My Classroom's Newest Toy: The Flip Video Ultra Camcorder!

I teach 7th Grade in a Junior High School.  And seeing 210 12 and 13 year old kids every day, I get a pretty good feel for what they like, what they don't like, and how they take care of things.  So when my principal, who's a bit of a techie herself, brought by a Flip Video Ultra a few weeks back, I was very excited.  I was also a little apprehensive--my principal loves technology to the extent that she'll buy everything and figure out if it really works later--I'm happy to report that her purchase of five Flips for our school was a great move.  And buying them for about $115 each?  Even better.

The Flip Video Ultra is a small, inexpensive camcorder from Pure Digital.  It's just over one inch thick, two inches wide, and four inches long--a bit larger than a cell phone.  I imagine the video capturing device was inspired by cell phones, using a lot of the same technology.  It only weighs twelve ounces, and when I'm not using it with my classes, it tucks into a shirt pocket easily and safely.  The Flips we purchased are black and silver, but they also come in orange, pink and green, with white accents.  I'm considering buying one for home use, because when I've brought the classroom one home, my 4 and 6 year old boys have had a blast with it. 

This may be the easiest-to-use camcorder I've ever seen.  A sliding power switch at the top of the device turns it on, and you point the camcorder while looking at the 1.5" LCD display screen on the back.  Press the round red button to start recording--press it again to stop.  A simple digital zoom is activated by pressing + or - keys above the record button.  It's not much of a zoom, but it gets you a little closer to the action.  As it's recording, a red light comes on on the lens side of the camera, so the subjects know they're being recorded.  When you're finished, you can review the video by scrolling through your scenes with arrow keys, play them back, and delete them and try it again.  There are only seven buttons on the Flip, making it perfect for first-time camcorder users. 

The Flip Video Ultra uses two AA batteries, and will shoot up to an hour of video.  Using it in the classroom, I generally have the students shoot in smaller chunks--the Flip stores their videos in chronological order, and will always display how much time you have remaining, along with how long the current video is.  The battery life has been very good--I've read reviews reporting four to six hours, but with the rechargables I'm using, I may be getting a longer battery life.  I've been using it off and on for four weeks, and I'm sure I've logged at least twelve hours without switching out the batteries. 

Using 2 GB of Flash memory instead of a videotape or DVD, it's perfect for use with kids or technophobic adults.  Because it's all stored on a Flash drive, the people at Pure Digital made uploading videos even easier--you pull a little lever, and out pops the USB connector to get your videos onto your computer!  You don't need additional cables, wires, or any other equipment...it's made for the Age of YouTube. For people who are just trying to share videos with friends and family, the Flip Video Ultra is the way to go.  

The Flip Video Ultra does have a "TV" port and connection cables, if you want immediate playback on a television screen--we generally use that in class for "quick and dirty" review of material, but for real video sharing, we upload it to a computer. 

The software for uploading and editing the videos is included on the Flip itself--so you don't have to carry around CDs with you--whatever computer you happen to be at can upload the Flip videos for you.  The upload time is fairly slow, no matter what your connection speed--for a fifteen minute video, it takes about twenty minutes to upload.  It's too long to do within a single class period for me, but for regular home use, it's not a big inconvenience.  Once you're uploaded onto your computer, you have options to save it to your computer, or edit it before you save it.  That means you can shave off the awkward "setting up the scene" or the end--you can also string several scenes together to make a longer movie.   The editing software is very elementary--it's no iMovie--but again, it's very nice for first time users and the technophobic. 

Because this is such a simple camcorder, I had very low expectations for the video and sound quality;  the Flip surpassed those expectations, but it certainly won't set new high standards for digital video.  I'd rate it as several steps above a video taken by a cell phone, but it's below a "real" camcorder.  The lighting needs to be good to pick up the video--in the classroom or outdoors I haven't had any problems, but at home in lower lighting, it doesn't do as well. It surprised me how good the audio was, although it does tend to pick up background noise just as accurately as it picks up what I actually want it to record.  When I have students use it in the classroom, non-performing students need to be quieter than they usually are.  And for the Flip, they do it willingly. 

The accessories included are fairly straightforward--a wrist strap for carrying it around (a good idea in a school setting) and a cloth bag to store it in when you're not using it.  Pure Digital makes a few other accessories that I may pick up, like a tripod, an underwater case, and an action mount--that aren't included here. 

As a teacher, I love seeing technology that works, and that I'm comfortable letting students use on their own.  We've had digital camcorders in our school for a while now, but at $800 a piece, I haven't been willing to let the kids operate them solo.  The Flip Video Ultra is a great way to let them experiment and get the feel for these student projects without breaking the bank.  I've had them shoot "Homestead Commercials" and their own Obama/McCain ads, and they're willing to put a lot more work into hamming it up for the camera than they are without the cameras.  I've only been using the Flip for four weeks, but I'm looking forward to using it for years to come.  

Beyond the classroom, I see the Flip Video Ultra as a good way to capture some family moments when our "real" camcorder might not be so convenient.  We were at Disneyland last summer, and didn't want to lug the camcorder around with us--and didn't want risk it getting knocked around on rides.  The Flip might be a good solution--slipping it in my pocket, then pulling it out to capture a few moments without being too worried about losing or breaking a more expensive model. 

If you're looking for a way to share videos online, if you're looking for a camcorder that you'd trust younger kids with, the Flip Video Ultra is what you want.  I wouldn't entrust your most cherished family memories to it...but for everyday use, it's a blast. 

Some technical specs that I don't entirely understand:
Camcorder
Video Resolution: 640 x 480
Sensor 1/4" VGA CMOS sensor
Video Compression Pure Digital Video Engine 2.0
Frame Rate 30 frames per second (constant)
Video Bitrate 4.5 Mbps (average - autoadaptive algorithm)
Video Format Advanced Profile MPEG4 AVI
Auto White Balance and Auto Exposure
Lens Type Fixed Focus (0.8m - infinity)
Aperture f/2.4
Zoom 2x digital

Software
Operating systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OSX
Minimum system requirements Windows: Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz computer 512 MB RAM, Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista
SVGA display monitor and video card
Windows Media Player 9.0 Microsoft DirectX 9.0
Minimum system requirements Mac: PowerPC G4 1.0 GHz, Intel Core 512 MB RAM, Mac OS X 10.3.9
SVGA display monitor and video card
Quicktime 7.0 or later
Video greeting cards
Upload to YouTube
Upload to AOL Video
Web publishing
Snap still photo from video