Several months ago, I received the Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder from their PR company.  I was making a lot of videos for my personal blog at the time and was hoping to find a hand held camcorder that would make transferring videos to my computer easier.

I got the Flip video camera for free with no promises of a positive review, or even a guaranteed mention of the Flip anywhere online.

Thus ends the disclaimer portion of today’s post.

There are several different versions of The Flip video camera.  The one I use, as I mentioned, is from the Ultra Series and it holds 30 minutes of video.  It is currently available on Amazon for about $60.

The Flip video camera is very easy to use.  You push a button to start recording and push it again to stop recording.  There is also a digital zoom feature, although the distance and clarity is pretty limited.

The Flip is meant to be highly mobile.  It’s small and durable (which is great since I lost the carrying case about 2 seconds after receiving it) and can truly be taken with you anywhere.

In addition to being easy to record videos, The Flip makes transferring your videos to your computer completely painless.  This was the biggest reason I started looking for an alternative to my traditional video camera.  Converting the video tapes into a usable format to put videos on the Internet was an absolute nightmare.  With The Flip, I just plug the camera directly into my computer via a USB port and the included software walks me through the transfer in minutes.  There’s no cables or CDs to lose and no format issues to worry about.  (You do get a cable that allows you to plug The Flip directly into a TV for even easier playback, but it’s not necessary for getting your videos onto a computer.)

The Flip also comes with video editing software, although I prefer to use a third party software for most of my video editing.  The included software works if I’m in a hurry.

What about video quality?

The following video was made on The Flip, with some of the recording being done by my 9 year old:

The quality works for me.  It’s not horribly grainy and conveys the scene the way I need it to.  I wouldn’t recommend using The Flip to make a feature film, but it’s great for capturing everyday moments.

The biggest drawback for The Flip is the storage capacity.  The Ultra Series camera that I have only holds 30 minutes.  There are other versions that hold as much as 120 minutes of video.  Once the camera is full, you have to transfer the video to a computer or delete some of the recordings before you can record new video.  It doesn’t have the option of swapping out another memory card to give you more storage before you get to a computer.

If you’re looking for a portable, inexpensive video camera to take short videos on, The Flip is a great solution.  If you need to record several hours of footage without hooking up to a laptop in between takes, you might find the storage options too limiting and will need to invest in a higher quality video camera.

Click here for Flip video cameras available on Amazon

Posted in Things That Are Female Tech Geeky Tagged: camcorder, flip video camera, video editing software, video quality, video tapes