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

Hello.

The people from Flip Video have just been in touch and asked us to post this in response to the query about how long a video stays lives when being shared privately on Flipshare's attachment-free emails:

They say: "The link to the videos contained in the email address will remain valid in the FlipShare private server for 30 days."

We had the Ultra HD - First impressions were really good - slim, very lightweight, easy to fit in a handbag and not many buttons or anything confusing to use. It is the simplest video camera I've ever used - we all used it - including sons aged 6 and almost 4 year old - they adore it and are using it every day to take little videos of each other! The boys also loved being filmed with it. We used it for 2 Christmas concerts, visit to Santa, Christmas party and lots of random things at home. Charging it up is easy too and the battery has lasted absolutely ages - considering we are using it at least once a day since we got it and it's still half full.

We've also had video camera envy from a few people and lots of questions about where to get one, what is it etc. and everyone is amazed at the relatively low cost for such a neat little gadget.

We've only used it to share 1 video by email today to grandparents which was really simple, quick and instinctive to do. It was s short video of the kids messing around.

But... the major downside for us is the restrictions of using the FlipShare software - we haven't found any way you can use any other media software to edit or play around with the videos once it is in FlipShare and it seems like you are tied into the Flip software alone. For that reason we haven't used FlipShare software to store our videos because we like to watch them on our TV using Media Player - Flip doesn't seem to allow access to other media software and means you are limited. What happens if they withdraw support or sharing at any point in the future? It just seems restrictive, after all, the videos are ours not theirs! Their wording says "Your videos and photos are stored in a single library. We strongly advise working with this content from within FlipShare, rather than editing the library directly." Pretty sure that means using FlipShare means we can't use Movie Maker or Windows Live Photo for sharing over Messenger "to the cloud" as the advert says! Happy to be corrected if it is possible to do as we wish though.

Having said all that, we love the camera, the ease of use and the quality of the videos - we just store the videos in our own folder on the PC and we can do whatever we like with them.

Thanks for the answer about how long the videos stay on the server - good to know :)

itwascertainlyasurprise there is an option to remove the red light when filming - not sure if it is available in yours but when switching it on, it gives option to press red button to enter settings and it is within that. I switched it off as soon as I got it as I knew it would distract my kids (plus meant I could catch DH without him realisising! )

DH used it to film DS's Christmas parties the other day as I was at work. The videos were good but a bit long so I was able to cut them and joined them to make a movie. It was only a 3min movie but seemed to take an age to create and share. It is very slow to upload.

First impression was how nice it looks, it's slim, stylish and I liked the soft case that was supplied with it. I found it extremely easy to use - my 6 year old can work it easily.

I filmed mostly the children - decorating the tree, opening presents etc and the children also enjoyed filming things (wasn't keen when they burst in as I was in the bath, but hey, it's got a delete button...!)

thge sharing software is an absolute doddle and I sent film of the children on Christmas morning to grandparents- not used this much yet, but will certainly do so.

Overall, think it's an excellent product.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

ruddynorah was pulled out the hat as the winner of the £50 Amazon voucher. Well done.

The winning films have been uploaded to the hub - do have a look - they are all different and all great!

I recorded the kids saying some of their thank you messages for Christmas presents.

One lot, for my Aunt and Uncle I sent as a Greetings card which they loved.

The other one I uploaded onto Facebook, set the Privacy so that only myself and the recipient can view the video then sent it to them as a message. Hugh success!

I sent my first flip video the other day for SIL birthday. I got DD to sing Happy Birthday which I filmed and then made it into a greeting card. It took a while to load and send but was a 3 minute clip. She loved it and said it was very easy to open. I wanted to test it with her first as my Mum is a bit of a technophobe but even she might manage to open a clip!
I was looking on Amazon today and I saw that they have these waterproof cases!
Has anyone tried the case for underwater filming?

love it. Been using it to film DD2 who is being assessed for ASD atm. Been good and so handy to just grab and shoot.
Red light is a bit of a pain tbh as she stares at that.
Uploading takes a while but its easy to use and good pictures :)