While KODAK is currently trapped in a Chapter 11 nightmare they haven’t shut up shop completely. Take the KODAK PLAYFULL Dual micro camera for example, this plucky little camera has all of the talents of it’s much larger full sized competitors. HDR Capable, super slow motion, dual wide angle lenses all wrapped in a case that looks like it fell out of a cereal box..

The PLAYFULL Dual is a true dual mode camera, trying to live up to its name the PLAYFULL Dual includes switchable dual wide angle lens —26 mm for stills and 31 mm for video -. Once captured your KODAK moments can be shared directly to your TV through the mini HDMI or uploaded to your computer using the USB2.

With many tricks up its sleeve KODAK may have developed the perfect pocket camera without even realizing it. With included modes such as; burst mode that will capture up to 20 frames in one shot, automatic panorama and intelligent portrait which captures pictures based on the subject – smile, eyes and face angle-, the Dual is full of surprises. The biggest surprise of all has to be the HDR –High Dynamic Range – capable CMOS sensor, which may make this the perfect pocket camera even for a professional photographer.

Video is supported all the way up to 1080p HD at 60fps, allowing high resolution and sharp video’s to be captured. An integrated microphone is included, nothing fancy mind you just a standard monaural wind listener. A microphone jack is also included if you wish to pick more than the whistling wind.

Turning the resolution down the PLAYFULL Dual can shoot in much higher frame rates than normal. At its lowest resolution of 848 x 480 – still higher than the basic web resolution of 640 x 400 – the Dual can capture video at an amazing 240 frames per second. At 240fps the video can be used to produce some excellent slow motion videos, something normally only available on far more expensive cameras, like the GoPro or Flex.

Still photos are shot at up to 12MP with the BSI – Back-Side Illuminated – CMOS providing bright and sharp pictures. The Dual includes a number of special modes to enhance you still photos, helping even the newest photographer feel like a shutter master.

Burst mode allows for a sequence of up to 20 photo’s to be taken in quick succession, allowing you to capture that ultimate action shot without having the timing of cunning fox.

Dramatic mode boosts the color saturation giving photo’s a brighter richer quality. If this isn’t enough the camera has a full blown HDR mode that is able to capture a sequence of 3 photos and combine them together along with the dramatic boost effect to produce a true HDR image, giving your pictures that almost rendered quality, a more real than real look.

Automatic panorama allows you to rotate the camera through 180 degrees horizontally capturing the view – or 120 degrees vertically -, the camera will automatically stitch the photo’s together producing a single panoramic photo.

Intelligent portrait will capture a burst of photos and select the best shot based on the subjects eye position, smile, facial angle and sharpness, ensuring your portraits always have open eyes and a big smiles.

A flash is included for those night time situations that need a little illumination. The Xenon flash has a range 10 cm–3.0 m and includes red eye reduction logic to really blind people with that double flash.

Kodak’s BSI CMOS sensor is essential for shooting in darker situations. Night time shooting allows the light sensitivity of the sensor to be used to its full effect. The BSI CMOS allows the PLAYFULL to capture many pictures quickly with reduce blur and enhance clarity, when compared to older CMOS sensors.

Image stabilization is digitally applied constantly to ensure the image taken is as clear and blur free as possible.

Also included is an automatic share function that allows one click uploading to your KODAK account or your favourite social media site. As long as your favourite is Facebook, Flickr, YouTube or Twitter.

Playback of video and reviewing your happy snaps is done using the camera’s rear 3 inch LCD display. A speaker is also present for video playback to give you the full audio video experience on the go. Editing on the go is also possible using the PLAYFULLs built in software that allows pictures to be trimmed and highlight videos to be created automatically.

Using a BSI CMOS sensor allows the PLAYFULL to be a handful of camera, feature rich at a very reasonable price. The camera will be on sale in the US in February at $199 USD, world wide release should follow a few months after the US release. Now if they could sell them for a million dollars apiece they may have a shot at surviving.

Source: KODAK

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KODAK PLAYFULL Dual Product Specifications:
Standard features

• Sensor type 1 / 2.33-type, 12 MP BSI CMOS
• Lens 4.7 mm F2.6 AF lens
• Zoom 4X digital
• Image stabilization digital
• Display 3.0 in. (approx. 460k dots) TFT color LCD
• Storage 14 MB internal memory, SD/SDHC card expansion slot (up to 32 GB card)
• Face Detection yes
• Focus modes auto, macro
• Focus range auto: 10 cm–infinity; macro: 10–50 cm
• White balance auto
• Flash mode auto, red-eye reduction, off
• Flash range 10 cm–3.0 m

Shooting modes

• Smart Capture: yes
• Picture in video: yes (still capture during recording)
• Creative effects: KODACOLOR, EKTACHROME, KODACHROME, T-MAX, TRI-X, sepia
• Scene modes: landscape, children, self-portrait, night landscape, automatic panorama, portrait, might portrait

Still capture/review

• Still format: JPEG/EXIF v2.3
• Picture size: 12 MP (4:3), 9 MP (16:9), 6 MP (4:3)
• Burst modes: 0.8 fps @ 12 MP, 1.1 fps @ 9 MP, 1.7 fps @ 6 MP
• Review options: image orientation, single-up, magnify stills, fast scroll, delete, view thumbnails / multi-up, Share
• Self-timer: 2 sec., 10 sec.

Video capture/review

• Video formats: H.264 (MP4), AAC LC
• Video capture: 1080p (1920 × 1080, 30/60 fps), 720p (1280 × 720, 30/60/120 fps), WVGA (848 × 480, 30/240 fps)
• Review options: fast forward/rewind, delete, image orientation, pause by frame, volume control, multi-up (thumbnail), Share
• Editing: make picture, trim, make highlight video

Physical specifications

• I/O interface: USB 2.0 (high-speed), AV out (NTSC/PAL), HDMI out, external stereo mic/headphone jack
• Tripod mount: ¼ in. standard
• Power: KODAK Rechargeable Li-ion Battery KLIC-7004, AC adapter
• Flash: Xenon
• Orientation: sensor yes
• Microphone: yes, monaural
• Speaker: yes
• Dimensions: W × H × D: 2.3 × 4.3 × 0.8 in.
• Weight: 4.4 oz with memory card and battery
• Share destinations: KODAK Gallery, FACEBOOK, FLICKR, YouTube, ORKUT, and TWITTER sites, Email
• Features: pictures, videos, multiple selections, multiple destinations