I’ve wanted to buy a Flip video camera ever since the first one came out. If they shipped to Canada, I probably would own three, the latest being the ultra-sexy Flip Mino.
The problem is that not only do they not ship to Canada, they won’t take Canadian credit cards and their Amazon shop won’t let Canadians purchase the camera either. Super-FAIL.
Truth is, I’m in the market for a video camera.
Since I’m not willing to jump through hoops to buy a Flip Mino, I’m looking for your recommendations for a camera I can buy at a local electronics store. I don’t know much about video, but here’s what I think I want from my device:
- Portable: I don’t need my camera to be as compact as the Mino, but I do need it to be small enough to toss into my Crumpler without a second thought. Small enough to hold in my hand and unobtrusive, but it doesn’t necessary have to be small enough to be fit in my shirt pocket.
- Easy to Use: I’m no techno-geek — if it’s not in a browser, I’m usually not very adept at it — so any camera I use should easily plug the video output into iMovie. I can make it work from there, of course, so any camera with a USB output that easily ports to iMovie should work.
- Rechargeable: One of the big problems I had with the original Flip cameras was the lack of USB-recharge ability. The Mino has solved that, but since I can’t get a Mino, any camera I buy is going to need to be able to be recharged by USB.
- Digital: Duh. I’m not going to worry about tapes or stuff like that.
- Affordable: My budget is a bit larger than what I’d expect to pay for a Mino, but I’m still not looking at shelling out big cash. This is a fun purchase, not a necessary buy, so I’d like to keep it under $300 if at all possible.
So that’s my list of needs. I don’t think they’re that extensive, so if you have any recommendations — and I really hope you do, because I know nothing about video cameras — please share them with me. Really appreciate all your help.
I don’t know if this will help but when I was frantically looking for a solution in June one of my twitter friends pointed me to Walmart. As it turns out the Flip is available in Canada, and Walmart.ca has them. http://www.walmart.ca/wps-portal/storelocator/Canada-ItemSearch.jsp?searchQuery=flip%20video&departmentId=2&page=&lang=null&tabId=0 Though I don’t think they are the Minos.
Thanks Lex. Sadly, it doesn’t make sense for me to get the old Flip now (especially since the Wal-Mart price for the old Flip is perilously close to that of the Mino) just because the folks at Flip are ignoring the Canadian market.
Thanks for the heads up, but I think Flip has now disenchanted me enough that I’m looking for a new solution.
Coming sooooooon.
http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Zi6-Pocket-Video-Camera/dp/B001BO7R00/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3EWRYR4GE0VIO&colid=1J8Z9ORH3VI42
Oh wow, that is sexy. It’s too bad it’s not available until Oct1, I kinda wanted to buy one this week.
Now the big question: hold out for the Kodak or buy something else. I’m so torn.
You don’t want a Flip. You want a camera that has external audio capabilities (an audio jack) and that uses DV tapes (or, less ideally, burns directly to DVD).
A Canon ZR900 is within your price range, uses DV tapes, and has an audio jack. (It connects to your computer using firewire, though, which could be a problem if you’re on a Windows computer w/ no firewire port.)
Once you get the camera, ping me … Elastic Lab would love to hire you for a few gigs!
Firewire works for me — yay for having a Mac! =)
That being said, I’m not exactly sure how the whole DV tape stuff works. Is it just like an SD card, just bigger? Because I don’t mind, as long as I don’t have to do any fiddling with tapes…
What’s your end goal for video projects?
You can keep one DV tape in the camera and make sure you dump it to your computer regularly using firewire — then you don’t have to switch out tapes. However, tapes are good for keeping high-quality recordings you may want to edit later.
A hard-drive-based camera (no tapes/DVDs) will compress your video and this limits the options you have for using it later. (Cameras that burn to DVD also compress.)
Ah, that clears things up a bit. My end goal is just to upload a few things to Vimeo, nothing too in-depth. Not planning on firing up Premiere or anything for these.
Good to know that I could though — makes sense to get the DV tape version, just in case.
zi6 vs Flip, if you don’t want to spend more than $200.00.
http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/08/29/zi6-v-flip
Thanks for the link Lee. I’m still thinking about it… =)
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And now there’s the Flip Mino HD!
http://www.theflip.com/products_flip_ultra_specs.II.shtml
Did you ever get anything? I’d be interested in hearing if you found something you’re happy with.
Thanks for following up Lee! I’m going to pick up a Flip Mino HD when I’m in DC next week for sure.
I actually ended up getting (kinda like a gift) a Panasonic HDD camera that I really like, but it’s a bit bigger than what I was looking for. Doesn’t really fit in my pocket, but it is a great camera!