CES and video tape

To no one’s surprise, tape is dead in consumer cameras. And 1080 (again to no one’s surprise) is THE format in the consumer space.

Personal video on the web is moving away from the "one to many" model of YouTube over to the "one to few" model of Facebook. Hard drive and flash memory cameras are making it not only possible but easy for folks to put their movies on the web. Cannon, Panasonic, Sony and Samsung are all showing great little HDV cameras file based cameras.

But it is the advent of the uber-simple cameras like Pure Digital’s market leader Flip camera that are having such a huge impact on personal video. And the Flip MinoHD is not the only 720p mini camera on the market. The Kodak Zx1 camera is a direct competitor to the Flip. And is just as easy to use. It does not have the clever built in USB plug, but it has multiple zoom levels that don’t appear to be as dreadful as the Flip’s. Both come with software and both create files that are native H264 QuickTime. It should be fun to see if there is enough room in the market for these players.

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