Some time ago, I found myself staring at a photo online of a little camera called, quite simply, the Flip. Shortly after that, at the urging of Jim Kukral, I decided to buy one. Little did I know how much easier it would make it for me to put videos online. Then Pure Digital, the makers of the Flip launched a newer version, the Flip Ultra. The have a couple even newer versions out now, called the Flip Mino and the Flip Mino HD, but I still hadn’t checked out the Flip Ultra yet, so when they offered to send one my way, I giddily said, “yes, please”.

In the box
- Flip Ultra camcorder (they know my color, too!)
- Two Duracell batteries
- TV video cable (for viewing on your tv)
- Wrist strap
- Soft carrying case

More photos
As always, I got a little camera happy with a shiny new toy in front of me, but this time, I was able to cut it back to only 28 photos. Click the thumbnails below to see the full set.

The specifications
- Recording time : 60 min.
- Internal memory : 2GB
- Screen size : 1.5 inch diagonal
- Screen type : Transflective TFT (for bright daylight)
- Video resolution : 640 x 480
- Sensor : 1/4″ VGA CMOS sensor – Large 5.6 µm pixels
- Light sensitivity : Very high sensitivity (>2.0V/lux-sec) with automatic low light detection
- Frame rate : 30 frames per second (constant frame rate, progressive scan)
- Video format : Advanced Profile MPEG-4 AVI
- Lens type : Fixed Focus (0.8m to infinity)
- Aperture : f/2.4 (fast lens for great results in low-light environments)
- Zoom : Smooth multi-step 2x digital
- Battery type : 2 AA Batteries (1.5 Volt AA Alkaline, Energizer(R) e2(R) Lithium, or 1.2 Volt NiMH rechargeable)
- Battery life : about 2 to 5 hours depending on the batteries used
- Power up time : 4 to 7 seconds (my average is 2.6 seconds)
- Dimensions : 4.17″ x 2.16″ x 1.25″
- Weight : 5.2 oz
- PC connection : Built-in flip-out USB arm (up to USB 2.0 speed)
- Speaker : Built-in
- Microphone : Built-in
- TV connection : NTSC

The Flip versus everything else
One of the things that I immediately loved about my original Flip is the portability. In 2004, I got into a bad car accident and my car was totaled. Having a camera handy to document the damages before going to the hospital convinced me to always keep a camera handy. With Flickr and YouTube becoming more and more popular, it’s always a good idea to have a camera handy for whatever happens. The Flip cameras are pocket-friendly and travel very well compared to traditional larger video cameras. And the quality is spectacular compared to the video option on cell phones or point-and-shoot cameras. Better still, it’s ready to record quickly, as can be noted by a couple of the examples below.

Example video and stills

- Lightning Video from a storm here in Arizona (old Flip)
- Lightning stills taken from the above video (old Flip)
- Huge warehouse fire. As I was driving home from work one night, I saw flames in the distance and happened to have my Flip in my glove box. (old Flip)
- Multi-Touch device demo video that I shot not too long after getting my Flip. (old Flip)
- Puppies playing (as seen above) (Flip Ultra)
- My Christmas tree (slightly less light) (Flip Ultra)

Room for improvement
There’s not a whole lot of room for improvement and I’m sure the Mino series flips go above and beyond, but here’s a couple things I think should have been done differently on the Flip Ultra:
- Video file names should continuously increment. I shoot a few videos, copy to my computer, delete, shoot a few more… repeat. The problem arises when I try to copy a second or third batch of videos to my computer and end up with two or three named VID00001.AVI. While not a functional problem it is annoying.
- Off-center tri-pod mount. This is another small thing, but the design would have been better with a tri-pod mount dead center for those times when I want to have the camera turn 360 degrees.
- Always-on boot and record noise and light. When I’m in a session at BlogWorld or Affiliate Summit, I’d rather be able to start and stop the video recording process without the audible alerts and light. This should be an option. I felt so strongly about it that I re-wired my original Flip to add a switch for the audio (more on that later).
- It’s still clumsy to hold the flip plugged-in next to my laptop while I copy files over. A 3 foot USB extension cable would complete the basic kit nicely.

Conclusions
As far as I’m concerned, the Flip is still the iPod of video cameras. With a (nearly) perfect blend of functionality, usability, price, and style, it’ll make a great gift for anyone on your list this Christmas, and if everyone you know is just too naughty for one, buy it for yourself. They’re a lot of fun.