Kodak Easyshare Z1275 Digital Camera Review: Part Two
I chose part two to be about the video mode for two reasons. One, It seems that most of the questions on this camera are about video, two I knew I wouldn’t have much time to write tonight.
The Z1275 has three capture modes; 1280×720 (HD), 640×480 (standard def) and 320×240. I haven’t and won’t test the 320×240 mode as I have no reason to use it. I’m sure it looks a bit like the 480 but half the size (go figure). The HD capture of the Z1275 has been the subject of roughly half of the emails I have received, people wondering if the quality is there or not. Well, let me sum it up… HD it is, Discovery Channel is it not. For those of you expecting to take the camera out and film your own little Sunrise Earth go spend a few more thousand on a camera. Those of us who are intrigued by getting the rest of the camera and think HD clips here and there are a great plus, keep reading.
Before I get much further there is a bit of a problem with the video capture on the Z1275 (please keep reading). Held in hand the image is really jittery, seriously, its really bad. It is by no means the normal jitter or motion of video capture and it doesn’t matter what zoom level you’re at, though it’s much worse at telephoto. Without a tripod the 720 capture is worthless, yes I said it. Step down to 480 and we’re almost usable if you have extremely steady hands.
The following is just theory and I’m awaiting input from Kodak as to fact and possible rectification.
There are a couple of thoughts on why the video is so jittery: one is that digital image stabilization is causing the problem. On a still image, digital stabilization works to make a moment in time freeze sharply mini. With video you have about 30 ‘moments’ per second, digital stabilization makes makes each frame sharp and long story short the result is that it magnifies the jitter instead of removing it. (really condensed explanation here). If this is the case, I would expect a firmware update would fix it. Hopefully Kodak will chime in on the topic and let us know if we’re stuck with it that way or not.
So that is the bad news. Now for the good news. On a tripod; the video quality is good, 2 for the price.
The sample video (link at the end of the post) is from Running Eagle Falls in Glacier National Park. I was facing west, late evening. So the the subject was largely back lit/shadow. You will notice some ISO noise but it isn’t terrible, if viewed on a 27” HD panel, you may notice some artifacts but mostly just the touch of iso noise. I haven’t seen HD video available on any other $200 cameras so it’s hard to compare the quality. The clip is roughly 20 seconds long with some kids jumping off the falls at the end (I make no endorsement as to the intelligence of the jumpers). Try playing the video with quicktime, but if it’s choppy I highly suggest using VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) to playback the video, especially if your system doesn’t have a good video card. You may notice slightly more noise in VLC on an underpowered system but VLC will play it on just about any computer.
I’ve got a few other videos that I hope to sort though and post in the next week but this one gives you a good example of what you’ll get in less than ideal lighting situation. I’ll be taking some samples in bright light later today.
I’m actually impressed with the quality of the capture in low light. I did not expect it to do so well. Even in my house, so long as it is on a tripod, you get a pretty good quality image with average iso noise.
One question has been the autofocus quality. It wouldn’t take much AF motion to be noticeable at HD resolution. From all of the videos I have seen with it, I haven’t seen the AF motion. Even when panning from distant object to a close object the AF is very smooth and it usually gets it right without the trial and error of some focus drives. This is very light and subject dependent (isn’t everything?), if there isn’t enough light or contrast in the subject you may get some AF motion when doing fast subject changes. I’ll post more samples as the week goes on and I’m able to sort through everything I’ve got.
Video length will run about 20 minutes at max (assuming a 2GB card). A couple users and myself have talked about whether or not the camera will truly support a SDHC hard and if the HD video clip can go beyond the 2GB limit stated. I wrote Kodak on this and received what could be the most cryptic, uninformative “answer” I’ve ever seen. The other user had received a similar useless answer. I’d love to have a clarification from someone at Kodak who knows what they are talking about. We were basically told that it supports a 4GB SDHC card but that it’d only see 2GB and if it did see the rest of it, the card probably wasn’t fast enough to write a HD capture to it. (this sums up a half page response). I don’t have a high quality SDHC to test the unit on so I can’t say real world wise if it does or not. Anyone reading who has tried?
Battery life in Video mode isn’t that great, but not as bad as I would have expected. I use rechargeable batteries (2000mah), and though I haven’t actually set a timer to it, it seems you could probably get two full clips on a set of good, high capacity fresh batteries. If you take a few videos interspersed with stills you’ll notice battery life dwindle faster than stills only. On my longest day hike in Glacier I used the camera off and on for about 12 hours, took a few short videos and about 600 pictures (no flash) and still had some juice left over but not much.
I’ll talk more about batteries but as a side note, the unit will run on regular alkaline AAs but don’t expect more than a few shots with flash or maybe 75 average shots depending on the brand and capacity. Turn on the video capture and you’ll be loading fresh batteries before you can say cheese.
I admit that this portion of the review is very two sided. If you’re on a tripod (or rather the camera is) then I can’t say enough about the quality for the price. If it is in your hands, stick to 320 or maybe 480. Hopefully a firmware update is in the works.
That’s it for part two. I will get some more sample videos up in the next 24. Part three (the main and largest portion of the review will hit the net on Wednesday night. Followed by part four on Thursday night. Sorry I have a ton of real work to do on Monday and Tuesday.
SAMPLES: Right Click the samples and select Save As to download and save the file before playing it.
trick_falls.mov (17MB) As described in text
duck.mov (30MB) - this duck was swimming back and forth in the same pattern for 15-20 minutes. Camera was at full telephoto zoom with subject is in good light, the sun behind me, setting… You’ll have to look much harder to see any grain to the image, I don’t seem much artifacts if any (though I haven’t seen this one or the next on a 27″ or better monitor yet). (added 8/19/07 11pm) (fixed link 8/20/07 - there are three “w”s in www not two. :)
bees.mov (13MB) - this flower was attracting numerous bees, had the tripod set for a photo but with the wind gusting, every time I started to snap the pic, the flower went out of frame, not so much a problem on video. This was after the above duck video so the light was a bit lower but this was shot at widest zoom. (added 8/19/07 11pm)
Hope these samples help answer your questions about the quality of HD on the z1275.
If you have any problems with quicktime (i.e. choppy video) I highly suggest using VLC (free) http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ to play the video. .
If you have any questions or concerns just leave a comment below or email me.
EDIT: 8/19/07 11pm - added two more videos for your consideration.
[...] Kodak Easyshare Z1275 Digital Camera Review: Part Two [...]
August 19th, 2007 at 12:48 pmThanks a lot for this second part of the review Mr. Palmer!
That movie you took on a tripod looks very nice I must say. I guess I’ll have to add a tripod to my shopping list. Doesnt matter too much though, would have needed one sooner or later anyway.
I have one question… while looking around for reviews about the Z1275, I came to one website saying that the Z1275 supports Memory Stick Pro Duos.
Is that true? I don’t expect it to be true as I didn’t find anything like that on any other site, but it would sure be nice to be able to use the same storage media for this camera that I use for my sony PSP.
Thanks again for the review, and good luck on part 3! :-)
August 19th, 2007 at 1:20 pmSurray,
thanks again for the comments. Make sure the tripod you get is smooth on panning. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, and spending a lot of money won’t guarantee its good. Just try it out, you’ll know.
As far as the MSPD cards. in a word, no. I haven’t seen anywere that it says it’ll support it and I am certain it won’t fit. It’ll support SD or MMC cards only.
thanks, working on Part 3
zeb
August 19th, 2007 at 2:51 pmadded two more videos, enjoy.
zeb
August 19th, 2007 at 9:51 pmThanks!
The link to the duck movie doesn’t seem to be working though.
Oh and.. would you mind recording a short video without a tripod to demonstrate how shaky it is?
August 20th, 2007 at 1:16 amGreat review so far. I look forward to reading your further experiences with the camera. I do have a question about the video you took. When I download the clips you have on your website, are those the original file format or did you have to convert them to a different format? The reason I ask is because I was wondering how compatible the HD video clips are with various editing programs like Final Cut Pro or iMovie.
August 20th, 2007 at 5:13 amThanks, and great, great pics from the glaciers. It’s photographers like you with a point and shoot that always remind me that you don’t need an SLR to get a nice shot.
Surray,
Thanks for the note, the duck movie is working now. It’s my favorite thus far. I was able to watch it today on a 32″ HD LCD at native resolution and it looks pretty dang good.
I’ll be happy to record an example of how jittery the HD is when held in hand. also, I’ve actually noticed when trying to hold it still, its worse than when panning around. But it is still really bad.
Brad,
Thanks… the video I took was uploaded via ftp directly from my SD card. No conversions, not alterations or anything, well I did rename them… :)
As for the SLR, I haven’t actually had it out of the bag since I’ve bought this thing. no, it won’t replace it… but it is a fun camera.
thanks to everyone for the comments and emails.
zeb
August 20th, 2007 at 6:43 pmzeb,
I have just recieved my 8GB SDHC memory card (class 6) and inserted it last night into my z1275. The camera seems to picks up all the memory for photo usage, it reports about 2100 pics remaining (12mpix), BUT only about 28min remaining for HD video (or about 1hr for vga video), this is only 2Gig video worth. I will test, it could be that the 2Gig mentioned is a limit on the video file size itself for a single contiguous shot, and that you can fill an 8Gig card with numerous 2Gig clips. Will get back to you on this.
August 22nd, 2007 at 3:01 amThanks for the review. I bought the camera before you got your comments up. I’d add that the zoom while shooting video is too fast and can’t hold focus. So the zoom is almost useless. I agree with Larry. I have a 4G (class 6) SDHC card and it shows 28 min for HD video. Keep us posted Larry.
August 22nd, 2007 at 3:04 pmLarry,
Thanks for the info on the SDHC card, we’d all welcome further input after you use it a bit.
Dan,
Yes, I agree that the Zoom is way to fast on video capture, regardless of whether it holds focus or not. It would have been nice for Kodak to slow the zoom servo down (1/4 speed maybe) when activly recording. This would give the AF time to keep focus and wouldn’t scare the people watching :)
zeb
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:44 pmGood news… the entire 8GB can be used for video. The max file size is limited to about 2GB for a single continuous shot (29min for HD video). This is fine since in reality you take many shorter shots that you then edit together afterwards.
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:15 amI tested by taking some smaller videos (5min and 2min), then checking what is available, the same 29min, then recording video continuously until the camera decided it was enough (this proved to be 33min - 2GB), then checking what was available, still 29min, then recording more smaller clips. So you can record about 2hrs worth of HD on a 8GB card (4hrs for 480p). Nice.
On a different but sadder note, I tested the jitter issue by mounting the z1275 on an oil-damped video head to ensure no external jitter. After taking a few test shots the results are interesting. When mounted static, the results were excellent, movement within the frame seemed fine. When tapping the camera (rather harshly) to cause vibrations, again the results were excellent, no vibrations were visible on playback, which tells me that digital image stabilization is most probably on. But, when panning, it seemed almost as if the frame rate was much lower than the specified 30fps, this could be due to digital image stabilization trying to ‘hold’ the frame as far as it can (for about 2-3 frames), then releasing to the subsequent frame in one jump and repeating the process. Unfortunately with hand-held devices this can cause chaos since the camera is 99% of the time in the hand and not on a static tripod, all your videos will look sub-15fps. I’d recommend to Kodak to remove image stabilization altogether from the video mode, or at least give an option to toggle it in that mode with the default being off.
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:56 amLarry,
Thanks for all the info on the larger cards. I’ll pick one up in the next couple of days…
as for your second comment, you confirm what I’ve seen, and what I suspect. Since reading your observations about the lower framerate when panning, I’ve gone back and looked at a few panning shots I notice the same effect. Also I’ve got a few waterfalls or cascades that I took video of at a close range with much of the frame filled with moving water. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it till you mentioned a lower framerate, but these videos where much of the frame is constantly moving get the same effect of panning. It looks as though the framerate drops and it’s a tad choppy. I thought at first it was due to ISO as they were taken in lower light, but I think it too is because of stabilization.
The videos I have of waterfalls where it’s less than 50% of the frame don’t get this effect. Even in the same lighting conditions.
Thanks for your input and testing. We all appreciate it!
zeb
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:55 amI can confirm what Larry has found. My class 6 4GB card held about 64 minutes of HD video. It would only show 29 min available at any one time, so it looks like the clips are limited to 2GB, but the full card can be used. The HD video is saved at 1MB/sec.
I’d also like to see the zoom slowed down and the image stabilization have a option to disable. Kodak, How about another software “upgrade”?
My testing was done on version 1.04 by the way
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:00 pmif you go to Kodak’s website the specifications for this camera state a maximum video file size of 2GB.
Here is a direct link just scroll down to video capture section.
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=11208&pq-locale=en_US
they claim you can make 4×6 prints from the video capture. I am curious to know what quality a single frame would have on a 4×6 print.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:20 amalso how is the battery life? I read a review on another site that said the battery life was terrible but seeing as you have made no negative remarks about bad battery life im thinking it is at least ok.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:26 amJust wondering when part 3 is coming out?
September 11th, 2007 at 2:23 pmI bought this camera and noticed that ISO 3200 is only available if you decrease the resolution to 3 MP, and is quite noisy.
Nice to read your review, it is the most complete I have found. I am interested in this camera, it is actually the least expensive compact I have founf which still has manual controls. Those 12 mp do not hurt. I would like to know your opinion of how it feels in full manual, what can I expect. The HD video is a nice feature to, as is the fact of being able to zoom. The other camera I am considering is the canon A640 what do you think? I like the Kodak more because it is smaller and cheaper. I am expecting the next part of the review, I’d like to know how noise levels are at high iso and how sharp the lens is.
September 18th, 2007 at 10:55 amhmm it’s been a month. is part 3 coming anytime soon?
September 21st, 2007 at 2:28 pmIn beginner’s terms, how is the shutter speed? This has been my frustration with digital cameras. I need a new one and love this model but don’t want to be disappointed with another slow shutter model. I’m taking pictures of my kids and their sporting events.
October 20th, 2007 at 9:48 amI would expect the file size limit to be 2GB because the file system is using FAT32 which only supports up to 2GB files even though the file system volume can be up to 32 GB. FAT32 is what MS-DOS 6 and Windows 95 used. They had the same limitations.
November 14th, 2007 at 4:27 pmZeb,
Thanks for the time that you have put into this review. I have benefited greatly and recieved our camera yesterday.
Can you help out with, what is the difference between Continuous AF and Single AF. Will the single AF imporve on the jitter problem while we are awaiting Kodak to get back to you?
Regards,
November 29th, 2007 at 8:21 amTravis Reep
After using the camera on a backpacking trip and looking at the terrible video results. I WOULDN’T recommend the Kodak Z1275 if you want it for hand held high def 720p video. Unless Kodak comes out with a software update to significantly improve the image stabilization, it’s un-usable. As a still camera it is OK, but thats not what I needed it for.
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:43 pmHey Zeb, i’ve found your website via google and am wondering: did you get any firmware yet?
I am having basically the same issus combined with TERRIBLE compression in the clips (although quicktime claims the clips have 8mbit in mpeg4 the videos are blocking big time)
Has anyone a comparable camera that can be recommended?
Thanks for any help!
February 5th, 2008 at 3:33 pmThanks Zeb. I dont think my camera is that exact model, but its pretty close. I just went to Death Valley, Vegas and Ocean Side California. I have panoramic photos up. I must say the quality of the kodak easyshare cameras are getting better each year. For the last three years I have been using kodak easyshare. I lost my first one which was a c650 or somthing then lost it about a year later. I bought the c750 and lost it a year later. Now I have the X somthing 8.2 megapixel and I love it. With the money i have spent on cameras in the last three years I could have purchased a higher end nikon, but it would suck to lose that.
Anyway, I have the video problems you mentioned. Its so annoying because I took a crap load of videos of death valley. Are you saying that my videos will work ok on a higher end computer with a bad ass video card? Or is it the stablizer? My problem consists of spontanious freezing in the video. And if I replay the video I see that it spontaniously freezez in different spots so I am guessing its my video card. Is there a cheap fix for cheap college folk or are my videos lost?
Thanks sir!
March 4th, 2008 at 4:30 amThe camera stabilizer problem makes the entire video look like you were filming during a 7.0 earthquake. If the video is skipping/freezing and in different places, then you’re computer is the culprit.
Without knowing all the specs on your computer I can’t tell you whether it’ll support HD playback in normal video players (quicktime, windows media player).
However, I can suggest that you try VLC. It’s a super lightweight video player that’ll playback HD video on *almost* any machine.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Like I say, it’s much more efficient and will support HD playback on less of a system than any other media player. If you want to be able to use windows media player or quicktime, etc; you may want to look into upgrading your video card and maybe ram.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:03 pmkodak z1275 normal work with Transcend 1GB 80x , but with Transcend 16GB SDHC Class6 video recording have big sound noise . Program bag ?
March 7th, 2008 at 12:33 am2gb limit file size of fat32, it´s true, never think on this!!!!, so, if format the sdhc card (any class) (4gb or 8gb) on ntfs file format that supports single files larger than 2gb, maybe possible to record hd video more than the 29 min. limit???
it’s an idea
anyone tried this???
April 14th, 2008 at 11:46 amHi Zeb,
Thanks for the reviews. Do you have a copy of firmware 1.04 yet? I just bought my Z1275 3 weeks ago, it’s already 1.08, I can’t find the 1.04 on Kodak website. Appreciate if you could email that to me.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:13 ami can view the video using the software you suggested, but i need to edit it using the kodak product or movie maker and it is choppy! will my pauses stop at the right moment i need them to splice?
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pmsorry to dredge up an old article, but just a quick update for anyone who may stumble on this as it ranks fairly high on google when searching for ‘z1275 jittery’.. i just got my z1275 a few days ago and noticed the extremely jittery video problem. I called Kodak support to ask them the status of a fix for this, and the gal could find nothing that even acknowledges this as being a known issue, and had nothing to offer.
I hope Kodak acknowledges this and is working towards a solution. I’ve taken a couple handheld videos without the jitter problem, and have taken a couple which have it pretty bad. Without knowing whether the video will “turn out” or not it pretty much makes it worthless for taking hand held video as you dont know if you’ll end up something watchable or not.
Anyway, firmware version is 1.08, which is the latest, and the jitter problem is certainly still a problem.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:31 am