My old Mini-DV camcorder was dying and could not be trusted any more (I missed several special occasions, including Christmas 2007 and my daughter's baptism and I don't wish to miss any more). So, I needed to replace it with a new camera. Even though I don't have an HD-DVD authoring system, I still wanted to get some form of HD video, thinking ahead. But I also didn't want to spend much money on a new camera, considering we don't use it that often (3-5 times per year would be my estimate). Up popped the Flip Mino HD. Inexpensive ($229 is what I paid) high-definition video. After giving it some thought, I figured that it was just the right price for me so I jumped in.
My order was processed and shipped quickly and I received my camera in about a little over a week, which included the Thanksgiving holiday, so no complaints there.
The camera was sleek and stylish and extremely small. This is a huge plus to me, since I wanted something ultra-portable. This will help to maximize the use, since I will be able to take it to places that I did not previously wish to bring a bulky video camera and tapes.
So, after receiving the camera, I recorded a few quick videos and I was actually quite impressed with the quality of the video, even indoors. The video was sharp and in normal indoor lighting, there was very little noise apparent. So, as far as the basics of recording digital video, I can say that I am quite happy.
On the downside, and I knew this going in, so it's not a complaint, per-se, there is no optical zoom and only a 2x digital zoom, which is roughly useless, really. The quality of the video suffers fairly dramatically when zooming in, so I wouldn't recommend using it unless you are desperate. Flip chose simplicity and minimalistic design over bells-and-whistles on purpose, and, in my opinion, the loss of zoom was the most dramatic example of this. I knew I could live without it, but it would be the first thing I would request if I were asked.
One other downside is the lack of removable media. The camera has 4GB of fixed flash memory, which is generous enough to store 1 hour of HD video. It would be nice to be able to augment this with additional cards, but for simplicity of design, this has been omitted. Not too bad a problem, but do remember to bring your laptop on vacation with you to download videos and make room for more on the camera.
The FlipShare PC software (MAC/Windows compatible software that acts/behaves EXACTLY the same on each) is functional but not spectacular. The first time you plug the camera in, it installs right off the camera. From then on, when you plug it in, it launches automatically. It is quite intuitive to download videos from the camera and/or play them directly or from your stored library of videos. It automatically organizes them for you based on the month the video was taken.
The software does make it easy to create SIMPLE movies of multiple clips. It can add titles and overlay music to along with the video. You can share video by email or video greeting card, but by far, the thing that they are most excited about at Flip is the ability to share very easily on YouTube or MySpace right from their software.
There is also an option to share the video using other websites, which will build a WMV file of a lower-resolution copy of your video (640x360). This will come in handy for sharing on blogs and other similar sites. The file size is about 1/8 of the original file. For example, a 2:40 video was 197MB in full HD and shrunk down to 29MB for sharing.
If you're serious about video editing and/or making productions out of your recorded video, you will want to have another video production software package, but then, if you're serious, you probably already do. There are about as many bells-and-whistles in the FlipShare software as there are on the camera itself, which is to say, not many.
My overall impression of the camera is that I got a very good value. I'm happy with the video, excited about the ability to share easily and thrilled with the size and portability of this amazing little piece of technology. I would definitely recommend this camera to anyone who wants an inexpensive HD camera to play with. I will effort to record and upload some sample video in various formats in the very near future, so check back here soon for those links.
