I don’t shoot much video, and the video I do capture is not of me when I can help it, but let’s face it. Video is taking over the web to a degree and I would be denying a new market opportunity if I didn’t at least poke at some online video. After some urging from Jim Kukral, I bought myself a Pure Digital Flip video camera and then headed to Jim’s site, OnlineVideoToolKit.com for some video tips. The video below is the the result of a Saturday out playing with my new toy. (Please look past my scratchy voice, shaky hand, and inability to remember where I am at any given time)

Having watched the video, it’s clear that I figured out a couple transitions and how to put the videos together with Microsoft Movie Maker, but I could use some practice handling the camera. Despite my clumsy newbie ways with a video camera, I managed to come up with something not too catastrophic, and that’s a testament to the Flip. So what’s my verdict? Let’s just break it down to the pros and the cons…

Pros
- Small and very light weight
- Much better video than I get with my still camera’s video recording
- Super fast to get going
- Super fast to get the video on my computer
- Cheap and easy video publishing solution

Cons
- Where’s the threaded tripod mount? (design flaw in my older version, it seems)
- Non-upgradeable memory
- USB interface is a bit clumsy without a cable

I bought the cheap version just to play around without putting a lot of money on the line. I spent about $72 (shipped) to buy mine on ebay. If you’re thinking about getting one, spend the extra money and get a 1GB or 2GB model, tripod-ready, with the extra features. Either way, I’m still pretty happy with it since I won’t need that much memory and the tripod and cable issues are easily fixed.

Now that I’ve jumped on the video band wagon for a test run, should I pack the camera (and my video blogging aspirations) into a box and hide it in my closet, or would you like to see more video blogs on JoeTech.com? Drop your thoughts in the comments area or post a video response on YouTube.