1:00 AM
Paul B
My new company is a Microsoft partner, and with that we were asked to be a part of the Office 2010 review. Pretty cool right? I am sure many of you techno-thusiasts are on that program too. Well with that, good old Microsoft asked us to take a small HD camera and video our users using Office 2010 for some kind of Microsoft marketing campaign!
They told my company they would reimburse us for a camera up to $200 and suggested the Flip-Mino HD camera. Well, I know that camera sucks so I looked for an alternative. I found this “el-cheapo” Speed HD-8TZ camera on Amazon for $195, just a little cheaper than the Flip-Mino, and with better resolution.
My boss came to me knowing I like to make videos for Bauer-Power and asked if I wanted to take the lead on this project. In return I get to keep the camera. What? Free camera? Hells yeah!
My expectation wasn’t very high because the camera was a virtual no-name (Who has heard of Speed electronics anyway) and it was a low-cost camera. It turns out this thing is actually pretty good! Here is some video I shot with it:
For you technical types, here are the specs:
- 12.0 MegaPixel (Max) / 5M Sensor
- 20X Zoom
- 3" TFT LCD
- Resolution: QVGA(30fps), WVGA(60fps), HD 720P(60fps), HD 1080P(30fps)
- HDMI Output
- Support SDHC Card up to 16GB
- White Balance: Auto / Sunny / Cloudy / Tungsten / Fluorescent
Definitely not a bad camera. Much better quality than my Kodak ZI6 I think, and certainly better resolution. I also like that it records fairly well in the dark, which is more than I can say with my ZI6, or my previous HD camera. One thing I don’t like, but is standard in cheap HD cameras, is lack of image stability making a tripod a must!
Do you have a HD-8TZ? Like it? Dislike it? Ever hear of Speed electronics? Hit me up in the comments!
