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: Nothing to "flip" over, but a nice little HD cam nontheless.
Summary: 4 Stars
I sold my ist gen flip which recorded ar 640x480 standard resolution at a max of 30 minute time limit early last year and decided to pick up the Flip Ultra HD 8 gig 2 hour video recorder at my local Costco when they first arrived. Since then I've used to UltraHD on a scarce basis, but it's been reliable and hasn't given me any problems.
Now I've read there may be an issue with the rechargeables included, and with the USB charging system. Instead of continually making this an issue, why not avoid using the batteries included and the USB charging system. Personally, I've used a mini AA charger, and two nimh 2000mah Emloops or Energizers, and haven't had any issues. In fact, I can get a full 2 hours of recording with the separate AA's and then some before they require recharging again. Yes, it does take several hours to charge the AA's with an external charger, but if you do some planning, charge them the night before an event and you shouldn't have any issues. In fact, I also carry an extra pair of AA's for back-up.
The HD video is crisp and sharp. Above average, imo. I also have a Canon SX20is which records 720p HD video and when compared to the UltraHD, it isn't as good a quality. Sound is in stereo and also crisp and clear, although yes, it is somewhat sensitive and can pick up sounds made from handling the camera while recording (if you aren't carefull). Video's are in mp4 format, and I have had no issues using Windows Movie Maker to edit my UltraHD vids. In fact, I use VLC media player to capture images from my UltraHD vids, and the images are near 10MP digital camera quality (pretty impressive imo).
Keep in mind this is meant to be a simple, user friendly HD video camera, meant to capture those spur of the moment events. Start time is quick (2 seconds). Buttons are easily laid out, and the 2" lcd views well. I believe it is a 2X zoom (not sure if optical or digital) so don't expect to get satisfactory close-ups of distant objects. When zooming, the picture does degrade a bit, and noise is evident. This is not a low-light cam imo. Vids tend to show darker and grainier in low light, so a good lighting environment will provide exceptional video quality. Buttons are neatly and simply laid out, and playback features now include 2X forward and reverse. In terms of software included, it isn't anything to "flip" out over either. I've used it to sample videos on my laptop, and on the rare occasion compress them and send them by email to recipients, without any issues.
As someone stated earlier, this is a simple video camera. It has it's limitations, and if you know how to work around them, you can get some great videos out of it.
Again, stay away from the rechearbables and the USB charging system. Like I said, use a separate set of high-powered nimah AA's, and many of your problems should be solved. And buy new, from a reputable electronics seller with a good return and warranty policy as well.
Customer Review: Disappointing...sent it back.
Summary: 2 Stars
I read a bunch of reviews (the majority of them positive) before I bought my Flip. I was really excited to get the Flip so I could get some additional videos of my kids. I have a camcorder, but often don't bring it with me all the time b/c it's too bulky & cumbersome. The Flip seemed like a great alternative. To make a long story short, I used my Flip Ultra HD for about a week and then sent it back. In my opinion, the product just didn't live up to the hype as well as my own expectations. Here are some of the pros & cons from my perspective:
Pros:
-Portability: it wasn't as small as I had hoped (thicker and heavier than my smartphone). It was also a bit bulkier than my Canon Elph camera. Anyway, I'll give it a "pro" for portability b/c it's much smaller than the avg camcorder.
-Ease of Use: turn it on and push the red button...doesn't get much easier than that.
-Simple to download/transfer videos from camera to computer. Just plug and play
-Ability to use normal AA batteries when needed
Cons:
-Image quality: I found the image quality to be one of the biggest cons. In "average" light (inside a house) the image quality was terrible. Videos of my kids were extremely grainy and very "jumpy."
-Camera buttons: the buttons on my Flip didn't work so well. They only seemed to work intermittently & often had to be pressed several times to complete an action. Very annoying, but perhaps I just got a lemon?
-Image stabilization: I had seen complaints about image stabilization in other reviews, but I didn't think much of it. However, when I used the Flip, I had a really hard time getting a video that wasn't shaky (and I was consciously trying to keep the camera steady).
-Video width/height: I found it hard to fit things into an average video. For example, when trying to film kids throwing a ball, I had to really step far back in order to get a full view of what they were doing (without cutting off half of the their bodies).
Summary:
In conclusion, I REALLY wanted to love this product, but it just failed to meet my expectations. I was hoping that the Flip would produce better videos than my wife's iPhone or the video function on our Canon Elph, but unfortunately the Flip didn't really stand out here. If I'm going to carry around an extra device, I really want to see a quality difference.
Obviously the Flips are quite popular, so everyone doesn't share the same opinion as I do. However, if you think that you'll be doing fast-action video or any low/average light video, I'd think twice about the Flip. Regardless, I'd suggest that you do some Google searches for "flip video grainy" and/or "flip video jittery." I ended up doing these searches AFTER I bought the product b/c I thought I was doing something wrong when filming...turns out the camera just falls short when shooting under certain conditions. Hope this helps!
Customer Review: Great little HD camcorder that goes everywhere with you
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The Flip UltraHD camcorder is the epitome of easy-to-use, convenient HD camcorder that doesn't pack a lot of bells and whistles, but does a very good job of taking HD video (1280x720 @ 30fps). Everything about the UltraHD camcorder screams convenience and portability: The built-in standard USB connector for downloading videos that doubles as a battery charger; included rechargeable batteries while maintaining full compatibility with regular alkaline AA and NiHM AA batteries; the FlipShare software that is installed from the camcorder; simple and easy-to-use control layout.
When you power on the UltraHD, a splash screen appears for about a second and then the live view on the screen is ready for shooting. Pressing the red record button as soon as the power's on will cut short the splash screen (if you hold the red button down, it'll take you to the setup screen). There are two buttons--playback, delete--and one four-way controller with the record button in the middle. The up and down controller takes care of digital zooming in and out during recording, and volume up and down during playback. The buttons and controls are responsive and you can optionally turn off the confirmation beeps (and the red recording light).
The video quality is pretty darned good, certainly much better than what I've gotten from my digital camera that can also shoot HD at the same resolution and framerate. You can record up to two hours of HD video on the included 8GB memory; there's no option to add extra memory, or replace the 8GB internal memory with larger capacity card. The included rechargeable battery at full charge easily lasts past two hours' of recording time.
The included Flipshare program lets you view, make movies from, capture screenshots, and trim video clips. One very handy feature I appreciate is the e-mail sharing. You bring up that component of the app, select the video, and specify the recipients. The application uploads it to the Flip server, processes it, and sends an e-mail link to the recipients when the video is ready. For a 30-second HD video clip, the FlipShare program takes approx. 1.5 min to send it. A short while later (the delay depends on the size of the video; for the 30-second video (approx. 35MB), it took 2 minutes), the recipient(s) receives an e-mail with the link. The fullscreen quality of video shared this way is very good.
All in all, I am very pleased with the Flip UltraHD camcorder. It doesn't try to do too much, but what it does, it does very well. Highly recommended for those who just want to shoot HD videos without dealing with a multitude of options available to other, bigger camcorders.
Customer Review: Great little camcorder!
Summary: 4 Stars
After agonizing over which TV to buy for over a year (got the Panasonic G10--awesome!!), I cringed when I began the camcorder shopping process. I wanted HD to go with my new HDTV, but I didn't want to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I own a Flip Mino SD, but had been somewhat disappointed with the video it took. When I saw the Flip Ultra HD getting decent reviews here and elsewhere (like CNET), I decided it was worth taking a chance on. I'm glad I did!
My criteria for an HD camcorder was:
1) Under $500.
2) Files that would easily play on my PC and PS3.
3) Good quality videos.
4) Portability.
My verdict:
1) The price on the FLIP is obviously nowhere near $500. But could it actually take decent HD video? Read on!
2) Most video cameras save files in awkward file formats like "MOV". I've read that when you convert these files to MPG, the quality is degraded. 1080p is nice, of course, but can overwhelm an older PC (and even many newer ones). I was so relieved, therefor, when I saw that the FLIP ULTRA HD saves videos as MP4! No problem for my PC! I can easily transfer them to a USB flash drive and the files play on my Playstation 3! (My old Flip Mino saved the files as AVI, which my PS3 couldn't read.)
3) So far, so good. But what about the video quality? The Flip Ultra HD records in 720p (at 30 frames per second). I gave it a good workout, shooting inside my house, on a sunny beach, at the park, and was quite impressed overall. The quality was rather grainy inside the house, but all camcorders struggle with lower light conditions. The colors outside were much better and looked quite good on my plasma. Now, you really have to hold the camera super-steady, as there is no stabilizer at all. Jittery motion, fast pans, walking while filming all look terrible on a 50 inch screen. So hold still!
My main complaint is the 30fps. This introduces some flicker when subjects are running around or waving their arms (i.e. kids). It's like watching an old film strip at times, albeit in HD color. The Aiptek Action HD GVS is the same price as the Flip, and it records in 60fps in 720p. (I would have gotten that but I couldn't find any professional reviews and it doesn't save its files in friendly MP4, so I ruled it out.) So I feel that Flip COULD have possibly given us 60fps, but didn't, so I'm knocking 1 star off. Maybe next year!
4) As for portability, you really can't beat the Flip series. The Ultra is much bulkier than the Mino, but still slips in my pocket and I don't really feel it. It sits comfortably in my hand.
So overall, this is a very decent product at a great price. I feel like I saved a lot of money over other entry-level HD camcorders from Sony or Canon, but have not sacrificed too much in terms of video quality. Go for it!
Customer Review: HD video as simple as it should be
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my 5th flip video camera. I bought two for myself and two for my kids, not I had to have the new HD version.
What makes the flip so successful and so much fun is the simple and easy use, it's small size and of course the built in USB connector.
Let's be honest, we don't want to shoot a Hollywood movie, we want a simple way to capture precious or funny moments without having to figure out a fully featured camera and we want decent quality. That's exactly what the flip does best. It's so small and compact that I keep it with me almost anywhere. It starts up instantly, it records instantly and 2 hours of recording time is more than enough. The quality is decent in low light and really good in any normal daylight. For such a small device the sound quality is surprisingly good. Sound issues is what most cheap/digital video cameras struggle with. At the end of the day I plug it in my PC and copy the movies over. It really couldn't be simpler. Once plugged in the battery recharges automatically.
Although the resolution is not full HD but only 1280 x 720, the quality you got from such a little device and such a low price is really really good. I have a much more expensive HD camera that hardly delivers a better quality.
I have been working for several TV stations and have used all sorts of professional cameras and to a degree still do. I know very well that there a many better cameras out there, but for the flip the 'less is better' concept is really true. Even my 6 and 7 year old kids figured out how to use them in no time. For me it's the simplicity and to know I will get a good video out of it without having to think much.
A few things about this model:
it comes with a rechargeable battery that recharges through a USB connection. This is very handy because you never have to open the cover and replace batteries. Charging takes a while though. But you can always use normal AA batteries.
Sometimes when the camera gets warm it refused to charge saying it's too hot. Letting the batteries cool down is a good idea (prolongs their life). Don't leave it plugged in, because it will never resume charging. You have to unplug it and cool it down, then start over.
This model has a neat feature to save battery life. Should you forget to stop recording and put the camera in the bag, it will recognize that there is "nothing to see" and turn itself off! Very cool! Downside is you can't use this camera to shoot a long static scene.
Overall battery life is about 2 hours which matches the storage capacity.
Overall this camera is more responsive and quicker than the previous models. I like it a lot.
Really you can't go wrong with this camera if you are looking for something simple to use and still want decent quality videos.