Nov 4, 2009

Speed HD-8TZ Review

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 Sensor8tz_
  • 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!

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