Kodak Zi6

Best Price:
When we first saw video cameras such as the Flip (read our review) we were excited. Pocket-sized devices capable of capturing film and transferring it to sites such as YouTube seemed to constitute a minor revolution in home video. The only downside was the quality – VGA capture is fine for YouTube but is a bit disappointing when played through a TV. To combat this, Kodak has launched its own version which can record 16:9 ratio video in HD quality (up to 720p at 60 frames per second).

Features:
The camera is larger than its lower-resolution rivals but remains small enough to slip into a pocket. The 2.4in screen is clear and bright, and it comes with two rechargeable AA batteries and a charger. There’s an SD/SDHC slot so you can use SD memory cards up to 32GB in size, and the cables you need to plug it into your regular or HD TV are included. It also comes with software that provides quick and easy transfer to your PC or YouTube, aided by the flip-out USB arm.

Performance:
The biggest let-down is probably the lens. From the outside it looks like the kind of lens you’d expect on a mobile phone and the zoom is a measly 2x. It also has two fixed focus settings – landscape or macro. This leads to a soft, fuggy focus, though it’s OK for video snapshots. We were impressed with its performance in low light.

Ease of use:
The device is simple to operate – power it up and it’s one-button recording. A four-year-old could use this – we even tested it on one. It records video in Apple’s QuickTime .MOV format, which might trip a few people up, but it makes the most of the excellent H.264 MPEG4 compression format and is well supported by players and converters thanks to the video iPod.

Value for money:
Perhaps the most amazing thing about this product is that it costs only £129.99 and comes with everything you need. That’s only a few pounds more than its Flip rivals. The downside is that the Flip comes with more internal storage – with the Kodak you’ll need a decent-sized memory card.