-in memory, a larger LCD screen, included HDMI cable for connecting to an HDTV, and superior wide-angle lens which gets more stuff in the field of view. All the video tests I saw on YouTube and Vimeo proved to me that the Vado just does a better job taking HD videos than the Flip. So, after doing this research, I ordered one.
My Vado HD arrived today. I have been playing with it all night, and LOVE it. It's so simple to learn, and even smaller than I had imagined from the pictures on the internet. It's smaller than even my iPod Touch! Fits right into the front pocket.
Connecting the camera to the HDMI and TV was easy, and the vibrant picture filled the screen. You have to remember that it's small and light when taking videos, and has no image stabilization. Keep the camera still in your hand, and make the movements when panning gentle or else you may have an unwatchable video. Tripods help too. With a little practice, though, the video results will be smooth and impressive.
The connection to the computer went just as advertised, with the Vado Central software booting right up. Uploading to YouTube was a snap, but the upload time is on the tedious side (over 10 minutes for a 2 minute video). Maybe recording simple videos would upload faster in "HD" mode rather than the default "HD+" mode, which takes up twice the memory. The latter mode is for detailed scenes such as when I take shots of landmarks in Shanghai in 7 weeks. A video clip that just has me as a talking head could easily look good in the lower HD or even the available SD mode.
I'm thrilled with how well the video looked on my computer screen as well. It was a snap to copy the file to my hard drive and watch it on Windows Media Player in full screen mode. Very sharp detail and good exposure. It's amazing how vibrant and detailed the video can be from such a tiny gizmo with a pea-sized lens. Unless you're a videophile or need professional looking videos of a friend's wedding or other special event, the quality will suit your needs.
Especially given the price and tiny size, the Creative Vado HD is a great value. And it's something you will use, again and again, due to its extreme portability. IF UFO's exist, someday I predict it will finally be caught on video with someone's Creative Vado HD or similar gadget. This product is elegant in its simplicity, and could really penetrate the masses like an iPod if marketed correctly. It's that good.
The video quality is as good as can be expected for the price. It looks pretty good, but since it's pretty compressed, it doesn't stand up well to extreme color grading.
However, there is a lot to like about this camera:
1. Wide-angle lens - the Vado has the widest lens of all the cheap pocket HD cameras, which leaves everything in more or less in focus.
2. Wide-angle lens - since all of the pocket cameras lack image stabilization, the wider lens causes moves and shakes to appear less noticeable than on the other pocket cams (especially the Mino).
3. Interface - it features a very simple and intuitive interface.
4. Feel - it's tiny, light, and the rubbery mat finish feels good, seems reasonably tough and doesn't show fingerprints.
5. Features - 8GB of built in memory and replaceable rechargeable battery. Having the option of inserting a spare battery is nice.
These are not dealbreakers, but here are the things that are not awesome about the Vado HD:
1. Annoying on/off chime - there is no way to disable the ringtone that chimes when you turn the unit on or off. I'm assuming this is to discourage upskirt cam people or something, but I think it's kind of obnoxious for the rest of us who might like to shoot in a quiet place without disturbing others.
2. USB thingy - the USB plug is located on the bottom of the unit off to the side, which makes it impossible to prop the unit up against something without holding it. It's not everyday that I'd want to do that, but I just don't see why they couldn't have made the bottom level.
3. weird AVI codec - a lot of programs have difficulty reading the format that the Vado HD records. It's an AVI with a fairly non-standard codec. I would definitely prefer that it recorded to Quicktime files, as they seem to play better with more software suites. Final Cut will import them, but than makes you render for playback in the timeline. As a workaround, I batch convert all of the .avi files to Apple Intermediate Codec files for working within Final Cut, so that I don't have to render every time I make an edit. It's not a huge deal, but it's not really ideal either. Premier on the Mac won't even import the files... and this is after downloading the special .avi codec. I'm not sure if it's possible to get the files working on Premier on the Mac without converting them via Quicktime first.
UPDATE: I have since begun editing on Premiere on the PC, and it works great. I have also finally watched the videos on my 32" LCD and the picture looks pretty amazing - way better than you would expect from something that costs under $200 and fits in your pocket.
Okay, that was longer than I meant for it to be.
In summary, it's a pretty amazing little camera. Don't expect the same video quality as a $500 HD camcorder and you won't be disappointed. But for less than $200, it rules. Even if you have a fancy camera, you might end up using this more, because you really can easily fit it in your pocket. It's smaller and lighter than most current cell phones.
Now, I bought a Flip MinoHD within the 2 weeks prior to receiving my VadoHD cam. I took a trip to Las Vegas which occurred before the Vado would arrive. Wanting to be equipped with a pocket cam on my Vegas adventure I quickly bought and brought the MinoHD. The Mino worked great but lacked a few significantly important aspects of the Vado:
* 16x9 aspect ratio
* Longer battery life (with removable/exchangeable battery)
* 8GB for 2hr of recording (rather than 4GB of the Mino)
* Color tones look a lot better
I would highly suggest this product to anyone looking at buying portable, easy to use, HD recording camcorder. The price is right with this unit along with its recording abilities.
The RCA was a total waste, worst mini cam ever !!!!
Anyhow, I just purchased the Vado HD, and WOW, I am so impressed with it I'm selling all my other mini camcorders as I know I will no longer be using them.
Video quality, features, recording time, large screen size and some other reasons are why I consider the Vado HD better than all the other cam's I own.
But here is one big reason that I dont see mentioned much, the Vado HD works perfectly with "Windows Movie Maker" and everything else PC.
So if your someone like me that likes editing with Windows Movie Maker then this is the camera to get, the Vado HD records in AVI format which is a big deal for PC users like myself.
The AVI files from the Vado HD also load up faster to YouTube and other online video share sites,,, another big plus.
The Flip MinoHD and the Kodak Zi6 are both very good camera's and while all cameras have their pros and cons the Vado HD is to me the best all around samll camcorder.
Cheers
Davyo
It is important to note that you charge the Vado through a USB port. I always bring a netbook (MSI Wind)with me so I can video chat and keep up with everything. The Vado fits perfectly with the idea of compact portability.
The Creative Vado HD+ is an incredible bargain at the current price of $129.
Far and away the best attribute of this camcorder is the lens. It's wide. Really, really wide. This is extremely valuable for two reasons.
First, human beings see wide. That's why a wide angle lens is so valuable to photographers - this camera sees like you do. Your pictures look like the movies, even if the HD footage is a little contrasty.
Second, the camera is so small and light, hand-held images are gonna be shaky, no matter who's operating it. But, the wider the lens, the less a problem this is. Other cameras' lenses deliver a much smaller angle of view and a less natural and shakier picture. Kudos to Creative for giving this camera a truly wide angle lens. The only one that does.
All that said, an image stabilizing function would do wonders for this camera, even with such a wide view. Autofocus would be nice, too. The fixed-focus lens won't focus any closer than a foot or so. If you want to shoot bugs, this won't do.
Battery life is so-so. You can't fill an 8GB card (2 hours of HD+) on one charge.
This camera generates TONS of data. Be prepared to fill up your hard drive in no time. At top res, camera files occupy about one megabyte for every second the camera's recording.
Sound is also so-so. It's mono, not stereo. The mic does an adequate job of picking up sound, but is very susceptible to the slightest breath of wind.
All in all, a absolute winner. Convenient, easy to use, great pictures and very satisfying. The next generations of these cameras are going to be fantastic.
So I found a great website/message board, www.videohelp.com, and learned about something called "codec." I won't try to explain codecs here, you can learn a lot just by Googling the term. However, Sony Vegas will easily play your video tracks also if you go to this web site and download the codec the K-Lite Codec pack (latest version as of this writing is 4.7.3). It's a free download and only takes about two or three minutes. Here is the link to the K-Lite codec package: http://www.codecguide.com/
Alternatively, whenever you connect your Vado to your PC, the Vado software screen will open up on your computer. Yes, it is a simple program, but it's enough to get going. Once that program opens up, click on Copy from the menu bar of the program, and copy the clip to your PC. Then click on "Make a Movie," which converts the clip into a movie. Then, when you open up Sony Vegas, it CAN play that movie, which will have a "wmv" file extension. However, it's a lot easier to just download the K-Lite codecs to your computer. Oh, btw, if you prefer to use Windows Movie Maker to edit your clips, downloading the K-Lite codec package will also enable WMM to play back the video tracks.
As for the Vado HD, I think it is an awesome product. The videos are just stunning in quality, and the wide angle camera lens is an absolute must vs. the Flip, which does not have that.
PROS:
Very easy to upload.
I have not used the actual program itself, as i tend to edit my videos in Sony Vegas but the interface of the Vado software seems very intuitive and easy to use.
Great controls.
Really simple, record, play, trash, and zooms easy to use and none of the buttons are easily accidentally pressed.
Great Picture.
The HD+ option looks amazing and is the only option I record in. For such a small camera the picture is amazing (except in low light).
CONS:
Bad low light.
In low light conditions this camera falls a little bit short. Night shots and poorly lit rooms may suffer from blotchy colors or little to no picture but outdoor and lit rooms look great.
Battery Life/Flash Memory.
I list this under cons because for the people that want to use the HD+ option all the time and use it frequently between charges may find this a problem. At most, with HD+ you will get 2 hrs worth of video and 2 hrs of battery. It does have a removable battery so you can carry more around with you but THERE IS NO EXPANDABLE MEMORY SLOT! The thing that really could have made this product would have been some sort of SD card slot for more video.
So in short, if you want a mini camcorder that shoots 720p HD and a wider angle lens then the Flip and Kodak then the Vado HD is for you. Its a great way to capture video whether its spur of the moment stuff or vacations.
pros:
-good video quality
-can buy additional battery and charger (from creative.com)
-files easy to handle (.avi)
-not too expensive (especially when you have promo code)
cons:
-poor sound quality??
-poor image stabilizing (which is bearable..)
notes:
-you might want to buy a pouch for this, or a little bag.
-(you might want to buy a little tripod, because this doesn't stand by itself)
-MAC USERS : you don't need any software, but make sure that you turn this device on before you connect to computer via USB. For some reason, mine freezes if I connect it to computer when it's turned off. To view the recorded HD quality files in MAC OS, you might need to install the free codex "perian"
Considering that I'm gonna be using this for about few years (it's not gonna be forever..), this is a pretty good choice for home use.
The Kodak Zi6 Pocket camera is bigger and more "clunky" I didn't like the image quality at all. The camera cannot focus in very closely, so they provided a CU switch. But that allows you ONLY to shoot from about 2 inches away! Made it almost worthless. The memory in the camera is so small you have to buy a much larger card, which raises the price tag. At least you can take it out for downloading to your computer. Over all, I liked this camera the least.
I found out about the Vado last, and have once again purchased 3 units. This little baby is awesome. It almost looks like a cell phone, so you can take candid videos of people and they almost never suspect that you have a high def camcorder.
The image quality is excellent, and the angle it shoots is very wide (compared to the other two camcorders). But don't use the digital zoom; it only reduces the quality of the image. Instead, just get closer to your subject. The lighting is a challenge with this camera (like all 3 of these cameras) and you have to be careful not to shoot any subject that is heavily backlit. But you can shoot indoors at night with available room lights, and even under fairly dark conditions if you use your light creatively.
The Vado has replaceable batteries, which the Flip did not, so when the battery runs out, you can just pop another in and keep on shooting. Whereas with the Flip there was no way to continue (or to get out the footage) without a several hours plugged into your laptop.
I have shot several hours of video with the Vado in a wide variety of situations and my love for this baby continues to grow. I only wish that I had found it first and saved myself some hassles. But at least I know what the competition has to offer and so I know I'm not missing anything.
Tags: 720p • black • camcorder • creative • digital • labs • model • pocket • storage • vado • Video • with • zoom