Shopping CartFlip Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (White) OLD MODEL
date : October 11th, 2011Flip Video
Review : 3 Reviews
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Tags : 60Minutes, Camcorder, Flip, MODEL, Series, Ultra, White
- Simple to use, pocket-sized camcorder with one-touch recording and digital zoom
- Holds 60 minutes of full VGA-quality video on 2GB of built-in memory; no tapes or additional memory cards required
- Convenient USB arm plugs directly into your computer for easy viewing and sharing
- Built-in software lets you easily e-mail videos, upload to YouTube and AOL, and capture still photos from video
- Watch videos instantly on TV with included cable
The Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder is a revolutionary new way to shoot and share videos. Its portable, simple-to-use design makes it incredibly easy to create high quality home movies. The camcorder‘s built-in software provides a convenient, seamless way to save and share memories: email videos, make custom movies, capture still photos from video clips, and upload videos directly to popular video-sharing sites, including AOL Video and YouTube. Flip Video Ultra is the ideal, affordable choice
Ultra Flip Review and walkthrough,
I’m a computer artist and animator and I haven’t been happy with a lot of cameras. I was drawn to the Ultra Flip because of the lack of wires, I like the idea of the USB stick. They include a set of batteries with the package so you can start recording right away (as well as a little velvet drawstring bag). It was very easy to use, it’s just as promised, click the red button to record (and to stop) then flip (ha-ha) the USB stick out and put it in your computer’s USB slot.
I read a reviewer of another model of the Flip saying he needed an extra part to hook up his USB, I don’t know what he was using but you don’t need any middleman if you have a current USB port. Of course it might have been that he didn’t feel comfortable with the camera sort of weighing itself down a bit when you have the USB attached to a tower. I’m using mine with a laptop which is on a table so the camera can rest comfortably on it. He might have gotten a USB extension so that he could set his down if he was using a desktop computer. I did try the flip out in my desktop and I did have to make sure that the dog didn’t jump around it as it does feel sort of vulnerable, but I will mainly use it in my laptop.
After you have it in your USB port, you will then go to “my computer” and see a new blue icon (unless you’re Mac, you’ll see a folder for you instead), click it and it installs the program – which seems to run on the stick alone, not taking up any space on your system, although it does put a small encoder on your system.
(Side note: – I did try to click “explore” before I installed the program to see if I could just drag the videos directly to my desktop by passing the program, and while you can save them, you can’t see the videos). You have to go through the program to save them to your computer and be viewed properly.
So after you have installed the program, click “flipvideo” from your “my computer”, then click “Flip Video for PC.exe” to open the program. It’s very simple, you will see your videos and on the left you’ll see a “save video” tab, here you can select what video(s) you want to move to your hard drive and then click the save button – they call it saving to your library, they will ask you to name a library, which will end up being a folder that holds your videos, which you will find in your documents as “My Flip Video Library”.
After you have done this, you can then open them normally (outside of the program using just a player). They will be saved as AVIs.
They also have a “share video” section where you can upload your movies straight to Youtube, AOL or any video sharing website. Sounds good, but I haven’t tried it yet. Now you can make a “movie mix” which is basically adding an effect to your video (slowed down in black and white or cartoon fish floating about etc. – no editing). It’s very (very) simple, but it’s cute.
They include a little plug that connects your Flip straight to your TV. Use your remote to find your ‘line’, ‘input’ or ‘source’ button to find it, click a few times, you’ll see the first still of your video when you’ve got it right. Then hit play, now it wasn’t clear in the instructions, but you want to hit play on your Flip (not the TV), to watch your video on your television and it looks great!
They also have an option to ‘save for email’ – if you do this it will save the videos into a folder “Flip videos for emailing” on your desktop that you can then send as attachments. When I did this it sped up the sound (think Mickey and Minnie) while the footage remained at normal speed (now don’t worry, this doesn’t happen when you save the videos to your computer as discussed above). This is probably a compression problem, but we can’t fix it in their program, so I won’t be using that option again – I’ll stick to the ‘save to library’ option. It also does this for the ecard videos. There is an option to send the video as an ecard with cute little borders around them, recipients are sent a link to see the card, but again when played the sound is sped up.
In spite of that (cuz it’s worth it), I have found my video camera, it’s so small and light, there are no plugs or cords, it takes great videos, no tracers, no little pixel smudges and the lighting is great. I took one outside at dusk and it looks nice. This thing records twice as long as my bulky handycam and I don’t have to format any disks or plug in a bunch of stuff. The picture quality of the Ultra Flip videos is really amazing, my other cameras (handycam, Creative labs, the onboard Vaio and VIJE) do not hold a candle to the Flips quality. I’ll be using it for video projects. I am very happy with the Ultra Flip and will be bringing it along with me for a family visit. I recommend it! Yes, I flipped for it!
NEW UPDATE ADDITION (11/15/07): Just an update for you here, after I wrote this review I did run the flip on some other…
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|Terrific substitute for a larger camcorder for casual use,
I’d love to do a video review of the Flip Video Ultra, but there’s so much detail to be covered, I think the video format might get boring.
First, the Flip Video Ultra is in a class all its own. It is purely a highly portable video recorder for casual use. It will not replace your $12,000 Sony prosumer model or even your $800 Sony, Canon or Pansonic.
Rather the Flip Video Ultra is an extremely portable unit, measuring about 2.25 inches across by 4 inches high and a bit more than an inch thick. Powered by two AA cells, it can record 60 minutes or – surprise – more of video. In my experiments, I recorded almost 2 hours of video on a Flip Video Ultra. There’s no big secret here: if what you are recording has relatively little movement, you can stretch your recording time. Thus, for recording lectures of your version of “My Dinner With Andre”, the Flip might work out better than you planned.
The 640 x 480 VGA video is surprisingly good. Not theatrical quality sharpness, but far better than your cell phone camera will produce. Action is recorded smoothly with little, if any, artifacting. Exposure capability is excellent. I tried it on scenes ranging from a brightly lit sunny outdoor street with wide contrasts to a dark highway lit only by passing cars. Good detail under all conditions with little blocking. Quite surprising, really.
Incidentally, another reviewer complained that the lens could be easily scratched. That’s not true. The actual lens is recessed and protected by either a glass or plastic cover. So far, it shows no susceptibility to being easily scratched. If it is, it appears to held in place by a metal fitting. Whether that permit user replacement, I don’t know, but should the lens cover become damaged, I am sure it could be replaced.
The unit has what appears to be about a 2x digital zoom, which is a nice touch.
The Flip Video Ultra is a very nice piece of design. The battery compartment latch is on the bottom and is highly resistant to accidental opening. There’s also a tripod socket on the bottom. It is mounted off-center, which I consider unfortunate because this camera would be a perfect fit for the Quik Pod Pro+ with All Accessories Including Tripod Legs, a handheld camera mount that allows you to include yourself and a companion or two in your own videos. It’s really a very clever gadget, but the off-center tripod mount on the Flip makes it a tiny bit difficult to use.
From the back, on the right side, is a sliding switch to power the unit on and off. Again, the switch is very well designed and very difficult to trip accidentally.
On the back of the Flip is a 1.5″ transflective screen that you can see even in quite bright daylight. It is more than sufficient for casual videomaking. There’s a 4-way rocker switch under the viewfinder. This four way has a big red button in the middle that controls recording. It is on the difficult side to use, requiring you to use a fingernail to depress it to stop and start recording. They obviously made it this way to prevent accidental starting and stopping, but they did their job too well. It’s a bit of hassle to cleanly start and stop recording. But at least you won’t be making any accidental recordings with this unit. The rocker switch is multi-purpose. Playback volume is controlled from here as is the digital zoom and, in playback mode, moving from one clip to another. There’s a play button to the left of the 4-way and a delete button to the right. Couldn’t be simpler. My only complaint is that the recording start and stop function isn’t as snappy as it could be.
Response time of the unit is excellent. Once you do get that pesky start button pressed, the unit begins recording almost instantly. Audio quality, by the way, is excellent. The built-in microphone is sensitive and nearby voices are recorded without distortion.
Some people fail to see the utility in the Flip Video Ultra, pointing out that their digital cameras also have video. Yes, many do. But few offer the capability of recording an hour or more of 640×480 video at one time. Most can’t hold an hour of video on a single card. And few are as small and compact as the Flip Video Ultra. So the comparison of the flip with digital still cameras doesn’t fly.
The Flip is the kind of thing you can carry with you all the time and whip into action reasonably quickly (but thanks to that pesky record switch, not quickly enough) to capture some cute thing the kids are doing or something that is going on around you. Bloggers, blossoming independent journalists and artists of many kinds will love the Flip. Parents who are into recording their kids’ cute moments will also love it. And, frankly,…
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|Small Device With Big Memory! (UPDATE!),
Customer Video Review Length:: 1:34 Mins
UPDATE: The new model of FLIP Video is better designed and does not have a problem with the record button being insensitive as shown in this video. Also, the HD version is already a classic!
A video camera the size of a box of cigarettes records up to 1 hour of your favorite ‘instant’ moments with an easy on/off button, minor zoom and shuttling between videos. Simply plug it into your PC, download the SETUP and you are on your way to editing your own home movies. This is a cool invention! And YES, the Record button does take a firm click – its not sensitive as you’ll see (Press, press, press….)
Since you don’t want to risk snapping the FLIP Camera USB port off on your computer, I recommend you buy the CABLES TO GO 26686 (male and female ends). It is six feet long and very convenient.
Also, I highly recommend buying a waterproof encasement for rainy or even very humid days. I fried my FLIP recently without any water (just humidity) getting into the flash drive.
Have fun!
ANOTHER UPDATE – 9/14/2009:
This version of the FLIP does not download to YOUTUBE anymore. You need to save it in “Windows Movie Maker” and THEN transfer that version into YOUTUBE. Software is always changing. I understand that the NEW HD version of FLIP has the upgraded software.
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