Flip Video Feedback thread - send in your favourite 1 minute clip and you could win £50 Amazon voucher (also open to any existing Flip owners)

[AnnMumsnet]

This thread is for the folks who are part of the Flip Video camera product test on Mumsnet (anyone not part of the test but who already owns a Flip please read on for a chance to win a £50 Amazon voucher).

Many thanks for trying the Flip Video cameras - we hope you have been having fun with them .

Please add your feedback below - we're looking for your overall impressions, comments on set up of the camera, ease of use, playback etc. What kind of things did you film - did your children get involved, what did they think? Also on sharing (ie sharing with friends/ family using the software) - how did you share the film? How easy/hard did you find this? What did you share and with whom?

Everyone who was part of the product test and who adds feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £50 Amazon voucher.

As mentioned previously we'd also love testers to send in your favourite 1 minute clip filmed using your Flip Video - this is also open to all Mumsnetters who already have one of these cameras. We're looking for a total of three films to feature on the Flip Video hub on Mumsnet - your film should show how the camera helps you capture special moments. If your film is selected you will receive a £50 Amazon voucher as a thank you.

If you'd like to submit a 1 minute film please email the link using FlipShare software along with your name and email address to [email protected] (no attachments please!).

If your film is chosen we'll then ask you to email in the file. The 3 best films will feature on the Flip Video hub on Mumsnet - via the MN pages on YouTube. Please note Flip may also use winning videos for other promotional work. If you're selected as a winner you will be emailed a release form regarding this. If your film is not selected as a winning one then it will not be used. The three winning filmmakers will receive a £50 Amazon voucher.

Closing date for film entries: 9am Monday 20 December 2010. One entry per person.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Just marking my spot.
I took DD1 to see Santa at the weekend thinking that it would be a great Flip opportunity, sadly she cried so not a great Flip opportunity afterall.
We went to a Toddler Christmas party yesterday so I did some filming there and last night was fiddling about with the snap shot feature. This is great as trying to get 2 little ones to look in the same direction at the same time is often hard but I filmed a sequence of them opening presents and have managed to take some snap shots from that. I find with a digital camera you try and capture the 'moment' but you often miss it. With film you can then click through and chose the best bit.
Set up was really easy.
One negative comment so far is that the filming screen is so wide but not very tall so I find it hard to fit people in and show what they are doing. I did film one bit turned on it's side but can't find a rotate feature on the software.
So far I haven't tried sharing any recordings but BIL and brother both very impressed at the quality of filming.

I was so happy to receive this and was very impressed with it. I had the HD version. Setup very simple as was charging. Used it for at home; daughter dressing up, giving messages to camera, recording Xmas messages for specific people. Filmed school Xmas shows x2. Took it to science museum and got a bit abstract. Very easy to download from camera and wipe ready for use again. Liked the FLipshare greeting cards though sometimes took quite a while to send, same with the emailing.
Downloaded some to DVD which was also really simple. I love it. My daughter very curious and wanting to use it herself (She is 4) I think because it is so easy and portable I will use it much more than the old digital camera which I've never quite worked out how to download from. I would definitely recommend them and have already done so. Thanks for letting me take part.

I've had the Ultra HD and it's incredibly easy to use. The picture is remarkably good and the sound is good for the size of the camera. Unfortunately, I'm having problems installing Flipshare on my PC. I can charge the camera, but it's not recognising it as a storage device. I've had a look on the flipshre website and looked at the system requirements - I think my PC fits the bill - it's 3 years old, so I would hope that's not too old! However, it does work on the little netbook I have so am off to play around now!

I had the HD too. First impressions on opening the box were very favourable. Not many buttons, simple to use, hardware built in. Technophobe heaven!
:)

I've used it a few times already and found it very simple but with clear images. I was so pleased to have it in my handbag on the weekend when the children got an unexpected opportunity to sit on police motorbikes. The Flip HD recorded the sirens very clearly.

Uploading to Facebook for the Grandparents was very successful (but a bit slow). Nanny Ireland (lives in Ireland)got very emotional at her greeting from the girls.

I can't wait for the holidays so I can get really into it. Couldn't film the nativity as I was behind a pillar.

PS been making some movies. WOuld be nice if it was more simple to tell how long the clips you are making are as you are doing it. Also how long the credits/title take.

Looks lovely, very neat. No need for instructions as it is so easy to use. I'm not finding the uploading so easy though. That may be due to my creak laptop though. It seems slow. I will try again this wknd.

My 4yr old loves it too. She trotted off with it and came back having filmed her baby brother with it. She found it much easier than her kidizoom camera which is actually designed for her age.

Can it be charged straight from the wall? Do I have to charge it through the laptop? Honestly that's a faffing to turn laptop on to charge the camera. I normally use my phone for internet and rarely use laptop. Where I'm struggling is that I can quickly take a video on my phone, click share and off it goes on an email or onto Facebook or as a video phone message. With the flip I have to do a lot more to share my films.

My DD (6) is getting one for Christmas, so we won't be able to enter your competition. Several children we know have them - no adults, though, as they all have iPhones and don't feel the need for more mobile video.

I received the HD version. First impression was that it looked great, very lightweight and amazing quality picture (after initial disappointment then remembering to take protective film off lens!) on the screen as well as sound! I don't like the wrist strap - very plastic. Also the protective case thing is made from a microfibre material which makes my skin crawl!

It is very easy to use and once the kids got used to it and stopped smiling inanely and saying 'hello' every time they saw it, we managed to get some really good videos.

The software was easy to install. The 'flip' usb bit is very handy so you don't need to find cables (although it feels upside down to me as the screen is facing down when it's plugged into the computer-you don't need to see the screen, it just seems wrong to me!) It's very easy to create movies and to share films. I do have an issue with it though - I use a netbook and the Flipshare program doesn't fit in my screen so I can't see the status bar or click on the buttons to save snapshots! I can't change my resolution any higher so it must just be a downfall of using a netbook. Bit of a disappointment though - although DH has a desktop, it's not very practical for me to use that everytime I want to use certain features.

Like Flippinghappy, I found the snapshot feature fab for getting all 3 kids looking the same way at the same time which is near impossible with a standard camera.

Overall it is a fantastic video camera and I really appreciate being able to try it out. As said by others though, I don't think it is necessarily a good product for gadget/tech people who already have phones that have video and internet capabilities. Perfect for myself as I don't even have a camera on my phone :)

OK I have been tempted by all this PR and want to buy one for my DH for Xmas, but what is the basic difference between Ultra and Mino? It seems to be in the batteries eg normal or lithium, but what difference does that make? Is it the battery life? Or the cost? If someone from Flip is reading this, can you explain please - before they all sell out.

Oh no. I just called the Flip Customer Support tel line to ask this. I am none the wiser having done that. Is there someone who doesn't talk in silicon valley Gadget Show technomarketing speak who can explain about the batteries? TIA.

I got the HD version too - Ive used it to film ds at the church prizegiving ,theres also been countless recordings done by teen ds that I cant share -its really very simple and does just what it claims to do - im amazed at how we can really 'simplify' technology and still get great results - will be using it more this week as our Xmas preps really start once school finishes,a huge thumbs up from my house.

We have the HD version and I am very impressed.

Very easy to use which means that when there's a "let's record this" moment you just get shooting straight away. It boots up pretty quickly as well which is useful.

Image stabilisation is excellent. Even when young children are using it the videos are not at all jerky.

The lens lets in a huge amount of light. Previous video cameras I have used have been a bit dark and gloomy. We shot lots of video at DS's christmas carol concert from the upstairs gallery of a church. The image quality was superb and although lighting was not great and we were 20 or 30 metre away both the picture and sound were excellent. Similarly at DD's christmas concert in the school hall (we were front row) the video quality was superb.

We have also used at a friends' christmas party. The kids used it a lot (it's very robust so I feel happy that they won't break it) and got some lovely moments.

The softwear is easy to install and use. I like the fact that in Windows 7 Flipshare saves your videos into the standard Videos folder (albeit within a Flipshare Data folder). Some dedicated device software tends to store into obscure folders on the C: drive which makes it hard to find. Videos play well in Windows Media Player too. You can also import the videos into Windows Live Moviemaker which is great for a bit more detailed editing.

So far we have tried out various features of the Flipshare software:

• email - it takes a while to upload but the fact that your friends recieve an email where they don't need to download the video is a great bonus. I use Gmail though and I do wish that Flipshare had the ability to import Contacts so I didn't have to copy and paste them from Gmail.

- greetings card - this was a really fun option although the embedded video was small so I think I wouldn't use this option much.

I have uploaded to Facebook and that was very successful.

The create options are interesting. We tried the Movie option which automatically selects clips and allows you to add music from a library. I think for this to work well you need to have quite a lot of clips and also clips where dialog is kept to a minimum. Good for creating an overall feel for the event without what can be hours of tedious editing. I will shoot some more and try this again.

I think snapshots could be useful as asuwere said above. Still image quality though is never going to be as good as a dedicated still camera.

I have not tried viewing on an HD TV or any other TV as our TV is 12 years old!

My only criticism at the moment is that during my daughter's concert, when I shot several 8 or 9 minute videos the camera got very hot. I note that it suggests contacting support which I will do. It cooled down pretty quickly and the video quality was unaffected but it was a bit concerning!

When registering with Flipshare online to ask a question it didn't have an option for Windows 7 on the Operating System and also forced me to enter a Camcorder Model (I'd already put Ultra HD on for the previous option) which I couldn't find anywhere on the box or documentation.

Really superb product on the whole. The combination of ease-of-use and high technical specification is genius!

jollyoldstnickschick

The Mino is smaller (although the Ultra is pretty small).

Both have a lithium rechargeable battery in. This is like one in a mobile phone. To charge the battery you Flip the USB port and plug it into your computer's USB port making sure your computer is on. It takes 4 hours to charge and lasts for 2 hours of filming/playback. You can also buy USB mains chargers and we have also charged it off the digital photo frame quite successfully.

The Ultra ALSO allows you to take the lithium battery out if it has run out and replace with 3 AAA batteries. I have not needed to do this yet but can imagine being on a camping holiday and not having access to USB charging - or indeed mains power - this could be a very useful option. Plus if you go out for the day and the battery runs out you can buy more to put in.

I can imagine you can buy spare lithium batteries for the Mino to take out with you but they would cost more than AAA batteries (although could be recharged and used again).

Thanks for all the feedback so far - do send in a short clip if can - if it is selected (details as above) you'd get a £50 Amazon voucher

I've sent a clip

The UltraHD III uses a rechargeable battery pack, which is included upon purchase; however if you run out of juice and you?re not near a computer, you can replace this with two AAA batteries, so good for if you?re on the move a lot. The MinoHD III is charged solely through the in-built battery, enabling it to be slimmer.

Both use lithium batteries and have a battery life of up to 1.5 hours between charges. Click this link for detailed specs: www.theflip.com/en-gb/products/specs.aspx

For a discount on your Flip purchase, please see the Mumsnet promotion on Amazon - www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000466833

marking my place for later, once unpacked.

It wasnt me that asked about batteries??

Can I ask you all, what is the close up detail like?

The close up detail is pretty good but you have to be close up. Zoom is not very powerful.

I've sent a clip but would someone mind confirming it has worked please? Thanks.
:)

flipping...rec'd thanks!

ohmeohmy - not had yours yet though? Can you resend? Just the link to: [email protected]

So I can add to my feedback that sharing by email is quick and easy.

I have played about with movies and snapshots now, bith really simple to use and I am very happy with the results. I flipping love my Flip!
:)

Just thought I'd mention that although we have a USB port on our DVD player, we can't connect the Flip directly to it as it only goes into viewer mode if you connect it to TV using the mini HDMI cable which you have to purchase separately. Still good to use it with TV but shame we can't just use the USB...

Also, when sharing files, it is a link which is sent which makes it much easier for recipient than receiving a big file BUT, how long does the video stay on the Flip server? Is it 'floating around' infinitely or does it expire? Just curious.

is anyones taking forever to upload?

OK - I have now bought one. Thanks for the PM FlipVideo.