Degutis Insights

I received my Flip Ultra yesterday and have fallen in love with it. I was reluctant to get a Flip because I purchased a Panasonic SDR-S10 only 4 months ago. Within minutes of using the Flip I was hooked. In
my opinion the Flip is right up there with Tivo as a can’t live without. Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration but once you use it, it’s simplicity and image quality are real attention grabbers. Let me start with the simplicity.

Steps to create a video with the Panasonic SDR-S10

1. Take a video
2. Connect USB cable to camera and computer (I had to fetch one from the home office)
3. Turn on the camera and select Connect to PC (Macbook Pro actually). It displayed “Please Connect AC Power” and returned to the Connect To screen.
4. Fetch the power cord and connect it.
5. Connect to PC (Hello, It’s a Mac)
6. Launch iMovie or Final Cut Express
7. Import clips
8. Edit video
9. Export to web

Steps to create a video with the Pure Digital Flip Ultra

1. Take a video
2. Flip out built-in USB connection and plug it into the computer
3. Launch Final Cut Express (Flip creates files that iMovie 08 cannot read, but iMovie 06 can; one time 3ivx MPEG-4 decoder installation required; VisualHub can also be used to convert it for iMovie 08)
4. Import clips
5. Edit video
6. Export to web

Fewer steps with the Flip, not many, but not having to worry about the USB cable and power cords is a tremendous benefit. Plus, the Flip uses two AA batteries which are readily available and you don’t have to worry about recharging (Lithium-Ion) batteries before each use.

Now lets look at the video quality.

This is a quick test, taken only minutes after taking the Flip out of it’s box and popped a pair of AA batteries in. I was so impressed with its quality, especially compared to the Panasonic SDR-S10 which I purchased a mere four month earlier. I grabbed the SDR-S10 and held both cameras side-by-side to create this video. The severe camera movement part of the way through the video is where I switched which side the cameras were on.

Full Size Video:

As you can see, to get the SDR-S10 to show any detail on the subject, and not a silhouette, I had to shift her to the left reducing the amount of light from the window.

While HD video cameras are get more attention and will eventually become more affordable, the Flip is easy to use, quick and inexpensive to buy. I purchased mine from Amazon for $150. Learn more about the Flip by reading David Poque’s review.