Kodak Zx1 pocket HD cam and Z980 zoomer hands-on

Kodak came to CES with the new Zx1 rugged pocket HD cam and Z980 24x zoomer, and we spent some quality time with both. The Zx1 is an interesting repackaging of the Zi6 -- it loses the pop-out USB connector in favor of a sealed waterproof casing, but it gains HDMI out and some fabulous colors. The Z980 is pretty large, but it's super-light, almost surprisingly so. The unit we got to play with here is actually a pre-pro model, so that silver ring will be black on the final model, but otherwise it's the same thing. Pics in the gallery!

Gallery: Kodak CES 2009 hands-on

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[Alex @ Jan 8th 2009 8:52AM]

Interested to know the dimensions. From what I hear it is smaller than the Zi6 but I wonder if it is as small as the Mino HD and Vado HD.

[sasiki @ Jan 8th 2009 9:17AM]

Dangit.. and I just bought a ZI6 about a week before Christmas. Oh well.

[freshyill @ Jan 8th 2009 9:17AM]

This is pretty sweet. I just got a Zi6 for Christmas, but the USB port is kind of a pain since I have to unplug everything else from my MacBook Pro just to plug it in. A USB extension cable would have been a nice addition. The HDMI is a nice addition, but HDMI always seems to be in shorter supply than component, so I'm not sure I'd have anything to plug it in to. Then again, I could just use *any* HDMI cable, and not just the component cable with the minijack at the other end.

I am very conflicted.

[Rodney @ Jan 8th 2009 9:45AM]

Any image stabilization?

[Tony C @ Jan 8th 2009 10:37AM]

Holy. Guac. Amole. Z980's viewfinder tunnel looks like it sticks out the back a full half inch to an inch! Why???

[TomServo @ Jan 8th 2009 10:55AM]

It keeps your face and it's complimentary oils off the screen.

[Wwhat @ Jan 8th 2009 12:57PM]

They found there are 2 kinds of people, people that want tiny compact cameras and ones that want SUV-sized ones, the larger the more popular it seems.
That's my guess.