[Danny Gorog]

There was a minor blip on the web a couple of weeks back but you may not have noticed it. David Pogue - Mac reviewer extraordinaire for the New York Times reviewed a small video camera called the Flip. It's funny, the camera has been around for a while already, but it seems that since its release in May last year everybody missed it in some sort of HD induced rage.Read More

[mickdevlin]

That device could become equivalent to the point-and-shoot still cameras. The price is certainly good and the size makes it easy to catch spontaneous events, just like a point-and-shoot camera.

[golfer]

That device could become equivalent to the point-and-shoot still cameras. The price is certainly good and the size makes it easy to catch spontaneous events, just like a point-and-shoot camera.

And if you check out Pogue's follow up story with a video, you can compare the quality and it's not too shabby. http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/...ef=personaltech

[Danny Gorog]

Another new camera worth looking at is the HDR-TG1 - Just released by Sony. Super small, and full HD. Different product to the flip entirely, but not much bigger. Link to Sony

[bitingmidge]

With the quality available from Point and Shoot Cameras these days, and some (Olympus?) have no limit on the clip length, I'm not sure what the point is, unless you are going to do stupid things with it and treat it as a disposable?

cheers,

P

[bikeham]

Has anyone been able to buy one in Australia yet? I wrote to Flip and they have no plans for Aussie distribution.

[mickdevlin]

The US edition of Macworld reports that a slim version of the Flip has been introduced.

[uncompressed]

I got one (Fli Ultra) from BestBuy in the States when I was over there. My wife loves it as it's dead simple to use and does just one thing, take videos. She's filling it up with videos of our newborn.

[mickdevlin]

I read a report today that said that importing video from the Flip to a Mac is awkward. Do you or your wife edit the video?

[uncompressed]

I read a report today that said that importing video from the Flip to a Mac is awkward. Do you or your wife edit the video?

I have the Perian codec installed. It's drag and drop as the Flip Video appears as a USB drive to the Mac. I trim the videos in Quicktime Player. They also do provide built in software to do so on Mac and PCs.

[windeath]

Has anyone been able to buy one in Australia yet? I wrote to Flip and they have no plans for Aussie distribution.

I emailed Flip and asked about an Australian release and was told rather politely that it wasn't going to happen. Europe is about to get an official release though.

[mickdevlin]

Apple has just posted an article on using Flip cameras wit iMovie '08.

[mickdevlin]

The US edition of Macworld has a video podcast on how to get the best from a Flip.

[David Braue]

I read a report today that said that importing video from the Flip to a Mac is awkward. Do you or your wife edit the video?

I had friends send over a Flip Mino from the US a few weeks ago and I have almost shelved my video camera. Everything Pogue said is true: it's miniscule in size, takes beautiful video, and is dead easy to use. Its user interface is simplicity embodied and it really is THAT easy to just have it in a pocket and bring it anywhere with you.

There is also a waterproof enclosure, which I did not buy because there was some confusion on Amazon as to which model Flip the available enclosures support. But it's the only real solution if you're thinking surfing, beach, pool videos.

As far as using it with a Macs -- I just plugged it in and iPhoto recognised it, then put up the thumbnails and imported it no questions asked. It charges from the USB port. Unlike Firewire video cameras, the Flip mounts like a normal digital camera and uses the same DCIM file structure, so iPhoto is none the wiser.

The video is compressed using the 3ivx codec, which I think has been the reason some people fear for Mac compatibility, but in fact it posed no issues for me at all (latest QuickTime under Leopard). The device also includes all the software on its internal storage and has detailed instructions for installing the 3ivx codec if you need it.

Definitely recommend the Flip to anyone who has any video worth recording.

[David Braue]

I emailed Flip and asked about an Australian release and was told rather politely that it wasn't going to happen. Europe is about to get an official release though.

For Australians wanting to try the Flip, I might point out Price USA -- www.priceusa.com.au. This is a mob in Mildura that work with an agent in the US and will order anything you can get in the US but can't get here. Go to their site, enter the URLs and details of the products you want, and they'll send you a quotation to confirm. Have used them in the past and prices (shipping and exchange rate) were quite reasonable; I can't make any guarantees, but it should be easy to land a Flip in Australia for well under $200.

I think the reason Australian companies aren't importing this device is that it would cannibalise much of the low end of the video camera market. The most comparable device here -- a waterproof model from (can't remember off hand) is priced at $699.