Creative Labs Vado HD 8 GB Pocket Video Camcorder, 2nd Generation (Black Gloss with Maroon Accents) - VF0580 BK-MR

"Second Generation?"

11/19/2009

I had one of the original 8gb vado's, so I was really excited to get this one, and see what they had updated.

I opened it, checked over all the stuff, all the documentation, etc...and it appears that internally this is the exact same camera as the first generation. The outside is now glossy instead of rubberized matte (a downgrade in my opinion), and has red buttons.

On my review of the first generation my biggest pet peeve was that there wasn't any mac support. Well that's kind of fixed. From their site you can now download a mac application that will let you load movies into iPhoto/iMovie. Which works pretty awesome, although it still has to transcode the video, it would be much better if it was native, but this is better than nothing (or having to hack some solution together).

Anyways since this appears to be pricier than the first generation, and it's exactly (besides the color) the same thing, I'd stick with the old one. Compared to other cameras in it's class it usually comes in pretty good, although the flip hd and the creative zi8 usually beat it, the vado is really good at indoors, but not as good outdoors.

Comparing the Vado to the Flip, I'd prefer the Vado

11/18/2009

There's a huge competition right now between companies vying for consumers' dollars for ultra-portable and relatively cheap hand held camcorders. The Flip hit the market with some buzz and an interesting design paradigm: the USB stick would "flip" out to transfer data to your PC. And the company developed a few different sizes and kinds, with HD and smaller devices to saturate the market, kind of like Apple's cornucopia of iPods. Speaking of Apple, they recently followed suit by adding a camera to their Nanos. Their goal was pretty obvious: why carry a Flip when you could have an iPod that could also work as a camcorder (albeit in non-HD) in a pinch? Then there's this little beast, the Creative Labs Vado.

I've had a couple different versions of the Flip to work with and one of my big complaints about that device is that it's too bulky. When you consider that in one pocket, I need to put my cell phone, the other pocket holds my keys, the last thing I want is yet another device, taking up space. The Vado, in comparison, is roughly half the width of the Flip Ultra 2nd Generation and fits more comfortably in my pocket. It controls much the same way, giving you a minimal amount of controls. I personally prefer the USB portion of the flip to the Vado, which is more like a rubber, bendy arm than something more sleek like the Flip. In fact, I really don't like the USB arm for the Vado because of the way it extends on the bottom of the device. It has a kind of pull tab to get it out, which means that you can stand the Vado up like you can with...well, pretty much every other pocket camcorder. The screen on the Vado is the same size (2") but the actual look of it is very nice and crisp. I love the color scheme.

Onto the more important things, the Vado will take films at 720P resolution. This means that instead of having the typical 480 resolution, you'll have more pixels which means a bigger presentation when you watch it on your computer. That said, the actual quality of the video is sometimes circumspect. In regular, good lighting, the picture is very good and crisp. In lower lighting (like bars or clubs), the quality drastically goes down but I've found that to be true of any of these cheaper devices. While I wish the zoom was better than a mere 2X digital zoom (some other competing products, like ones from Sony have a 4X optical), it's still decent at normal ranges. With 8 GB of memory, the Vado will hold up to 2 hours of 720p video or you can switch to VGA resolution and get up to 8 hours. It also comes with a replaceable and rechargeable lithium battery (instead of AAs). I haven't messed with the editing software included because I've heard stability and ease-of-use problems with it. Instead, I simply copy the videos from my camera and use other software programs to do my editing.

Truthfully, the thing you have to keep in mind when looking at these types of products is that you're not getting a "real" HD camcorder. If you're looking to take great video at high, crisp resolutions to look more like the HD you'd expect from a Blu Ray, these are not the devices to get. However, if you're like me and you're looking for a good, easily carried device to whip out when trying to catch someone singing at karaoke or making a fool of themselves with their manmade slip `n slide, then I'd recommend the slimmer Vado over the Flip.

Software wants $20 bucks for real verson, but I love the camera!

11/16/2009

Creative Labs Vado HD 8 GB (Black Gloss with Maroon Accents) has really done what I asked it to do, every time. I was looking for a small video camera to take pictures of my newborn daughter. We got it and took lots of videos of her playing in the bath, making baby noises, and smiling at her mom while she sang or read to her. I really was not looking for something to take more than a minute of video at a time as I wanted to post it online on Facebook. I already have a professional type cannon still digital camera, so a camera with video was not something I was looking for. When I got it I really did not understand how little it really was. This thing is smaller than my blackberry! It takes great videos and loads them onto my computer so fast that I was shocked! I tried to edit some videos and found that the program wanted me to pay an extra $19.99 or something like that to edit more than three videos together. I can't believe that a $[...] camera (I paid $199.99!) wants you to pay extra for software. Every review on here says that the software is awful so I didn't pay the twenty bucks to find out. One nice thing is that it can be used on any computer that has USB! It did come with a nice cover that has kept it safe in my pocket and once when I dropped it. When I carry it in my pocket it sometimes get the lens dirty so I have started to keep q-tips in the rubber case to clean the lens. As far as low light shooting, I am a photographer so I just accept that as a limitation of the camera, and I make sure that we always have good light when I am shooting. Long and short I love the camera, but I wonder why it even has software that comes with it, why the $20 more for the unlimited software?

Complete waste of money

11/13/2009

I paid $199.99 for the unit, hoping that it would be a useful combination for project photos and site inspections. It is impossible to take shots outside without a lot of camera shake. The screen is impossible to read in direct sunlight so one does not know when it is recording or not. Quality of video is not much better than my Nokia e71 cell phone. Finally this new version is exactly the same as the previous one, but some $50 more expensive. They are now offering a $50 discount, but of course this is too late for me. I will be giving this unit to my daughter to play with.

High Quality Video in an Ultra Small Package

11/12/2009

Classy little pocket sized video camera, with its glossy piano black finish, it almost looks too nice to put your fingerprints all over it. (They easily wipe off) That isn't much of a problem if you slide the camera into the included soft touch, semi-transparent off white rubberized case. Not to fear, the case only covers the piano gloss case areas, while still enabling you clear access to all of the controls, lens, and rear good sized LCD for viewing. (Just be sure to slip it into the case through the LCD opening rather than trying to force it in through the bottom)

Charging the battery takes 7 hours for a normal charge, and 4.5 for a fast charge. (Out of the box it only took 2.5) To charge it you simply plug it into the USB port. Some devices offer an AC adapter to charge and usually have faster charge times. The recording time is 8 hours for standard VGA quality, 4 hours for HD, and 2 hours for enhanced high definition.

Wide angle - great for taking shots of rooms, it makes them look larger. For portraits or trying to magnify objects that are not right in front of the camera, wide angle is not recommended. You do have the alternative though, of getting up closer to your subject for those kinds of results.

Picture clarity is excellent for smaller HD pocket size camera, although as is expected, the movies blown up on a 24" 1920 x 1080 high def LCD monitor, although impressive, don't match the much more expensive cameras creating full HD video. The Vado sports a 720P resolution, which as I mentioned looks great.

The big advantage of the Vado over the Flip Ultra HD is the Vado size. It is about half as thick as the ultra, making it a truly shirt pocket comfortable carrier. I do like the silky tie bag that comes with the Flip better than the rubbery, only partial cover on the Vado, but that is not a deal breaker, and I am sure there are substitutions available.

Overall my mind is blown away by the relatively high quality of the video played through a high def monitor for a camera of this size. Capture the moments, whether you are taking movies or still shots. The still shots are not as good, of course, as a dedicated digital camera, but the convenience and small size are hard to beat. Overall highly recommended.