Flip UltraHD Video Camera - Black, 8 GB, 2 Hours (2nd Generation) OLD MODEL
by Flip Video
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Flip UltraHD Video Camera - Black, 8 GB, 2 Hours (2nd Generation) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: For home movies and vlogging. Not much else.
Summary: 3 Stars
My intention of buying this camera was to have something that can record video on me at all times. I have a YouTube account, and thought it would be nice to have a small, compact camcorder to carry with me to make sure I didn't miss anything worth posting.
When you have cellphones that are thinner and take comparably good video, it seems relatively pointless to have this priced at what it is. If when I had bought it, it was priced at a hundred bucks, then, yeah, it would be reasonable, but the fact is, with the lousy picture quality you get, the joke of a zoom it comes with, the battery problems I've had, problematic controls, and a case that is a bit bulky for a pocket, I genuinely regret purchasing this camcorder.
Pros:
Easy to use. Really, really, really easy to use. About as simple and straightforward as you get with a camcorder.
The display is nice. It does take up about thirty percent of the camera's back, so it is a well-sized screen.
All things considered, if the camera is perfectly still, and it has plenty of light, the picture quality isn't terrible.
It's a small camera, and you still get two hours of video. Definitely not bad.
It's never out of focus. Its auto-focus does work very well.
The flip out USB stick is very convenient, and connecting to my computer was never an issue.
Cons:
If you have less than a lot of light, the picture quality becomes really, really awful. If this was a camera attached to a phone, there really wouldn't be any reason to get irritated, but when you're sole purpose is to shoot "HD" video, and the only way you can get even adequate quality is if the camera is bordering on over-exposed, there's an issue.
It only has a digital zoom, and when you're pushing picture quality as it is, using the zoom is never really an option.
Its just a bit too thick to carry comfortably in my pocket. I know later models are thinner, and they probably work much better as portable video recorders, but the (relative) bulkiness of this one is a problem for convenience.
Rolling shudder. If you pan (at all), you will get the warped, flat look of the infamous rolling shudder issue. Considering it doesn't do THAT great of a job to bring light into the illumination-starved CMOS, it is really irritating.
Shakes like crazy. Its small, and its steady-cam doesn't do that great of a job, so holding it still is essentially impossible.
Battery life isn't great, and the battery display is all over the place. I feel like I can't trust the camera to give me an adequate estimate of how much time before it dies. I've had instances where I charge it up, no problem, and then the next time I use it it tells me the battery's on the verge of death.
The video editing software it comes with blows. I dump the footage off of the mounted device onto my computer and use Final Cut Express instead.
Overall, if the camera was simply thinner and cheaper, I might be inclined to like it a lot more. But mix the fact that it is thicker than a lot of other competing devices, the fact that it was overpriced at the time that I bought it, and its glaring flaws, I wasn't all that happy with it.
Customer Review: Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 120 Minutes (Black) by Flip Video
Summary: 5 Stars
Of all things to forget to pack for vacation. I can't believe I forgot to pack a camera! WOW!!!
So, I took a quick trip to the electronics section of a local store and without checking reviews, I purchased a Sony MHS-CM5 bloggie HD Video Camera. The camera looked nice and it was made by Sony. It had to be good, right? Just so you know, I usually spend up to a week online, reviewing and researching items before I find the right one. I don't know about you, but I know that for every item that I purchase, there is one that was made just for me.
Back to the storyline. I took the Sony home and I used it that day and into the evening. When I downloaded the footage, the daytime video was great, but I was not happy with the video taken in the low light of the living room and outside. The video was dark and the camcorder had a hard time focusing on the subjects. I checked online and found the Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 8 GB/120 Minutes of HD footage (Black). I made some phone calls and found a store that had one Flip UltraHD in stock! So, I returned the Sony and purchased the Flip UltraHD Camcorder. I used it that day and that night, just like I did with the Sony. Later, I downloaded the footage to my computer and it looked great, even in the low light of the living room and outside! Granted, this was not designed to take the place of a DSLR, but it can be used to capture some special moments that will outlive the camcorder!
I made a little movie of my father and myself playing horseshoes. I linked all the clips together, picked a sound track from the selections provided in the menu and played it on my parents new 40" HD LCD television. My parents and I laughed as we watched the mini movie. We all commented on the clarity that the HD recording brought out and all were impressed with the UltraHD performance. I also went to the snapshot menu and selected a few frames from the movie footage that I could print as still pictures, just as if taken with my other camera I had left at home.
The thing that really sold me on the Flip UltraHD is the ability to use AA batteries instead of the internal rechargeable battery! That is why this unit is bigger than the rest of the current mini camcorders. For me, there is nothing worse than sitting around a picnic table or campfire with a camcorder in your pocket that has a dead battery and no way to charge it using it's USB connection. Not worries with the UltraHD. Just pop out the rechargeable battery and pop in 2 AA batteries! Depending on the AA batteries, they can be good for a 30 minute video clip. Not bad at all!!
If there were two(2) things I would like to come with the camcorder, it would be a 8" mini HDMI cable and a 3" LCD screen. I can guess the 120 minutes of HD video would drop to 100 minutes, due to the larger screen.
One weekend with the Flip UltraHD camcorder is all it took to convince me that this is one great little movie camera/still camera. I love it. I look forward to the next generation camcorders. Now, when my wife finds out I bought this, she use it and I know that she will love it. Then, I will have to ask her if I can use "her camcorder"! LOL!!!
~M
Customer Review: The Flip camcorder just got better.
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
IN THE BOX:
· Flip Ultra HD camcorder
o (note that the HDMI cable to connect this to a HDTV set is NOT included)
· Rechargeable battery pack
· Wrist strap
· A pouch to keep and carry the camcorder
· Quick start guide and warranty information
Prior to ordering this new camcorder I had am original Flip mino (the 60 minutes model), some differences I noticed when I opened the new Ultra HD are the following:
1. Rechargeable battery can now be removed, in case you run out of battery or you forgot to recharge it, you can use two AA batteries.
2. The control buttons that were sensitive to touch (that were so annoying sometimes) are gone. They have been replaced by regular buttons which is great.
3. Camera is bulkier than the Flip Mino, which makes sense as this new model records 2 hours in HD quality.
4. No need for a USB cable, there is a latch you slide on the left side and the USB connection pops up
I am quite happy I decided to replace my old Mino, functionality and advantages are mostly the same, the camcorder is compact and convenient to take everywhere (including concerts where cameras are not allowed) but the HD quality takes the product to a whole new level.
Picture quality is simply stunning when recording in exteriors, the colors are vibrant and the level of detail is quite impressive (considering I watched them on a 50" HDTV set) One thing I noted though is that lighting is very important when recording, I have made a several videos in interiors (without natural sun light, at home for example) and picture quality seems to suffer, it does not look bad, but it doesn't look as good as videos recorded on exteriors (with natural sun light for instance) I have uploaded a couple snapshots so you can see how the picture looks, note the vibrant colors I talked about. I made these snapshots with the included software, 'Flipshare', very quick to install and easy to use, the software allows you to edit videos, share, extract, create video postcards, create DVDs, get snapshots from a selected video among other nice features. Battery life is quite good too, I have recorded the complete 2 hours and battery will be left for you to re-watch the videos.
Video quality is 1280x720 (16:9) and the videos are recorded in .mp4 format, which for me is better than the .avi from prior models. As I mentioned earlier, the HDMI cable is not included but what I did is that I connected the camcorder directly into my PS3 (connected to my HDTV set via HDMI cable) and that did the trick. Since the file format is .mp4 the PS3 had no issues recognizing the videos.
A great camera that I would definitely recommend over the prior models, the price difference is well worth it after you watch what the Ultra HD can do. The Flip camcorder just got better.
Customer Review: Charging is a problem - a fatal flaw for me
Summary: 1 Stars
I own a MinoHD (60 mins.) and was interested in getting something that could record a little longer. So based on my satisfaction with the MinoHD, and wanting to see what the Ultra form factor was like, I ordered this from Amazon.
Following the instructions, I plugged it into my PC's USB port to charge the battery pack that's included. After about 15 minutes, a message appeared on the screen: "It's really hot. Charging paused." Nothing in the user documentation included with the UltraHD mentions this. So, I checked out the Flip support pages online, and found an entry that says this is normal... just leave it plugged in, and when it cools down enough, it will resume/complete charging. So I did. I left it plugged in and left my computer on for 10 hours.
Now, there is no battery indicator on the UltraHD... except when you are in the last stages of a battery charge, about to lose power... (A real shortcoming in design.) So there is no way to tell how much it has (or hasn't) charged. So I set it up on a tripod, pushed record, and walked away. I came back later, and found that it had stopped (run out of juice) at just 42 minutes. Obviously, it never fully charged after 10 hours.
So, I went back to the Flip support site, told them all that I had gone through, and asked for their advice. They gave me a routine to go through: remove the battery, plug the camera into the USB, insert the battery... (This "procedure" was a genuflection worthy of the most superstitious person. The only thing it didn't include was turning around three times counterclockwise and sacrificing a small animal.) But I did what they suggested. It still went into the error message, around 15 minutes in. And again I let the unit charge for 10 hours. Set up the camera on a tripod and recorded a whopping 43 minutes. I followed the "procedure" again. Charged it again for another 10 hours (we're now into the 3rd day.) 21 minutes of recording. The problem was getting worse.
At this point, I gave up trying to fix Flip's problems for them. This is not what you or I should have to put up with from an expensive tech product... an error message about overheating during battery charge that "is normal." A suggested routine to work around a design defect - a routine that borders on the ridiculous. And the bottom line: it doesn't work.
UPDATE: Some reviewers have suggested that you can work around this design defect, and instead use disposable batteries or your own NiMH rechargeables instead. The battery cover is pretty flimsy plastic, so if that's a "solution" that you're willing to try, be prepared someday to have the battery cover break on you. I expect to see Flip UltraHDs sporting duct tape "battery cover holders" soon. Clearly, from the thin plastic they used, Flip designed the battery cover NOT to be opened very often... they really expected the rechargeable battery pack to actually work. Well, it doesn't in many cases as you can see by the many reviews here. End of story: I set up a return for refund with Amazon, and it went smoothly. 5 Stars for Amazon. Zero for Flip (aka PureDigital aka Cisco).
Customer Review: 3 stars that should be 5 stars
Summary: 3 Stars
First off I just want to say I love this camera, it is so easy to use that anyone should be able to use it with no problems at all. The quality of the video is fantastic, the audio is excellent, ease of use is supurb, the software is built into the camera and is really not bad at all.
Now for the reason for the 3 stars instead of 5. There is a serious problem with the supplied battery pack, and/or the charging system. I had not done the proper research before purchasing this unit, all the reviews i read were nothing but praise, so I figured that this is the camera for me. I got it home and plugged it to charge, it began to charge then the dreaded "stopped charging, check battery pack". I checked it and found nothing wrong so tried it again. It began to charge then the same thing. I started to do some research and found that there are a huge number of problems with either the battery pack or the charging system itself, not sure which though. I contacted customer service, if you can call it that, and did get some things to try, which I did. It still gave the same system error. I found that there may be a problem with the battery pack itself, so I tried the solution that is going around the internet, again plugged it in and, well the same result.
I decided that the problem is with the battery pack and I just put in AA batteries and decided to use them instead of the supplied pack, and have had zero problems with the camera at all. I am going to invest in some quality rechargeable batteries and just continue using it in that manner.
If it were not for the battery/charging problem it would be a five star product. I like it well enough to just forget the charging problem and keep the camera. My problem is that for the money the charging system should work and I should not have to get additional batteries when they are supposed to be included. The battery problem is not just a few isolated incidents, just google "Flip Ultra HD charging problems" and check out the flood of complaints and potential fixes.
I am going to cantact the company again and try to get some "customer service" from them, if I can get this problem fixed, I will re-evaluate my review and give it the 5 star review it should get. Sadly in todays world manufacturers don't seem to care about customer complaints, hopefully this is a case that will be different, we shall see.
I really like this camera and it deserves a great review, but I cannot in good faith give a product a 5 star review that has a widely known flaw. I believe that I should be fair in the camera's performance, but honest in the problem with the charging system/battery pack.
I use this camera everyday, and I carry it with me all the time. It really is alot of fun to use. Fix the problem and it will be perfect.
If you are willing to just forget the included batteries, get the camera, you won't be dissapointed, it really does deliver in quality video, audio, and ease of use. Just be prepared to use quality batteries, and have extras with you, and let the good times roll.