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{\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1515;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\ri720\sa200\sl276\slmult1\lang1033\f0\fs22 ON CAM: You\rquote ve seen them. The pocket
cams that look like a fist sized plastic brick. They do one thing and do it cheaply. They
take video. The Kodak Playsport isn\rquote t a perfect camera, but it\rquote s a really
solid choice for what it does. This pocket-cam shoots high def and is totally waterproof
up to three meters deep. We decided to put it through it\rquote s paces.\par
It doesn\rquote t have a built in USB plug like you\rquote ll see in a lot of FLIP cameras.
That\rquote s probably a result of all the waterproofing. But, the whole thing feels
pretty tough. It doesn\rquote t claim to be unbreakable, but gives you the impression
that it might be.\par This camera is recording in 1080P right now.
And from what I\rquote ve heard, the 1080P doesn\rquote t do so hot. It loses a lot of
detail around the edges and there\rquote s some really problems with\'85uh\'85 warping
the image. So a quick whip pan like this (WHIP)\par See, this pole right here. If we move back
and forth, you see how it gets real bendy?\par Now that\rquote s common to all pocket camera\rquote
s you see, but it\rquote s not something you LIKE to see.\par
So here is sample of how the footage looks in 1080P.\par
that\rquote s a lot of pixels to get on a tiny sensor, especially with a plastic lense.
But, it works.\par Here is a sample of 720 P at 60 frames a second,
you still get a great picture at 720, don\rquote t worry, it\rquote s still high def compared
to what you\rquote re used to growing up with a 480 TV but with 60 fps you\rquote ll get
rid of some of the warping that can happen real easily on a camera this cheap.\par
Here is what 720 looks like at a regular 30 frames a second. It\rquote s about the same
as before, only you\rquote ll use up less memory this way.\par
And if you really want to preserve battery and memory, you can go into WVGA mode, and
it produces a fine picture. Not hi def, but still workable.\par
Here is what the warping looks like in 720P at 60 fps. It should be notably not as bad,
as this..\par 1080P of the same thing. Now we\rquote ll
take a look, but you tell me, which one looks a little less warped?\par
Just for kicks, let\rquote s try out 720P at a regular 30 frames a second, and see what
the warping is like there?\par And as long as we\rquote re doing this we
might as well go through the full gamut and see how WVGA looks like. How is the warping
on this?\par The still shots are pretty great. No overwhelming
praise, but no harsh criticism either. Great for taking shots quickly when you\rquote re
out and about.\par ON CAM: But what\rquote s really exciting
about this camera, though, and the only major feature that sets it apart from the competition,
is that it\rquote s waterproof. Totally waterproof up to three meters deep. The sound sometimes
suffers when it\rquote s underwater or soaked, but that\rquote s to be expected. It\rquote
s great for underwater shots at the beach or the pool, but no scuba diving, too deep.
The included wrist strap is hand to make sure it doesn\rquote t end up at the bottom of
the ocean or laky you\rquote re in. To get the best image, you need to go into \ldblquote
underwater\rdblquote mode, which we would think should be easier to do, something like
a physical switch, but it\rquote s buried in the settings menu. \par
I sure hope you\rquote re good at deciphering hieroglyphs, because Kodak decided to go all
icon on this one, There are no words in the menu. But it\rquote s fairly simple to figure
out, all the same.\par \pard ON CAM: For this class of device, this
is one of the best we\rquote ve seen, and for the price? Unbeatable. I\rquote m Austin
for TopTenREVIEWS we do the research so you don\rquote t have to.\par
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