FLIPVIDEO Pocket CamCorder : yah or nah ? (tape, record, movies, recorder)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Im thinking of getting the Ultra HD FlipVideo Camcorder for $149 thru Amazon.Com . Does anyone have this specific model ? Happy with it ? Looks simple enough to work and quality is surprisingly good for the money. Comments ? Thanks.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
5,921 posts, read 13,883,343 times
Reputation: 5229
Quote:
Originally Posted by 007.5
Im thinking of getting the Ultra HD FlipVideo Camcorder for $149 thru Amazon.Com . Does anyone have this specific model ? Happy with it ? Looks simple enough to work and quality is surprisingly good for the money. Comments ? Thanks.
Seems like you want to spend about 150 dollars ?
Use that number as a guide, and then visit your local pawn shops.
Find one that you like, get the model number and manufacturing date, then do some research on the net.
I got a 350 dollar unit, with all the bells and whistles I needed, for 100 dollars *out the door*.
You'd be surprised how much good stuff is available, simply due to the bad economy today.
Some features, you *must* have.
Digital Image Stabilisation.
An external microphone input.
A way to down load your movies to your computer.
NOTE: not all computers have a way to receive a Firewire connection, so check. If you do not have a Firewire connection on your computer, is there a slot open to add one ?
If it is a USB connection, you're OK, since most all computers have a USB connection.
Just keep in mind that most *upscale* video recorders are still Tape driven, so do not let a tape driven camera stop you.
That looks like a Creative Vado commercial to me. The shooting and editing appears to have been done by professionals or very experienced people. It probably represents about the best you can get and display on YouTube.
My question would be, how difficult would it be to transfer the video from camcorder to computer.
What software did they use to edit the video?
What are the formats of the video produced by the Flip and Creative? And what software comes with each camcorder?
I usually reccomend a $100 or less editing package, but that shy's people away.
IVe looked at YouTube for sample videos using a FlipVideo CamCorder. For the money, clarity of image, ease of operation, and downloading to computer/ direct uploading to YouTube...I think this will fit the bill for me. Thanks.
The youtube video is not a good example because it's been converted from the source (I'm assuming) but a couple of things to note about that video. They are using tripod and any pans they do are very slow and precise, as noted by Ponch_NM it was probably done by professional. Also there isn't a whole lot of action. Because of the way highly compressed video is encoded when you have a lot of action, movement and/or if it's handheld footage it will cause issues with low bitrates. High compression video relies on previous and subsequent frames to achieve low bitrates, the encoder recycles content when little changes in the frame so you can get these very low file sizes. When you have constantly changing content such as the typical hand movement from handheld footage you need higher bitrates to compensate. If there isn't enough you'll get macroblocks which are the artifacts that are typical on a lot of video avaiable on the internet. Here's an example, I prepared this video for an article and used a low bitrate specifically to highlight the problem. The lights are producing these blocks because they are flashing and moving very fast.
When you're looking at any of these cheap cams the first to look as is does it uses a widely accepted codec, resolution and framerate. It appears the Flip passes all those tests. Why that is important is for variety of reasons especially when considering highly compressed video like that produces.
Two problems I would forsee with such a cam, firstly the bitrate is not that great. Appears that is set at 9mbps which isn't low but isn't high either considering the codec(h.2640) and resolution(1280 x 720) . When you're using this cam I'd strongly suggest using a tripod or try and make sure you stable surface to shoot from.
Secondly and probaly more imporatant it only lists 8GB of internal memeory and I don't see listing for adding external capacity, if that's the case that cam is only going to be good for less than 2 hours of viseo and you'll need computer to download it too before you get space back.
For the cost I'd suggest it's worth it, for serious video though especially if you want to be taking family moments spend the extra cash and get a video camera.
Last edited by thecoalman; 12-12-2009 at 11:04 PM..
I have a Flip. I love it! It's quick, easy and fun to use.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
