The Flip Ultra

I am definitely flippin’ for FLIP Videocams!  I was gifted my first Flip, last year at a fete for Axe hair products and fell in love with it.  What true TGATP gal could possibly be without one of these amazing little innovations as they allow you to record up to two hours of HD video on the go!  Imagine the party videos and mischief you could get up to with one of these!  Without a lot of bells and whistles, they are ready to go straight out of the box and easy enough for even the least tech savvy person to figure out in seconds!

I currently have both of the newer models – The FLIP Ultra 120 and the more compact FLIP Mino HD 120 and they are both amazing!  Each model has features that marvel and they both shoot great video even in low light.  I recently shot both Jamie McLean and Wynton Marsalis and the sound quality is superb.  I also love the Flip Share software, which has some really great applications.  There are four ways to share your cinematic handiwork, including e-mail, a greeting card, online uploading and creating a personal Flip Channel.  The Magic Movie feature allows the user to make a movie featuring their own music and you can also create HD stills or a DVD!  (The only change I  would like in the software is that the load time is painfully slow when utilizing these apps.) Of the two models, the Ultra seems a tab bit sturdier and that makes it a better choice if you are gifting a young person.  However,  it requires two AA batteries, which with as much as I shoot, could get expensive over time.

If you prefer a sleeker more elegant lil’ gizmo, the FLIP Mino HD is a real beauty. Featherlight, it has touch zoom and a far more cost effective, and environmentally friendly, lithium rechargeable battery, that you charge directly on your computer.  In addition, it shoots an impressive HD 720p video (1280 x 720) and features one touch video uploading to You Tube, Facebook, and My Space. There is also a convenient HDMI port, allowing you to hook the Mino directly to your HDTV, but you have to purchase the cable separately.  The Mino can also be personalized with your won logo or you can choose from thousands of designs on www.TheFlip.com.

I look forward to experimenting to see what these amazing little machines can do and it’s going to be really fun to see how they develop.  In future models, I would love to see more zoom (they currently zoom to 2x) and image stabilization.  It is sometimes hard to remain steady without a tripod for long amounts of time (especially with a cocktail in one hand!) It would also be handy to have a way to hook up headphones to listen to during playback and a microphone jack for conducting interviews.

FLIP video cams are a perfect holiday gift for everyone on your list, especially your more arty friends and family members, who are sure to find tons of creative uses for them.

Be Sociable, Share!

•