I spent the weekend with Pure Digital‘s new Flip UltraHD. It looks and feels a lot like the first-gen Flip Ultra, except it’s high-def (720 pixels), has an HDMI output (really), and 16:9 widescreen. At 4.25″ x 2.19″ x 1.17″, it’s slightly bigger than the first-gen Flip Ultra and a lot bigger than the sleek MinoHD. The footprint isn’t the only aspect that’s bigger: instead of a 1.5″ screen, the UltraHD has a vivid 2-incher. It also boasts 8 gigs of memory — double that of the MinoHD and 4x the first-gen Ultra. It runs on two AA batteries (unlike the Mino) and costs $200 (not bad, but pricier than pocket cams from competitors like Kodak).
It was a lovely Northern California weekend, and I took these two video clips to test it in different conditions. The first (above) is of Steven after he got bonked in the head by his own surfboard, and the second (below) is of a fire pit at my friend’s BBQ. I took side-by-side clips using my old Sanyo Xacti. The Flip dominated at canceling out wind noise at the beach. But when the sun set and we were sitting around a fire pit, the Flip didn’t do so hot. The non-HD, 6-megapixel Xacti actually did a better job capturing the flames.
I did find, though, that I was much more inclined to pull the Flip out of my bag than the Xacti — mainly because it’s still one of the simplest, most user-friendly pocketcams out there. With little practice, I was able to navigate the controls without even looking. Since I knew I could go home and plug it into my laptop and TV without dealing with a cable or dock, I found myself reaching for it first by Sunday.
The one thing that these pocket camcorders is missing is image stabilization. Otherwise, I think they’re great for casual video recording.
Usability triumphs!
We just got these into my store, and I can’t wait to fiddle with one for a while.
Lots of buzz about these Flip cameras on the blogs, but I haven’t gotten my hands on one yet to try it.
I don’t understand these things. Why would you get one of these rather than a point-and-shoot digicam with a video mode?
We use an older version of these at my public library to loan out to teens for making short films. They are inexpensive, and extremely easy to use both for filming and downloading (no extra cables needed that will get lost). They are also pretty tough and stand up to being dropped and dinged. Our only problem with them is an in-house thing, we have problems getting the Flip programs loaded onto our locked-down public PCs and our IT dept doesn’t like sharing admin privileges. Other than that, they work very well for what we need.
its NOT HD, HD is 1080, this is “almost HD”, or “HD Ready … if you buy real HD in the feature”, or “fake HD”
High-definition television (HDTV) resolution is 1080 or 720 lines. Care of wikipedia.
RASZ—
720p is considered HD. This is coming from an editor/music video director. 720p and 1080i are almost interchangeable in terms of resolution.
ok, it’s not HD, but, GODDAMNIT, is very close… I mean, I’m impressed by the quality of the image.
From what I could see, the Pure Digital website does not actually have any info on the Flip. You have to go to: http://www.theflip.com/
Thanks for the review – I’m looking for a “Baby’s First Days” cam.
Is the angle of view any better than the Mino HD? I recently compared the Mino HD to a creative Vado and the Mino’s angle of view was pathetic in comparison.
The Mino HD’s picture quality is pretty nice, though, so if this camera has a decent angle of view it would be awesome…
Re: Image stabilization
iMovie ’09 has a very powerful, easy to use image stabilization feature that makes this pocket camcorder irresistible.