Early last year, when I started thinking about making comedy videos again, I thought to myself, "When HD camcorders get below $1,000, I just might have to get one." At that time, I didn't really do any research, or I might have discovered that those existed. And now, there are dozens of cameras below the $500 mark, which is ideal for amateur comedians like me.
After completing the last cycle of the Detroit Second City Training Center (actually located in suburb Novi from 2004 until its 2009 demise), my friends and I were itching to bring some of our semi-scripted bits to YouTube. I hadn't done any video production since some friends and I made a short series of sketch shows in early high school in the mid-1990s. I was mind-boggled by the array of affordable camcorders on Amazon, and after weighing many quality-vs-value criteria, I placed an order for the Flip UltraHD, which arrived in 2 days as ordered. With this camera and some self-taught iMovie skills, my weird comedian friends and I can do everything we want to do.
The Flip UltraHD is so small and so fun to use. You can fit 2-hours of 720p video on the built-in 8 GB card, and a battery pack that can last for the entire shoot. (May need to swap out batteries once if you're doing an hours-long start-stop type of shoot.) The video quality and color accuracy are great in most lighting, as long as you don't have a lot of bright light behind your subjects. Haven't tried much night shooting yet, but in natural and artificial light, the picture looks awesome.
The built-in microphone is good, not perfect. You can't be loud very close to it, or the audio will distort. The sound can be slightly "tinny" sometimes. Otherwise, it's a good condenser mic, and for amateur creative projects, it will definitely get the job done.
The camera's built-in USB allows you to plug it right into a laptop or PC. (The built-in battery pack charges while plugged in, and can be replaced by 2 AA batteries if need be.) The FlipShare software allows you to review and simply edit videos. I haven't extensively used FlipShare, because I prefer to edit with iMovie HD. Furthermore, I run Mac OSX 10.3.9 on a PowerPC G5, and FlipShare software requires 10.4 (Tiger) or higher, so it won't run on my machine. I can still extract the video clips using the Mac Finder. I have used FlipShare for reviewing clips on my girlfriend's Vista-based laptop, and it's pretty user-friendly. Although my understanding is that the editing features are quite limited, especially in terms of audio.
For a 720p camera under 200 dollars, this has been an amazing toy/tool. I look forward to many stupid YouTube comments as a result of having it.
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This Item  Flip UltraHD Video Camera - Black, 8 GB, 2 Hours (2nd Generation) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | $39.99 | $209.00 | $129.97 | -28% $129.99 List: $179.99 | $89.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Monday, Feb 12 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Feb 13 | Get it as soon as Saturday, Feb 10 | Get it as soon as Monday, Feb 12 | Get it as soon as Monday, Feb 12 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Battery life | ||||||
| Picture quality | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Sold By | — | MINGRUI Electronic | GreenBox26 | Lusher Tech | AKASO OUTDOOR | Losfom |
| display size | 2 inches | 1.3 inches | 2.7 inches | 3 inches | 2 inches | 64 centimeters |
| digital zoom | 2 multiplier x | — | 27 multiplier x | 18 multiplier x | 4 multiplier x | — |
| video resolution | 720p | 720p, 1080p | 1080p | 4K | 4K | 2K |
| connectivity tech | USB, HDMI | Wired | Wi-Fi, NFC | USB | Wi-Fi | USB |
| shooting modes | — | Night | — | Continuous Shooting | Continuous Shooting | Night |
| lens type | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom | Zoom |
| flash memory type | SD | — | Micro SD | SD | Micro SDXC | Micro SD |
| form factor | Compact | Box | Compact | — | Compact | Compact |
Videos
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Videos for this product
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Flip Share Software
Merchant Video
Videos for this product
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Welcome to Flip Video
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Introduction to the New Flip UltraHD
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Introducing FlipShare TV
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Reviews with images
The Flip camcorder just got better.
IN THE BOX:· Flip Ultra HD camcorder o (note that the HDMI cable to connect this to a HDTV set is NOT included)· Rechargeable battery pack· Wrist strap· A pouch to keep and carry the camcorder· Quick start guide and warranty informationPrior to ordering this new camcorder I had am original Flip mino (the 60 minutes model), some differences I noticed when I opened the new Ultra HD are the following:1. Rechargeable battery can now be removed, in case you run out of battery or you forgot to recharge it, you can use two AA batteries.2. The control buttons that were sensitive to touch (that were so annoying sometimes) are gone. They have been replaced by regular buttons which is great.3. Camera is bulkier than the Flip Mino, which makes sense as this new model records 2 hours in HD quality.4. No need for a USB cable, there is a latch you slide on the left side and the USB connection pops upI am quite happy I decided to replace my old Mino, functionality and advantages are mostly the same, the camcorder is compact and convenient to take everywhere (including concerts where cameras are not allowed) but the HD quality takes the product to a whole new level.Picture quality is simply stunning when recording in exteriors, the colors are vibrant and the level of detail is quite impressive (considering I watched them on a 50" HDTV set) One thing I noted though is that lighting is very important when recording, I have made a several videos in interiors (without natural sun light, at home for example) and picture quality seems to suffer, it does not look bad, but it doesn't look as good as videos recorded on exteriors (with natural sun light for instance) I have uploaded a couple snapshots so you can see how the picture looks, note the vibrant colors I talked about. I made these snapshots with the included software, 'Flipshare', very quick to install and easy to use, the software allows you to edit videos, share, extract, create video postcards, create DVDs, get snapshots from a selected video among other nice features. Battery life is quite good too, I have recorded the complete 2 hours and battery will be left for you to re-watch the videos.Video quality is 1280x720 (16:9) and the videos are recorded in .mp4 format, which for me is better than the .avi from prior models. As I mentioned earlier, the HDMI cable is not included but what I did is that I connected the camcorder directly into my PS3 (connected to my HDTV set via HDMI cable) and that did the trick. Since the file format is .mp4 the PS3 had no issues recognizing the videos.A great camera that I would definitely recommend over the prior models, the price difference is well worth it after you watch what the Ultra HD can do. The Flip camcorder just got better.
