Flip MinoHD & UltraHD

Reply to So how are you editing your Flip Videos?

nobody@flickr.com (340s) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:01:52 -0700

340s posted a reply:

I have used www.CutMyFlix.com to burn and edit to both BlueRay and DVD's.
They are affordable with a easy to use www site.

agree, I love my Flip.

Reply to Requiem for the flip

nobody@flickr.com (Pak T) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:12:04 -0700

Pak T posted a reply:

Yes I read about Cisco dropping the flip devices yesterday in the Boston Globe. But I had wondered why in the time Cisco owned Flip (hasn't it been at least a couple years now?) had they not updated it or come out with new models at least nothing really significant. I figured when Cisco first bought them that with that big company behind them they could really expand and improve the lines. Other than a minor update or two and that one slider model (which I don't know if anyone actually bought those), the line remained kind of dead.

But I will tell you one place where I don't think an iPhone or other mobile device replaced a Flip. In the wallet! Want a Flip? Ya that will be $150 or whatever they go for now. Want an iPhone or Droid phone? Ya that will be $150 or so, oh and $30 a month forever. Oh you don't want to buy a data or service plan on our network? OK then that phone is now $586.

It will be interesting to see if the other manufacturers in this market, such as Kodak, end up doing and if they will continue to make their lines of hand held video recorders.

Requiem for the flip

nobody@flickr.com (van.brussel) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:24:12 -0700

van.brussel posted a new topic:

Ever since I bought my first generation Flip HD Mino, I felt in love with this wonderful device.

Yesterday Cisco - the owner of Pure Digital - has announced that it would ditch the popular Flip video. What a big waste!

The so-called reason is that HD camera capabilities of current mobile and smart phones have made the tiny Flip video device redundant. At least that's what the "analysts" say. Of course this is not the real reason. Analysts are right to state that moving into the highly competitive consumer business was a bad idea for a company like Cisco whose core business is networking. So yesterday the logic and dictate of the stock exchange killed a remarkable industrial product that - even with the rise of the smart phone - still had a bright future ahead.

Single purpose vs. multi purpose

What makes the Flip remarkable is its single purpose. It has only one purpose: shoot! Basically it has only one big red button. The big easy…
The world of smart phones is the world of Swiss Army knives. You name a function and there's a tool (App) for that! That's cool. Yeah, I do love my iPhone too…

But when I need to cut my sandwich, what knife is the best? A random kitchen knife or a Swiss Army knife?
Does everything need to be multi-purpose? That is the question. Does every digital piece of hardware need to merge into a mobile phone? From usability pov a single purpose device is a lot easier to understand use and manage. For this reason I think the Flip has the right to exist.

What is the better video camera? The Flip Mino HD or the iPhone4? The reality is that the Flip outsmarts the iPhone on both video quality and usability. The Flip lacks mobile sharing capabilities that's right but most of the time video requires editing which is done best on a computer with a wide screen!

What also appeals to most Flip users is its ruggedness. It's almost unbreakable. Would you tape your iPhone4 on your mountain bike to capture the feeling you have on your wildest rides? I would not. There's a Flip for that!

I am curious if this really will be the end of Flip video? I wonder what the millions of Flip users are going to do. I know one thing… when production really stops I would keep my eye on the stocks and buy a couple of these wonderful single purpose - no it's no insult, it's a quality - devices.

© 2011 Kristof Van Brussel

Reply to So how are you editing your Flip Videos?

nobody@flickr.com (jasontagphoto) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:25:07 -0800

jasontagphoto posted a reply:

I use iMovie... I can imagine at some point I'll get Final cut if I wanna do some more intense and interesting edits but iMovie is good enough for me!

btw.. I love my Flip!

Reply to So how are you editing your Flip Videos?

nobody@flickr.com (Pak T) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 14:28:16 -0800

Pak T posted a reply:

Ginger.Cat,

You can definitely rotate video in the newer iMovie versions (I use '09). Under Window -> "Cropping, Ken Burns, & Rotation"

Pick that, select a clip then at the top of your play window you will see the little right and left rotate arrows.

I have used this in the past since in some scenes the tighter zoom of the flip was causing me to crop the taller scene, so I simply turned the flip 90 degrees then rotated the video with iMovie later.

Reply to So how are you editing your Flip Videos?

nobody@flickr.com (lilli-saur) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:16:31 -0800

lilli-saur posted a reply:

I haven't figured out great ways to edit and I've only been using iMovie. Does anyone know how to rotate videos, if thats possible?

Reply to Lens "Hacks"

nobody@flickr.com (Pak T) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:51:18 -0800

Pak T posted a reply:

I recently picked up a fisheye lens to use on my Flip and cell phone. I picked the fisheye over a normal wide angle simply because A) it is even wider and B) why not go with a more fun look of the fisheye.

DealExtreme.com is a cheap place to pick these types of things up. They can be slow to ship sometimes when things go out of stock but their prices are great.

I bought this one...
www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39814
... which is only $16.75 US.

Here is a photo off my Nokia with the lens attached...

and here is a video clip using the lens on my Flip MinoHD...

... keeping in mind that this is shot through hockey rink glass and the lighting isn't the best.

And for a laugh you can read the "Engrish" instructions for putting the ring on your Flip here...

Reply to Lens "Hacks"

nobody@flickr.com (Alyn_Smith आलिन_स्मिथ) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:08:58 -0800

Alyn_Smith आलिन_स्मिथ posted a reply:

There is also this which gives the impression no mod is needed from what Amazon says, but I don't know for certain: www.amazon.com/Bower-VLMWF-0-45x-Magnetic-Cameras/dp/B004...

Reply to Lens "Hacks"

nobody@flickr.com (Alyn_Smith आलिन_स्मिथ) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:03:35 -0800

Alyn_Smith आलिन_स्मिथ posted a reply:

One question for those who have done this:

My experience with this after market lens converters when shooting photos has been baaaaaaaaaaaad chromatic aberration and generally not-sharp photos. How have you found the quality?

Personally I love the focal length of the standard lens, I find most fixed lens cameras to be too-wide for my tastes, I always want something a little longer, for head-shots without long noses and odd fore-heads, but there are times when a wide angle wouldn't go amiss.

Reply to So how are you editing your Flip Videos?

nobody@flickr.com (Alyn_Smith आलिन_स्मिथ) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:22:36 -0800

Alyn_Smith आलिन_स्मिथ posted a reply:

I don't use the bundled software because I'm a Linux user and it's not compatible (although haven't used it through Wine, don't know if that works).

I've been using Open Movie Editor.