Flip Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (White) OLD MODEL
by Flip Video
Our Price: $179.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $44.99 (click here)
Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: Flip VideoFormat: CD-ROM
Model: F260W
Color: White
Product features:
- Simple to use, pocket-sized camcorder with one-touch recording and digital zoom
- Holds 60 minutes of full VGA-quality video on 2GB of built-in memory; no tapes or additional memory cards required
- Convenient USB arm plugs directly into your computer for easy viewing and sharing
- Built-in software lets you easily e-mail videos, upload to YouTube and AOL, and capture still photos from video
- Watch videos instantly on TV with included cable
- Pinnacle Studio HD V14 [OLD VERSION]
- AmazonBasics SDHC Class 4 32GB Secure Digital Card
- AmazonBasics SDHC Class 10 4 GB Secure Digital Card
- AmazonBasics 8 GB Class 4 SDHC Flash Memory Card
- AmazonBasics 3RCA Component Video Cable (6 Feet)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Flip Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (White) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: Good Simple Youtube Camera for price
Summary: 4 Stars
I received the Flip Video Ultra (60-Minutes, White) Camcorder for Christmas this year. Within 5 minutes I had the batteries installed and was filming my family opening their presents. The ease of use of this camera is excellent. The quality of the video is approximately equivalent to VHS, and the low light recording and sound are excellent. There is no image stabilization, so zooming/panning should be kept to a minimum for best results. The camera also only has a Digital zoom. I do like the fact that this Camera uses AA batteries so it won't be a paper weight in a couple of years like the Sony NSC-GC1 when its built in battery dies. I wish this camera supported external SD cards like its competitors but unfortunately it doesn't.
One problem I found when operating the camera, was when connected directly to a TV I don't think there is a way to rewind clips. When I held the back/forward buttons on the camera the camera just went to the next clip.
I found the .avi files to be inefficient, as one 30-minute clip I shot was 800Mb in size but once re-encoded to MPEG4 H.264 it was much smaller. Also, for some reason the when I tried to play my clip using my free VLC player Version 0.8.6c the there was no sound. I was able to play the clips fine in Quicktime though...
The software included in the flash memory of the camera seems a bit slow but works for its intended purpose. Unfortunately, for those who want to edit their video, the included editing tools are only good for resizing or merging clips.
I own a Core 2 Duo iMac and wanted to edit my footage using iMovie '08 unfortunately, the current version of the software doesn't support importing .avi files. I searched for a solution and found that the footage can be re-encoded to MPEG4 or changed to a .mov Quicktime wrapper and it will import fine into the new iMovie. What a pain though! Some softwares that are useful for Mac to help re-encode the video are: iSquint (free), Visual Hub (more advanced pay version of iSquint), and Quicktime Pro.
Once I had my footage imported into my computer, I uploaded a few of them into Youtube to share our Christmas with some of our extended family. Unfortunately, I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the footage in Youtube. I tried to research how to encode the footage with different formats/bitrates for maximum quality in Youtube but unfortunately, no matter what I tried (MPEG4 H.264, .flv, etc) the quality was the same. Apparently, Youtube resizes/re-encodes the footage no matter what format it is in so I think the only way to get better quality on Youtube would be to start out with better quality clips.
At this point, I started researching alternative cameras in this price range and found the following results:
Sony NSCGC1 Net-Sharing 5MP CMOS MPEG4 Camcorder ($149.00) - This camera has the advantage of image stabilization, a better LCD, more controls, and it accepts proprietary Sony Memory Stick cards but reviews on the net state that it has lower image quality due to the standard MPEG it records and lower low light quality than the Flip Ultra. Who wants that? There is no memory included so you must spend extra out of the box to get this working.
Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder and Aiptek GO-HD High Definition 720p Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom ($149.99 and $213.00) - These cameras seem much better on paper than the Flip Ultra, as they record HD 720P quality footage to .mov Quicktime files. They accept SD cards, and the GO-HD has an 3x optical zoom. Unfortunately, like the Flip Ultra they don't have image stabilization and camera shake should be even more noticeable on the HD footage they record (the footage isn't true HD because it is compressed in the camera anyway...) The biggest problem with the Aiptek cameras however, is the sound quality is very bad on these cameras. I was unable to do a direct comparison, but the clips on Youtube shot with Aiptek cameras has stunning video and terrible audio. Also, the A-HD has complaints about battery life as well. It uses removable lithium ion batteries. These camera take 8MP stills and might be a good option for those who don't need good audio quality or can record their audio separately. Again, memory is not included so that adds to the cost.
Samsung SC-X300 Flash Memory Divx Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom ($297.99) - This camera shoots in SD but costs much more than the competition. Although it does have a 10x optical zoom, it records to DIvX so it has the same format downsides for Mac users as the Flip Ultra. Unfortunatly, the Sanyo Xacti series seems to be better reviewed than this camcorder.
Sanyo Xacti Series Sanyo VPC-CG65 6MP MPEG-4 Flash Memory Digital Camcorder (Black), Sanyo Xacti HD700 7MP MPEG-4 High Definition 720p Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Brown), Sanyo Xacti HD1000 4MP MPEG4 High Definition 1080i Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom ($366, $539, $679) These camera are in a different class than the Flip Ultra and are full featured camcorders. For people wanting a better Flash based camera who don't want to spend the money on higher end HD Canon, Panasonic, or JVC cameras these might be an option.
MiniDV camcorders - Certainly many excellent MiniDV camcorders are available for not much more than the Flip Ultra however, they are much more difficult to use, larger, and linear tape certainly isn't as nice or durable as SD cards.
As you can see, there are positives and negatives to all of the low-end camcorders that record to flash at this time. I ended up returning my Flip Video Ultra as I am a technical user who wants to edit my video and would like better quality/control in my camcorder. That said, this camera is very well balanced for the price point and its direct competitors all have negatives that seem worse IMO. I would recommend getting this for someone who is a non-technical user or for a child who just wants to shoot video and share it on the web, dvd, or via direct connection to a TV without editing. If Pure Digital can add image stabilization, optical zoom, MPEG4 H.264 recording for Mac users, and 720P recording while keeping the simplicity, quality, and price of the current model in their next iteration, this camera line would be a force to be reckoned with.
Description of Flip Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (White) OLD MODEL
The Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder is a revolutionary new way to shoot and share videos. Its portable, simple-to-use design makes it incredibly easy to create high quality home movies. The camcorder's built-in software provides a convenient, seamless way to save and share memories: email videos, make custom movies, capture still photos from video clips, and upload videos directly to popular video-sharing sites, including AOL Video and YouTube. Flip Video Ultra is the ideal, affordable choice for capturing everyday moments that happen anywhere, and sharing them with family and friends everywhere. This next-generation version of the original Flip Video line features a new sleeker design, premium no-glare LCD screen, and improved video and audio quality. Flip Video Ultra comes with a TV connector cable, wrist strap, soft carrying case, two AA batteries, and a quick start guide. Specs: Flip Video Ultra incorporates 2GB of built-in flash memory which holds up to 60 minutes of 30-frame per second full VGA-quality MPEG-4 video. Compatible with Windows XP SP2 and Vista; Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or later. Computer connection via integrated USB Port.Camcorders
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