I’ve never owned a camcorder before (gasp!). My parents used to have one of those huge ones from the Eighties, and I remember using it a couple of times, but our family was never too big on home videos.
Then I got a point-and-shoot camera that could take videos. I thought that was a fun option, but unfortunately it didn’t record sound, so I rarely used the function. What good is a video without sound (sorry Charlie Chaplin)? It only captures part of the action and ambiance.
So when my husband came home the other day with a Flip Video Ultra, I was intrigued. This little device captures up to an hour of film (and sound) and it’s no bigger than a cell phone. Technology is amazing, really.
So after playing with it a little, here’s my opinion of the little guy.
* I like the size and how it’s so easy to take along with you. I hate carrying big, heavy things, so this is fabulous, especially since I’m just learning to want videos of things.
* It only holds an hour of video. I’m not experienced here, but that doesn’t seem like a lot. If I went to a child’s concert or soccer game, I definitely couldn’t catch the whole thing. But if I’m only interested in snippets, it will be very handy.
* It charges in a USB port of your computer, which provides pros and cons. I like that you don’t have to chase down batteries and that a flick of a button makes it all ready to charge, but it does kind of tie you to your computer if you want to take more than an hours’ worth of video.
* The video quality isn’t super high. It’s more designed for videos you share on the web or through e-mail. But that seems to be the real reason to have video these days, doesn’t it?
* I like that it comes with its own software and that downloading the videos is pretty easy.
Overall, this little toy is fun to play with, easy to use, and easy to carry. I might become a video junkie after all!