Camcorders forum: Kodak zi8 is useless, what's the next cheapest alternative?

curious what kind of computer you have

I am appalled that you would recommend this camera to a student! As a professional Network cameraman with 5 Emmy awards, I believe I speak from some level of expertise. I so wanted to love this camera. I wanted to use it to record interview segments and short pieces for a business Facebook page. What started as a love affair turned out to be a raging divorce. I even got a chance to speak to a Kodak rep where I happened to bump into him at a Best Buy. Oh, where do I begin? Focus! It is HORRIBLE! Subjects are total out of focus as soon as you place them 40 inches from you. Why 40 inches, any further away would make the Mic useless. Even with an external Sony Stereo Mic, there was minimal help. Iris is slow and video is hence overblown. I wound up getting rid of the Zi8 after 3 weeks and purchasing a Panasonic TM-700. Sure its a totally different class of camera, but if you intend to try to use the Zi8 for anything of importance,,, forget it!

Here's what some other people observed about you wonderful Zi8-
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Kodak-Zi8-Camcorder-Review-37640.htm

Sorry, it was not ment as an attack. The limits of the Zi8 are its focal length. It can't focus at 40 inches. This
is the sweet spot for a bust shot during an interview. When you step back, audio suffers.
I have 1.06 software. It also blows out the iris. The contrast ratio is very narrow so under differing contrast
situations the camera looses iris. There are just too many negitives for me to own or
recommend this camera. Generation 3 should be the one to buy. Look at the Panasonic TM-700
which is a controllable camera. With this, your students can learn. And if you are in NY I can
guest lecture.

Apparently they give out Emmys for jackassery. Congrats, you deserve five! Perhaps it is unquestionable valid to compare a $150 camera with an $800 one, and within your rights to declare unhesitatingly that you will not hire any of the fellow's students for your ostensibly hilarious rat-punching videos. I doubt it. But what do my Nobel prize and Kretschsak Medallion say? They say hello, as always, to your poodles, and wish you luck on this year's Woeful-Raisin Bejewelment Festival. I think you have a real shot this year.
Bon courage.