Flip Ultra HD: Our first camcorder

Meet the very first camcorder we have ever owned. It’s the Flip Ultra HD, which arrived on the market at the end of April. It also comes in white.

I had been lusting after something like this since reading Andy Ihnatko’s Flip Mino HD versus Kodak Zi6 showcase showdown last November. I was amazed to see the quality of the 720p video that a very small, $200 camera can produce.

I did not love that the Flip Mino HD has an internal battery and only one hour of internal storage. On the other hand, the Kodak Zi6 uses SDHC memory cards (sold separately) and takes AA batteries, including the rechargeable NiMHs we love so well. Also, the audio from the Kodak Zi6 seemed much richer. Nevertheless, Andy Ihnatko shows that the Flip’s video is clearly superior — and that is, after all, the camera’s main function.

Then, about a month ago, Flip upgraded their Ultra model to HD, pretty much sealing my decision. Yes, this camera is bigger than the Mino (I have seen it described elsewhere as a “fatass”), but as you can tell above, it’s still plenty portable. Plus, the Ultra HD holds up to two hours of video, and it can take AA batteries, including rechargeable NiMHs.

Looking for a sample file? This is one of our very first Flip Ultra HD videos clips, shot on Saturday afternoon. It’s not in HD above, but you can see it in HD at YouTube and even download the original MP4 source file at at Vimeo.

So far, after playing with it for a couple of days, I am very happy with this little gizmo. Operating it could not be simpler. You push the big red “easy button” to record, and push it again to stop. Four navigation buttons around it allow you to flip through your recorded clips, with two more buttons for deleting and approving things. That’s it. Amy loves the complete lack of technical adjustments.

As you can see on the top left of the device, there’s a USB arm that flips out to connect the camcorder to your computer. It mounts as a drive on your desktop, and includes some favorably-reviewed software called FlipShare I will most likely never use because I have iMovie, which imports the Flip’s 720p MP4 files effortlessly.

The USB arm is also how you charge the special battery pack included with the camera, shown here. It can take as long as seven hours to charge a completely dead battery pack via USB port. Optionally, you can buy a Flip Video Power Adapter which is supposed to take only three hours.

I probably won’t use either method very much. We have had an outstanding little Maha PowerEx charger for years (better yet, get the one from La Crosse Technology), and we use rechargeable NiMH batteries in our digital camera, portable radio, remote controls, and on and on. This Flip camcorder will just be another device using the same batteries. (I haven’t tried them yet, but Rayovac Hybrids are supposedly better at holding a charge than the Energizers I have been using.)

(See in HD at YouTube; see in HD and download MP4 file at Vimeo.)

I have a feeling that cows are only the beginning. Before you know it, we’ll be sharing our own videos of stunt injuries, tornadoes, singing — and, of course, cooking demos — all in glorious 720p HD. These are yesterday’s beef/buffalo cheeseburgers, inspired by seeing Gary Wiviott in Episode 4 of Kevin Pang’s The Cheeseburger Show.

Gary’s book Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons is the next thing we need to buy from Amazon.com.