Well, I understand you. I tried so many different kinds of batteries including several different NIMH batteries including Duracell pre-charged which is same battery as eneloop.
When I first saw the thread to advise to use Duracell 2650, I was in doubt.
Anyway, I purchased 4 Duracell 2650 batteries at target paying $12.00. And it is working great now. Well, your problem might be different from mine. Anyway, anyone who is suffering for short operating time for battery, you may try Duracell 2650.
For me, taking 720P video, I was able to record more than 90 min. I think that that is enough for me. Hope that you solve your problem.

gundy5 wrote:i put fresh eneloop batteries from the get-go. if it needs more than than then no thanks!!

Update: after much searching on the Kodak website, I found, in the "Extended User's Guide" some information I was looking for. To shoot videos without holding the button down, press and release the button to start shooting, then, press and release again to stop shooting.

Apparently the "press and hold" method I had been using is an undocumented feature of the camera -- I don't see it mentioned in the literature. To use it, press and hold -- the camera will begin capturing video. When you release the button, the camera will stop recording video. There must be some cutoff point between the documented press-and-release timeframe and the press-and-hold system, but so far, it seems to be fairly intuitive, so I assume that the camera waits a fairly short amount of time for the release (to decide if you're doing a press-release...shoot...press-release...stop, or press...shoot...release...stop video).

I still haven't been able to find any info on the availability of a cable release (electronic, presumably) for this camera, but I did find an ebay seller who is pitching replacement USB cables for it at a reasonable price (four bucks and change, free shipping, versus Kodak charging something like $25 plus freight). I plan on getting a couple of spares. Also need to find an A/V cable, to make it easy to copy videos to a VCR or DVD recorder.

Just got my camera today. The camera operated normally for ~3 hours, taking photos both with flash and without. I shot a total of about 15 shots with the camera. Towards the end of the time, camera would not start, showing a flashing red LED above the LCD display. (Assumed it was low battery.) Replaced batteries per instructions. Camera would not even show blue power light when power button was pressed. Replaced original batteries (those that came with the camera and the ones in use earlier) and same effect (no response when power button pressed). Tried 3 different additional pairs of new batteries, all with same effect. Read up on woot returns and am now working through the Kodak RMA process. I used their troubleshooter which basically told me to send the camera in for service. I'm doing that now. Will update as things happen.

Got my camera today. Would not work with an older set of 2300 nimh batteries I had. Works fine with the included oxy-alkaline kodak batteries though. Don't know how long they will last though. I plan on picking up a set of the duracell 2650 nimh based on others postings. Good news is that you don't need to load any of the kodak software to use it though. Vista auto-loaded drivers, and Ubuntu detected it as a USB PTP class device and auto started Digikam with a thumbnail view of the pictures on the camera.

kogaku wrote:Update: after much searching on the Kodak website, I found, in the "Extended User's Guide" some information I was looking for. To shoot videos without holding the button down, press and release the button to start shooting, then, press and release again to stop shooting.

Actually, this is documented on page 3 of the "Getting Started Guide".

Just got mine and it came DOA. Not a spec of life even with fresh batteries. Guess I'll have to see how easy returns are here.

I got my camera on Friday night. It has worked amazingly well. I didn't bother to read the manual and just went and did my own thing. Just today I starting futzing around with the video mode on the camera, but for what I took of the kids yesterday the quality was more than fine. [Compared to our previous camera]

As with all things, it is truly buyer beware. You were getting a recertified/refurbished device from Kodak through w00t!. There is always a chance that the product you buy is not going to work as intended and you are due in the very least a return/refund if all does not go well. Don't get crazy if your camera does not work. See if the device can be repaired and what [if anything] is covered. If it isn't worth the time or hassle, get your money back and move on.

I just read back a few messages and saw that WOOT expects us to have to foot the bill for shipping on top of the hassle of dealing with defective merchandise and having to return the thing. That's just not right. This is only my 2nd WOOT purchase and I get this. Not sure I'll buy from here again. And to think I was telling people about how cool this site is!

Not to mention that it is the standard operating procedure for video recording on the dozens of digicams and camcorders I've ever used. I wonder what he had before that said press and hold was necessary?

KuoH

jojiboy wrote:Actually, this is documented on page 3 of the "Getting Started Guide".

Aquage wrote:I bought brand new batteries and it seems to be working just fine now. I can't believe a whole pack of batteries I had and the battery that was sent with the camera, didn't work?!?!

*giggles* same here...works great

jpurretta wrote:Just got mine and it came DOA. Not a spec of life even with fresh batteries. Guess I'll have to see how easy returns are here.

I thought mine was DOA too until I realized I installed the batteries the wrong way. Have you tried reversing the position of the batteries?

Yes, I'm sure the batteries were in correctly. In fact the one that comes with the camera can only go in one way. I put in fresh batteries I had at home which I tested to make sure they had juice and yes, put them in correctly :^). Nothing. It appears to me from reading this blog that quite a few of these things came either DOA or died shortly after. Doesn't give me a good feeling about this product. I may ask to simply get my money back if possible.

Got my camera this past Friday...it doesn't work. It will not stay "on". I've learned an important lesson-- NEVER BUY A RECONDITIONED ITEM ON WOOT!!! PERIOD!!! END OF STORY!!!

Woot says:

Sorry that the unit is not functioning properly. Please advise if you first contacted Kodak for warranty support/repair.

Our return policy as stated on the ‘what is woot’ section of our site:



How do I return a defective product?



Unless we specifically tell you not to, call the manufacturer of the product you bought. You will likely get a replacement of a new model or better item from them.

Evan

I dont know about their camera division, but kodak support for their printers is excellent. Best of luck to everyone who's cameras have issues.

DementedAngel wrote:I dont know about their camera division, but kodak support for their printers is excellent. Best of luck to everyone who's cameras have issues.

You are right, they were very good and will even pick it up from work for the return. Guess that means they'll pay for the shipping too.

Mine is also not working. I emailed woot and have yet to get a response. What do i do in order to return this piece of junk?

brunov83 wrote:Mine is also not working. I emailed woot and have yet to get a response. What do i do in order to return this piece of junk?

You need to speak with Kodak. I believe the phone number is 1-800-235-6325. It's also listed on their web site. I found them easy to deal with actually.

I saw a few other people on here with the same issue, but I figured I would post.

When my camera came in, I popped the batteries in, turned it on, and nothing happened. I tried several times, and then gave up, and read the instructions. I didn't find that I was doing anything wrong, so I tried another set of batteries, and it powered up fine. I took my digital multimeter to the batteries that were provided, and they were dead as a door nail. Luckily for me, I already have a set of Kodak rechargable batteries, so I had no down time.

As for the camera itself, I think I got a lot of nice features for the price I paid. I would definitely recommend it!

Kodak's repair center got my camera back on Monday (tracked it). So we'll see how long before they ship me another defective unit.

Camera arrived today, screen has some sort of electrical error, camera not usable :/ I guess that's the lot of refurbished electronics. Sent to Kodak for repair.

Anyone else having issues?

Got the camera Tuesday.
Seems to work great but holy carp, sure KILLS batteries fast !!!!!!!!

Battery DOA otherwise good camera

Ok, got mine yesterday. It doesnt work. It will turn on for only a second then it turns back off. Every 15 or so tries to turn it on it will actually work. Then the next time I turn it on it does the same thing.

Checked Kodak website, then want an invoice, Woot didnt send an invoice in the box, what do I do to get an invoice? How is it going for all you others that got lemons, what are you doing? Im so bummed right now!

Batteries that came with camera worked fine, but an older set of 2200 rechargeables didn't. I picked up a set of 4 2400 energizer rechargeables and they work great. So far it seems to be an excellent camera for $85 shipped. Especially since it replaces the 1.3 mp camera I bought 8 years ago for $300.

Checked Kodak website, then want an invoice, Woot didnt send an invoice in the box, what do I do to get an invoice? How is it going for all you others that got lemons, what are you doing? Im so bummed right now!

I printed off a copy of my purchase confirmation, Kodak seemed to think that was okay. They just need a date to verify your warranty.

My Kodak Z1275 from woot has problems as well:

• Zooming in / out makes a loud click / pop
  
• Sometimes when zooming out, camera turns off
  
• Sometimes lens is half stuck out whilst turning off
  

Would have loved to accualy get this camera I bought, But FedEX miss delivered it and lost it. Now I have to file a claim! FedEX does this a lot. What a bunch of morrons!

Good news. Precision Camera did great job turning around the camera. I should be getting my repaired camera back tomorrow 8/1. They repaired the battery compartment, so we'll see how that goes. I'm still hesitant to believe the issue will be fixed on the first try...

Recap:

7/25 - received by me
7/26 - shipped back usps priority mail
7/28 - received by Precision Camera
7/30 - shipped back to me
8/1 - estimated delivery to me

A terrible deal, camera doesn't work, woot will not stand behind the product, kodak will not stand behind the product. The first, last, and only Woot purchase i will ever make. Woot never advertised the camera as any thing but new, when in fact it was remanufactured. Terrible!

A terrible camera. Didn't work out of the box. Woot won't help with the return. Woot refers you to kodak. Kodak will not help. Product was advertised by woot as new, actually remanufactured. A terrible experience. Woot failed to live up to expectations. My first, last, and only woot purchase.

sastohlman wrote:A terrible camera. Didn't work out of the box. Woot won't help with the return. Woot refers you to kodak. Kodak will not help. Product was advertised by woot as new, actually remanufactured. A terrible experience. Woot failed to live up to expectations. My first, last, and only woot purchase.

I sent mine back to Kodak no problem. $6 in shipping I had to pay though...

Had mine for a week or so. The batteries did work, but not for long. It looks like some unducumented features are built in. (any bug that won;t go away becomes a feature) The burst mode seem to come and go, at one point it seemed to be triggered by the sond being off/on. The kodak help center wasn't much. Then i lost not only burst options, but exposeres greater then a half second.. prior to that i had done exposures up to 8 sec. finally found it comes and goes along with selecting pre-flash on/off. its a repeatible phenom on this camera. annoying. I have no idea why that should cause the burst modes and exposeure setting to change



Also, the videos ar great, but run crappy on my dell.. huge .mov files.. any idea how to smooth them out?

A terrible camera. Didn't work out of the box. Woot won't help with the return. Woot refers you to kodak. Kodak will not help. Product was advertised by woot as new, actually remanufactured. A terrible experience. Woot failed to live up to expectations. My first, last, and only woot purchase.

Woot advertised it as refurbished, hence the $20 discount from the last time they had this item.

I got my camera back from Precision Camera. So far its working. Its the same one I sent off, serial # matches and came with my batteries I put in it

We'll see how long this one lasts.

got some rechargeable from Radio Shack. 2100ma. 2minutes worth of video and 80 pics later the batts still dont need recharge. only complaint now is i need a few beers before taking pics to get a steady hand!

Kodak EasyShare Z1275 Repair Attempt 1
Time of death: 8/1 4:50pm ET

Time to call Kodak...

"Kodak will not replace the camera until after the 3rd repair." So...off this piece of garbage goes...

I'll ship the "repaired" model back again tomorrow.

I BOUGHT THIS CAMERA FROM WOOT! IT WORKED WELL THE FIRST DAY, BUT ON THE SECOND DAY, IT WOULD NOT TAKE A PICTURE. I HAVE A 2GB SD CARD, BUT IT WON'T WORK AT ALL NOW. I'VE BEEN TRYING FOR EIGHT DAYS TO GET A RMA FROM WOOT!. NOTHING YET.

I am so sorry for your trouble. I guess that I am so lucky. It looks like so many people are having problems.

Hilbe wrote:"Kodak will not replace the camera until after the 3rd repair." So...off this piece of garbage goes...

I'll ship the "repaired" model back again tomorrow.