Best Budget Mini HD Camcorders Reviewed

When Pure Digital released the very first Flip handheld camcorder back in 2006 and promptly captured 13 percent of the entire camcorder market with a single year, the video landscape changed. Despite the ranting of pro photographers that little handheld cameras could never equal the quality of the real thing (they can’t), people overlooked the sacrifice in video quality for the Flip’s small size, ease of use, and low price.

Three years later, all those factors are still in play, and video quality has gotten even better. The latest crop of cameras actually boasts 720p HD quality. And though no one disputes that a $1,200 HD camcorder produces better video, the little guys are more popular than ever – and the field even more crowded. We pitted three of the most popular models from Kodak, Creative and Flip (now owned by Cisco) against one another in a head-to-head competition to see which reigns supreme.

Meet our competitors: The Kodak Zi6, Creative Vado HD, and Flip Ultra HD.

Kodak Zi6, Creative Vado HD, and Flip Ultra HD.

Features

Because they occupy such a narrowly defined niche, it comes as no surprise that all three of our cameras have very similar features: a handheld form factor, 720p video resolution, nearly identical idiot-proof controls, and handy built-in USB plugs to eliminate the need for a separate cable. However, some stand out more than others in certain areas.

While both the Flip Ultra HD and Vado HD come with 8GB of built-in memory for around two hours of HD video, Kodak has opted for a SDHC slot on the Zi6. On one hand, it will add about $20 to the purchase price to pick up memory separately, but it also opens the door for sharing a card with a digital still camera, getting a bigger card for more continuous shooting, or swapping between multiple cards when one fills up.

The Zi6 and Ultra HD also use rechargeable AA batteries in place of internal lithium-ion batteries. The difference shows quite clearly in size (see below), but for extended stints away from home, AA batteries also make far more sense, since you’ll be able to have charged extras at the ready, and in a pinch, can even buy a pair pretty much anywhere.

Kodak Zi6, Creative Vado HD, and Flip Ultra HD

The flip-out USB arms on the Zi6 and Ultra HD, despite being a brilliant way to eliminate clutter, can be very tough to plug in when other USB ports on a PC are in use, and feel like they’re ready to snap at any moment while they’re hanging from such a flimsy arm. Creative’s rubber USB plug, which is more like a short cable than an arm, plugged in with less hassle and put us at ease.

Kodak can claim the biggest screen with the Zi6’s 2.4 incher, but it’s also the grainiest looking, and dimmest. We much preferred the 2.0-inch screens on the Ultra HD and Vado HD, which give better previews, despite their size. The Ultra HD also packs surprising 960 x 240 resolution, and stands out as the brightest of the bunch, making it a clear winner.

Ease of Carrying

The prime appeal of all three cameras revolves around size: The smaller the camera, the more likely you are to bring it with you and capture those unexpected moments of video magic. On this front, the Vado HD has a clear advantage due to its more compact lithium-ion batteries: It’s easily the slimmest of the bunch. But the lens, which protrudes from camera a good quarter inch, puts a nice dime-sized bulge in pants pockets, and the unrecessed side power button has a habit of powering the camera on accidentally, wasting battery and filling the camera with junk clips. The Ultra HD also suffers from a slightly bumped-out lens, but its chunky side profile poses the bigger problem, making it feel like the bulkiest of the bunch when its riding in a pair of Levis. The Zi6 technically has the widest footprint, but its lens sits flush, and it occupies a pocket neatly, even if it doesn’t leave room for anything else.

Kodak Zi6, Creative Vado HD, and Flip Ultra HD

Software

All three cameras come with built-in software to ease migration of clips from camera to computer, and eventually to the Web. Kodak’s Arcsoft Media Impression stood out as by far the shoddiest. It took a long time to install, looked archaic, and wouldn’t let us select clips across multiple folders to import all at once. Not a good solution. Creative and Flip both offered much more comprehensive, easy-to-use programs that allowed us to easily import clips, edit them, take stills, and otherwise manipulate our footage without issues.

Video Quality

We took all three cameras hiking in the hills of southern California, then out to a Charreada – a Mexican-style rodeo –to test the cameras head to head, with all three recording the same scenes at the same time, from as close together as we could get them.

First, we must note that the difference in lens angle between all three cameras took us off guard. The Creative had by far the widest shot, while the Kodak almost seemed to be a permanent state of zoom, and the Flip fell somewhere in between. Obviously, which is “best” depends on what type of shooting you’ll do. The Creative managed to cram more into our indoor and close-up shots, but the Zi6’s mild zoom definitely helped move us a notch closer to the action at outdoor events.

Comparing the same shots head to head, trends began to emerge between cameras. Though different levels of zoom made it difficult to compare image, the Vado HD clearly trailed the competitors. It tended to blow out bright spots, and muddy fine details like branches and sand texture. The Flip Ultra HD and Kodak Zi6, meanwhile, seemed to capture about the same amount of detail (after compensating for zoom) but differed in color quality. The Zi6 tended toward richer, warmer colors, sometimes leaning toward oversaturation, while video from the Ultra HD has a dryer, crisper look, sometimes leaning toward washed out or dull. Between the two, the Flip produced more realistic colors most of the time, making it our all-around favorite for video quality.

Kodak Zi6 Footage

Creative Vado HD Footage

Flip Ultra HD Footage

Audio from all three contenders stacked up very clearly: The Ultra HD captured the most definition without any contention, the Vado HD lost some of the detail but still sounded good, and the Kodak sounded crackly and overpowered under too much volume – by far the worst of the bunch.

All three cameras suffer fairly severe problems with shake when placed in the wrong hands, because they all lack image stabilization. None really stood out to us as any worse than the others, but it’s worth mentioning that you’ll need to put a lot of effort into holding each camera still unless you want your footage to elicit nausea on playback.

Accessories

As mentioned before, the Zi6 comes with no memory card, so you can count on spending $20 to hit the same 8GB mark as the other cams, but that still makes it the least expensive of the bunch. You also get a separate wall charger for the batteries – which Flip doesn’t include with its own AA-powered camera, component video cables for watching your videos on the big screen, as well as a wrist strap and camera pouch. Creative offers some more deluxe items in its kit, including a silicon skin for protecting the camera, a USB extension cable that makes connecting much easier, and an HDMI cable for outputting HD video to a television. Flip offers a wrist strap and carrying case, which look pretty weak in comparison to the kit other manufacturers are offering up.

Conclusion

The original is still the best. Though it’s a bit chunky, Flip’s Ultra HD stood out as the best camcorder of the bunch – the one we would happily bring along on our next trip to Fiji or just down to the corner market. Creative’s Vado HD offers by far the best-looking package, and an accessory kit that justifies its higher price, but video quality just didn’t impress us much, so we have a hard time recommending it. The Zi6, by contrast, is still $20 cheaper than the Flip Ultra HD after adding an SD card, and the only camera to offer swappable batteries and memory, so it makes the best value of the bunch, and the best for travelling, too.