Last week I saw an older gentleman displaying a way too cheap to be useful video camera at our local Costco . The design attracted me to actually look at it. I expected what most would from a sub $100 video camera. I was wrong. It felt solid in my hand and the few features it has were easily accessible.
It is the Flip Video Camcorder by Pure Digital.
There is a 30 and a 60-minute version... basically 512Mb and 1Gb of storage. It is about the size of your average point-and-shoot digital camera.
I bought it with plans to let my children use it to make a short movie. At that price, I don't have to worry too much about it. I won't be too happy when they break it, but it isn't an HD cam that costs more than my first car.
Once you record something on it, you plug the pop-out USB plug directly into your computer. There is some software on it for both Mac and Windows that give you some basic editing functions. I didn't however use the on-board programs beyond just looking at their interface. They went straight into iMovie. This worked flawlessly.
There is a youtube logo on the package so that should give you a clue about the intended use. The quality isn't great but it is better than I had expected.
The good parts:
- Cost, at $89 for the 30-minute version anything that isn't a blurry mess is a bargain
- Size, it fits nicely into my pocket
- Image quality, not too shabby
- Ease of use, few features = few buttons
- LCD screen, not a viewfinder, what you see is what you get
- Size, it is small, I have lost it three times
- Few features, it records and has a digital zoom, that is it (really this is a good thing)
- Image quality, no one will confuse the vids with that of a vid cam of $500 (duh)
- No tripod, my only real issue is that there isn't a threaded screw port to attach it to any sort of tripod or camera mount
Like I said, I bought this one at the local Costco, but if you cannot find on, I see that Amazon.com sells them as do many other online stores.
