Mini video cams ?

[KenBurris]

thinking about one for my (pregnant) daughter - looks like Flip Ultra HD 120 vs Sony vs Kodak. anyone have insights ? just thinking of something she can have in her purse/diaperbag to capture those moments. Flip seems fine for most purposes, but would removable storage change the situation that much ?

Thanks

Ken

[atgcpaul]

At work I bought a Kodak Zi6 flip camera to document crashes we have with
some of our instruments and send a Youtube link to the service engineer for
off-site diagnosis. We also use it for stills and videos for presentations we
give.

It's a nice little camera. It is fairly small and lightweight. I also bought a
large capacity SD card for it, too. It uses regular AA batteries and comes
with a charger. The USB connection flips out the side so you have to tether
this relatively large camera to your computer so it's best if you are using a
laptop or have a computer with front facing USB ports.

The camera starts up pretty fast and is ready to go within seconds. The software
is OK and it's Youtube ready. I haven't tried other video editing software with it yet.
The video quality is excellent and I've never seen a stutter. Low light shooting is
not very good, though.

Paul

[Brian G]

I've had the Kodak zi8 for about a month. I haven't used it much. I bought an extra rechargable battery and an 8GB memory card (class 6). I also bought the remote control and an external microphone.

I didn't have a purpose in mind when I bought it, but I researched until I reached the end of the internet (that's what LOML says I do when I research a purchase).

For me, having the option to use external media was the final selling point. This is important if you want to set up a tripod to record something for an extended period, like birds at a bird feeder. I did read a suggestion to go with the higher class rating (6 or better) for the external media. As I understand, that number has something to do with the read/write speed (I'm not too bright about stuff like that).

The video quality is excellent, but I have not used anything else. I connected the zi8 to my HDTV via the included HDMI cable, and viewed the 1080p clip I recorded. That was a wow! moment, but then I'm easily amused by colorful pictures on TV.

The sound isn't great from the internal microphone, but it does the job for close-ups. I bought an external microphone just in case I wanted to do some self-videos.

I'm starting to realize that these video clips are memory hogs, so I'm anticipating purchasing an external hard drive at some point.

The free software is useful, but not necessary to install. I have not done much editing yet.

If you have specific questions, I'll answer them as best as I can.

[jussi]

I got my brother a Flip Mino for his bday a while back and he really likes it. Quality is best suited for web videos which looks pretty clear. Putting on a big screen and it's watchable but quite grainy.

They also have Mino HD which seems to have really great reviews as well.

Check out Sears Outlet site. You may be able to find one real cheap there.

[KenBurris]

Solved ! the Flip Ultra HD120

My daughter is a cosmetologist, working at the same salon for nine years. She loves her job, and her clients, and evidently they are fond of her . . . . yesterday one of her clients gave her the Flip Ultra HD 120 (evidently now called "Flip Ultra HD 2 Hours") ! Her due date is soon, and in the last several weeks her clients have been bringing all sorts of baby gifts to her. She must be doing something right . . . I wouldn't know as I have to remind her to take 3 minutes for my buzz cut. Some parable about a cobbler and his children comes to mind.