I have a love / hate relationship with camcorders, and have for the decade or so I've been buying them and breaking them. I've burned through 3 or 4 of the tape varieties, and never had one last longer than a year or so before needing repairs that are nearly as costly as the camcorder itself.
While I've only had this little guy for a bit over a week so can't speak to its durability yet, it has a lot going for it. Fewer moving parts greatly reduces the likelihood of mechanical failure, I should think.
It's important to note that I also still own and use a canon vixia high definition camcorder that has worked quite well for me. I bought this to carry around with me for more impromptu filming; creating short youtube movies is a bit of a hobby for me right now, and that's exactly what this guy is cut out for.
Video quality is a bit diminished from my vixia, but quite impressive given its price and size. Sure, the Ultra HD is a bit bulkier than it's thinner breatheren, and certainly thicker than your iPhone, but remember when you had to rest a camcorder on your shoulder? Size is all relative, and I find this to be a comfortable fit in both my hand and my pocket. If you wear those super skinny pencil-leg jeans (you hipster!) this isn't going in your pocket. But neither is your milk money. Dress more practically and you have nothing to worry about here.
Operation could not be easier. There is a giant red button, and that's about it. Once powered on, push the red button and you're recording. Push it again and you're not. Push the playback button for playback. My 4 year old can work this, and while it's a bit too pricey to be her toy, I could almost trust her with it. It's pretty fool proof.
Audio quality is where you miss out a bit, but I feel that way on most cameras. There is no substitute for an outboard microphone, and I wouldn't expect the sound quality to be much better than it is given Flip's price point and profile. Where I dinged the Flip Ultra HD one star was in its lack of a microphone input. Add a mini jack for me to plug in a lavalier mic and this would be complete homerun.
I find myself using this more and more each day that I own it. Uploading clips to my computer is simple once you have the unit connected to your computer. I find that to be the most difficult part of operating the Flip Ultra HD; the "flip-out" USB connection makes it a bit clunky to maneuver the camera into tight spaces to connect to the computer, and if your USB jacks aren't near ground level you have to engineer some way to properly support the camera for fear of it plummeting to its death. I use a USB extension cable, which greatly eases the connection process but loses the ability to charge the camera while you upload, apparently.
Battery life has been good. I've not tried to push it to its 120 minute maximum, but have never run into a situation to date where I was lacking juice to capture a moment. Other reviews will likely test the threshold and give a much better representation of what to expect. I suggest a second battery for anyone actually depending on having a set amount of filming time for critical shoots. But on that note, I also recommend a backup camera for anyone with those requirements :-)
Good stuff, this camera. I wouldn't hesitate to buy yourself one, knowing that what you will get is a very fun and very usable, albeit not professional-grade, camera. Videophiles. . . trying to get something that you usually spend 5k or more for, for under $200, just isn't going to happen. Get more detail about Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 120 Minutes (Black).
0 comments:
Post a Comment