If you can’t decide whether to buy a Flip Camera or which Flip to buy drop me an email (see right hand column). I answer every email I receive and if I don’t think the Flip is the right choice for you I will tell you!
I am happily using my Flip a year since I bought it, no regrets, but unlike a shop I’ll also point out the negatives as well as the positives of buying a Flip so you can make an informed decision.
Right now I have been noticing how fast my children are growing up. Every second seeing them learn new things and develop their own characters seems priceless. But I often worry I haven’t been able to capture these memories. I definitely want to be able to look back in a few years with them and on my own at their childhood. My Mrs. has often moaned we don’t have enough video of the kids.
If you are like me you are pretty busy and sometimes the home video is low on the list of things to do, it can seem a hassle, a nagging thought. But I have noticed because the Flip Ultra is so effortless to use and handy to carry I have shot around 400% more videos of my kids recently. I am sure in years to come I will be pleased I did bother to shoot videos and in the process kept the other half happy!
I wanted to test how the Flip would cope with contrasty light, yesterday we had a rare sunny day in the UK so I shot a test at a local kids farm. As you can see the Flip did remarkably well in the conditions. Camcorders are never great with contrasty light but the results were great for an £80 camera.
I am not claiming this clip is award winning but I also want to share some filming tips based on my experience shooting reality shows for TV.
Keep camera movements steady, don’t panic!
When covering two subjects (kid and goat) use slow pans rather than trying to jump around trying to get the action. It’s much easier on the eye and you will learn how to anticipate the action so your pans reach the subject at the best times.
Good camerawork is in the mind. You need to think what is likely to happen next be prepared to gently reframe your shot eg. goat needs food, hand in bag, hand moves to goat, goat eats. It can all be predicted so you can be ready to change the shot accordingly.
If you miss something, in a scene like this, it’s likely to be repeated so just keep going and you’ll get another chance.
Fast camera moves can work well but think first if you really need them.
I read with interest a post by Chris Allbrecht of Newteevee.com.He has recently spoken toSimon Flemming-Wood, vice-president of marketing for Pure Digital who reports 50 percent of Flip owners already had a camcorder. “The point-and-shoot phenomenon has been driving the growth,” he said. “Until we launched Flip there wasn’t such a thing as a point-and-shoot camcorder.”
He also reveals Pure Digital expects to have an HD product out by the end of the year (or at least an announcement of one).
I am one of those who fits into 50% who “already have a camcorder”. I own a bigger camcorder which I have used in the past for family videos. But I often found myself torn between taking my camcorder on trips OR a high quality digital stills camera I also own.
Taking both, due to space and weight plus often having to carry a young child as well meant I would often choose to leave the camcorder behind as I love taking stills. But then later when my kid came up with a new phrase or a joke I would regret not having a video camera to hand. Good stills cameras are not great with audio!
But now I have the slimline Flip Video Ultra I find I can easily take both a video camera and a decent stills camera when out and about.
"Your programme is absolutely first class and I wish I'd seen it before I spent £3,000 on professional video production! "
Scott Watson, Summit Training
