Taking on Sony and its Bloggies, Kodak has added two new pocket video cameras to its range of video cameras – the Playfull and Playsport. Both will capture full 1080p HD video and take 5 MP stills but as you can imagine from the names, they’re aimed at slightly different users.
The Playfull is for “social butterflies and social networking superstars” being hip and stylish in design. At only 1.6″ × 3.9″ × 0.7″ the camera will fit easily into most pockets and bags so that it’s always ready to capture the fun.
Specwise, you get the full HD video recording, 5 MP still camera, image stabilisation, face-tracking, on-camera editing and SD/SDHC slot for memory expansion. The on-camera editing seems quite clever as you can extract a still image from video.
Available in blue or silver from mid-March for $149. Pre-order.
The Playsport is for those with a more outdoors approach to life as this camera is shockproof, dustproof and waterproof to 10ft /3m. Great for snowboarding, snorkeling, mountain biking and whitewater rafting.
Obviously image stabilisation is a must and the rest of the features are as for the Playful but with the addition of an underwater white balance mode, which if you’ve ever taken photos underwater, is pretty handy.
Available in red, aqua or black from end-March for $179. Pre-order.
Both cameras come with Kodak’s “Share Button” which will automatically upload pictures and video to a whole host of photo sharing and social networking sites such as Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Kodak Pulse and Orkut when connected to your PC.
“Kodak has an HD pocket video camera to suit everyone, whether you want to capture your moments at the party or the club, on the mountain or on the water,” said Phil Scott, Vice President of Marketing, Digital Capture and Devices, Kodak. “The Kodak Playfull and Kodak Playsport video cameras also feature something no other camera has – the Share Button – so it’s simple to share life’s moments with your social network.”
I like the look of the Playsport – I’ll pick one up for all the extreme sports I intend to do in 2011.