The Flip video camcorder I impulsively ordered the other day arrived in the mail this morning and I thought I'd share some initial impressions.
The Flip video camera shares a less-is-more philosophy with other low-end gadgets like the EeePC. It isn't for those wanting HD quality footage and you aren't going to use it to shoot your cinematic masterpiece.
For many of us that's just fine apparently — the Flip has managed to grab a 13 percent share of the video market since its release last year. And thanks to the Flip's built-in editing software, getting your videos to the web is a snap.
The Flip got a high profile review early this week when David Pogue over at the New York Times gave it the thumbs up. After reading his review and some other sources I decided it was perfect for what I wanted to do — shoot acceptable quality video on a device that fits in my pocket and takes regular AA batteries.
The first thing you should know about the Flip is that the video isn't spectacular, in fact, don't bother comparing it to other camcorders, chances are the others are far, far better. But they don't fit in your pocket and they aren't on sale at Amazon for a mere $140.
Everything about the Flip is designed to be dead simple and totally idiot-proof. Even your grandmother could figure out the Flip — there's an on button on the side, a flip out USB connector (no cable needed) and a big red start/stop button to begin recording. And that's about it.
There is a zoom control, but zooming is all digital and looks really bad. Remember, embrace the limitations: you want zoom, walk closer to your subject (not recommended if your subject happens to be, say, a lava flow).
The Flip even includes its own editing and uploading tools. Just flip (natch) out the USB plug, stick it in your computer and fire up the onboard software. It will install some codecs and then you're away. Editing is limited to trimming clips in length, but the sharing options allow you to go straight from the camera to YouTube.
I shot a couple of quick videos of my dog and some swirling espresso at my local coffee shop (apologies to Jean-Luc Godard). Ten minutes later I had both of them on YouTube (most of that time was spent trying to work around the fact that my YouTube account is my Google account and for some reason that method of logging in to the site wouldn't work from the Flip software. I ended up just using a different, older account).
For those that want to do some more editing, combining clips, adding a soundtrack and whatnot, you'll need to turn to more advanced software like iMovie or Windows Moviemaker Naturally you could use heavyweights like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premier, but somehow loading Flip video in FCP just seems wrong.
I had no trouble editing the clips in iMovie 6, though I have seen reports that some codec conversion is required to get things working with iMovie 08.
All in all the Flip has been great fun so far. It won't appeal to those looking for HD quality footage, but if you're looking for a simple, portable way to grab some video for YouTube and the like, the Flip delivers.
To get a taste of the video quality, here's a couple of clips. They have of course been degraded by YouTube's conversion tools, but the original footage is only marginally better. This one went straight from the camera to YouTube:
And here's another one edited in iMovie 6:
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