Seeing the big picture with pocket-sized camcorder

NET RESULTS:Flip takes good quality video and costs the same as a mid-range digital camera

FOR A while now, I have toyed with the idea of buying a camcorder, but never quite persuaded myself that the time was right. The strongest objection I had to making such a purchase was the basic one of cost.

Camcorders have been pretty pricey in recent years, and I wasn’t convinced I’d use one enough to justify the price tag.

Then there was the lack of obvious motivational subjects. I don’t have children, and only one nephew who lives thousands of miles away. The typical camcorder excuse of “family memories of the children” didn’t wash.

As for travel highlights – well, though I travel a bit, I wasn’t convinced I needed video rather than the occasional snapshot, especially given that I don’t even take that many pictures anymore. I’d rather buy postcards for a scrapbook or a nice book with professional photos than end up with a yawn-inducing shot of endlessly photographed spots like the Eiffel Tower.

Which brings me back to taking still snaps. For casual shots, I mostly use my Sony Ericsson Cybershot C905 handset, a high-end mobile with an

8.1 megapixel camera (hence it is more a camera with a handy phone built in, than a phone with a camera).

I use a Sony Cybershot digital camera when I want the best quality shots or when I remember to bring it with me.

Until now, I’d also just used the video capabilities of various handsets and still cameras when I wanted video.

The Sony handset and camera has worked fine. I also find the Nokia N95 takes excellent videos. So why opt for a separate video camera?

Well, meet the Flip. The darling of videobloggers, the Flip is a mobile-sized hand-held camcorder that takes great quality video and fits in a pocket – for about the cost of the average medium-range digital camera.

In Ireland, you can pick one up from www.expansys.ie starting at about €122 to just a shade under €200 for the UltraHD, the newest version that has just become available in Britain and Ireland.

I couldn’t believe something so small and relatively cheap could shoot decent video, but I checked out the reviews and some sample footage online and the Flip seemed to be the perfect video device compromise for me.

Because at the time the UltraHD was not yet available here – and because it is still quite a bit cheaper to buy in the US – I ordered a swanky little white Flip UltraHD from Amazon.com and sent it to a cousin for me to collect at a recent family reunion.

I figured a reunion would be a good test of whether I’d use the device or not, and at $188 (€135) for the model on Amazon, the entry point for playing around with video was right.

The result? Anyone who wants to be able to capture great quality video – this is HD, high definition, remember – with a pocket-sized device at an amazingly low cost will want one of these.

I used it regularly over several days and the resulting videos were of startlingly good quality, especially when shot in good light.

They were a source of much added family enjoyment watched on a laptop (the Flip also comes with an HDMI port so that you can play your movies back directly to a TV screen too).

The UltraHD has 8GB of storage, enough for shooting two hours of video. Other Flip models just shoot an hour’s worth, which may not be quite long enough if you don’t want to have to stop and upload the video to a PC at some point, a process that takes quite a while.

The UltraHD is charged by connecting its little flip-out USB arm into a computer, or it can use two AA batteries – meaning no fussing with chargers or adapters.

It has easy to use, on-board editing software that works with Macs or PCs, or will load videos into other editing programs.

Because of its diminutive size and ability to use AA batteries, it also travels easily and is great for capturing impromptu moments.

A professional film producer friend tipped me off about a handy trick, too: using the free open-source video editing tool at www.perian.org, you can also use the Flip for extracting exciting single-frame still images that make it appear as if they were high-speed action shots taken by an expensive still camera. She, incidentally, also loves her UltraHD.

There are a couple of minor downsides to the Flip. Audio is fine, but it’s not great at picking up voices at a slight distance. There’s also no inbuilt jiggle control, so a steady hand is needed (you can buy little tripod devices for it, too).

Overall, this is an incredible little gizmo for anyone who has wanted to dip into good quality video without shelling out hundreds of euro for a larger device.

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