Kodak Zi6 Problem with Replay Screen

Sorry, I'm new at this (hence the simplistic camcorder) - how do I format the card? I don't have a slot in my laptop for this, and I can't seem to access it from the camera. Any help will be appreciated!

Thanks, I'll pick up that item you suggested at WalMart! I did contact by e-mail Kodak customer support from their website, and they suggested that I remove the memory card and try to take the videos without it. I took three 20-second videos, and only the first one replayed in the replay window. When I tried to select either of the other two, I got the same thing, black screen, red triangle, exclamation point! Maybe this camera is defective.

I hope you really can find the answers you are seeking. As with anything new, it takes a while for all support to be available. Does your card say HC (High Capacity)? I don't know if that makes a difference. I bought a 16 gig card and my regular desktop cannot read it but my newer laptop can. The unit is very easy to use,and I am happy with mine. I recorded for an hour and it said the file was 3.5 gigs, so you have more than enough to get more than a few minutes. Yours may in fact be defective. Make sure your batteries are fully charged.

This is my dilemma: When I import video the audio track is a flat line! No peaks! I bought it to do interviews but no sound (imported--it is fine on the camera)! I was able to upload a small clip to You Tube as advertised, and I hear everything. I tried both the laptop and the desktop, and tried importing from the card as well as from the USB on both. But, at the risk of all the Mac Snobs hating on me, my husband had to pull the video in for me on his iMac. I produce a lot of video and was hoping I could get some on the fly interviews with this. A mic input would have been great.

Finally, my student just got another Kodak camera (still--nice lightweight SLR) which happens to have HD video on it. He recorded a 20 minute clip in class and that sound track show sup just fine on both of my machines. All HD plays a bit choppy on both machines, so maybe I need more memory.

Any help would be appreciated.

But you did not tell us what you are trying to play-back with. Since Kodak cameras that capture video usually save to .mov files (QuickTime native), it is likely you need to either update your QuickTime to handle the h.264 high definition video or you need to convert the .mov file to something your player likes... perhaps .avi. StreamClip (among may others) can do that.

The "choppiness" on playback to which you refer can be attributed to many different things - including, but not limited to, more RAM required, newer machine (i.e.,, CPU) required, codec update or video player update required, quit running applications, lack of available hard drive space...

You *could* use a field recorder like those from Zoom, M-Audio, Edirol, Tascam and others and replace the audio captured by the camera with that captured by field recorder.

My friend who knows all told me to update to Vegas Pro 8 (which I did)but that did not help. I went ahead and installed the software that came with it and you can rig up a production in that and save it so that Vegas will recognize but you lose HD. But at least I can get the audio off the render or use my hubby's Mac. By the way, it shows up in Adobe Premiere fine, but what a learning curve! Windows Movie Maker won't recognize Quicktime, but I am thinking of getting Quicktime Pro for $29. Hope this saves somebody some drama along the way.

As far as using an external audio source,that's doable but the whole point of using this compact, handy device was to have less to deal with, not more. But it is definitely a plan B. By the New Year I will have this figured out. Take care!

IPL

Well, Kodak also told me to format the card, so I bought a reader today and formatted it and I still have the same problem. I can record a video but only about five seconds of it plays back in the camera's replay screen. I guess at this point I'll just have to be happy recording and downloading, and not reviewing what I recorded!

the card using the camera's format command? Usually in the menu somewhere.

Try Disk Utility and "erase" on a Mac.

Just back from a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo, the first trip with the new Zi6 I bought for the kids to use for a "kid's" perspective. Ate through a 4 GB card, as expected. Moved all files fine (Intel Mac, OSX Leopard). Had the non-resetting memory card problem. I dragged all card files to the trashcan, but the 3.X gig of artifact memory remained.

Not fun, especially since there's no "format" command in the camera settings, or none I could find.

Opened Disk Utility, browsed to the flash memory, and selected "erase" - AFTER COPYING FILES TO MY HDD!!!

Ejected the camera and all was good.

I finally got an e-mail from Kodak and they think the camera needs repair. They think I can't RECORD--that I can do--I can record a lot on my 8GB card, and then download it to my laptop--the problem is viewing the video in the replay screen right after I record the video--I want to see it in case I want to re-record the same scene, etc. That's where the problem lies--it plays for about two seconds and then goes to the screen with the exclamation point--Kodak says that the means the camera is low on memory. I think I'll just record and
forget about viewing the video on the replay screen, or else I'll spring for the Flip Mino!

I have questions, because tomorrow when I am taping, I want to know what to expect. I recorded an hour and played back fine on machine already. Battery lasted fine for the hour but when I start and stop clips it goes down faster.

Does it have an exclamation point in the middle of the screen or down at the bottom where the battery indicator is? This thing eats batteries like candy but usually turns off when it is out.

Did you try a different card? I took my card out of my Nikon (2 gig) and recorded a few things before it filled up. Just wondering if it could be the card, The internal memory is laughable, it records so quickly before you stop. Do you have the same problem with the internal memory? I ask these questions because so far the problems I have had have been my own software or memory problems.

I'm going to try another card hoping that's the problem with the replay screen issue. I used it yesterday and took a number of video clips of the family Christmas day, but I could only view them when I downloaded to the laptop. Couldn't use the replay screen on the camera itself, it only went to video "1 of 4" and played for about three seconds before the screen went black and the exclamation point appeared in the upside-down triangle in the middle of the screen. I can't understand why, if it has enough memory to record videos, the replay screen won't let me do what the instructions say it will, ie, fast-forward, rewind, etc. and just plain see the whole thing! The internal memory is laughable, but even when I take a 30-second video without the card, I still can't play it back in the replay screen.

to format the SD card, make sure first of all that you have upgraded your firmware to v1.11.

Press both of the buttons at the same time to check firmware version.

If it is the correct version, turn on Zi6 with both buttons pressed (not the centre joystick button, but the buttons beside it), and scroll down with the joystick to the format command.

Pick D, which is the SD card. A is the internal memory.

After formatting, you are good to go.

My last post where I mentioned that you can format in the Zi6....well, after doing that, the card would not work.

I ended up trying for format it again in the Zi6, and again the card would not work, so finally I formatted it in my Canon Digital camera, and after that the card worked properly in the Zi6. They seem to have problems with the new firmware update 1.11.

Okay, so it turns out that my ativa 4GB card is class 2. It works fine in my Canon still camera, but not my Kodak. I've head that people seem to be having luck with Class 6 cards. I guess I'll try that. Just burn more money trying that. Instead of, you know, Kodak telling me what the problem is.

I guess I'll try another card then, if you found one that worked. Thing is, my card was made BY KODAK and is an 8 gig card and I can't do anything with the replay screen, same experience you had. I even bought a card reader to format the darn thing, as Kodak recommended when I called the service number, but that didn't work either. One of these days I'll pick up another card and try that, but I hate to get stuck with two cards, as my digital still camera doesn't use that type of card!

I am having the exact same issue as the folks above. In my case I am using a 8GB Transcend card which I reformatted twice but it prevents me from viewing the videos after I shoot them.
However, when I use a 2gb card I have laying around, it works just fine as it does when I use the built in memory.

I opened a ticket with Kodak but this seems to me a firmware issue. The cards all work fine outside of the camera and even the 8gb works well if you don;t care about viewing the video in the camera.

It would be nice if Kodak had a fix for this. I doubt it's the hardware.

I stopped by a Radio Shack and they happened to be selling the Kodak Zi6 and happened to have a working model. I purchased the same card that they were using and it is working fine- shoots, records, plays back, everything. It's a SanDisk VideoHD SDHC card, 4GB, (60 min) Class 4 card. I can't remember how much it was, but it wasn't expensive. Thankyou Radioshack!

Obviously, there's a bug with this camera and it doesn't work the way it should, but it does work with the right card.

This camera just records and records and does well, so the card may be your answer! I am still learning it, but instead of repeating myself I wrote about it on my blog; http://isidragadget.wordpress.com/

Hope any of my experiences help(like when I dropped it at the Aquarium but it still records!

thanks for your posting. Since it's so small, I'll keep it with me and the next time I'm near a Radio Shack I'll try what you did. The 8gig card I have downloads and plays the videos just fine, but the fact that the replay doesn't work just bugs me. I'm taking this on a trip to the Grand Tetons this summer and I want to see what I'm taking before I get home to find out the results!