Kodak Playsport Zx3

The Kodak Zx1 is essentially the predecessor to the Playsport, and we're happy to say the improvements made by Kodak have been very impressive. The Zx1 was a decent camcorder and we liked its rugged, water-resistant design, but the Playsport takes that to a whole new level. Instead of being water-resistant, the Playsport is waterproof up to three metres and its body feels more solid and durable.

The Playsport also excelled in video performance, particularly in the areas where the Zx1 fell short. By implementing a 1920 x 1080 record mode, Kodak enabled the Playsport to capture a much sharper image than its predecessor (the Zx1 topped out with 720p recording). The Playsport also captured a cleaner image with less noise and artefacting than the Zx1. We were also happy to see the Playsport didn't have the focus range problems that we saw on other models from Kodak (the Zi8 had a bigger problem with this than the Zx1).

The biggest improvement to the Playsport may be its button design. The Zx1 featured small, awkward buttons that were labelled with icons so difficult to decipher that we almost thought Kodak was playing a mean trick on us. Not on the Playsport, however, as it features four easy-to-press dedicated buttons on its back side—and each button is labelled with a fairly large, intuitive icon.

This isn't to say the Playsport has a perfect design—its menu is very confusing and its d-pad has some deficiencies—but Kodak did one heck of a job in improving things over last year's Zx1. Since the Zx1 is not available anymore, the decision is pretty easy (unless you can find the Zx1 at an incredible bargain somewhere).

	Comparison Specs
	Kodak Playsport	Kodak Zx1
Price	£132.99	No Longer Available
Primary Recording Media	SD/SDHC memory card	SD/SDHC memory cards
Secondary Recording Media	20MB internal memory	30MB internal memory
Image Sensor	1/2.5-inch CMOS	1/4.5 inch CMOS
Effective Pixel Count	Unknown (5 megapixel total pixel count)	Unknown (1.6 megapixel total pixel count)
Mic Input	None	None
LCD	2 inches with 154,000 pixels	2 inches with 153,600 pixels
Viewfinder	None	None
Weight	145g	152g
Dimensions	58 x 112.5 x 19.5mm	50.1 x 107 x 20mm
HD	Yes (1080p or 720p)	Yes (720p)
Frame Rates	1080/30p, 720/60p, 720/30p	720/30p, 720/60p
Compression	MPEG-4	MPEG-4
Maximum Bitrate	Unknown	Unknown
Optical Zoom	None	None
Stabilization	Digital	None

Noise at 3000 lux Auto
Kodak Playsport 100% Crop	Kodak Zx1 100% Crop

Video Sharpness comp chart