Flip Ultra F260 - Easy no fear videos- a cam grandma can use!

We have a great Sony handycam and until I bought my Flip Ultra, I really did think it was handy but I don't think it's been out of the case since the day I bought my Flip (July 2008).

I keep thinking I'd like to upgrade to the Flip HD 8gb but my little ultra takes such great vids and I haven't yet needed any more than the hour of recording because it's so convenient to upload video to any computer. The software resides in the camera itself so as soon as you hook it up to a computer, you can use the editing software to add music and frames to your video. The editing software is simple and allows you to capture single frames for printing and you can connect to youtube or myspace for uploading as well as mailing the video to friends.

From the minute I took this camera out of the box, I was able to use it. I broke my foot the day I bought it so I filmed my cast and mailed it out a few hours later with appropriate music and captions. It's so easy to figure out that I've had my 87 yr. old aunt and my 3 yr. old nephew using it with the same proficiency I have. PureDigital has reduced the video camera to the lowest, easiest form with a button to turn it on, a trash button, a play button, a red record button which is surrounded by a forward, reverse, zoom and far and the ultra convenient flip arm that lets you plug it into your computer.

The tech stuff:

weighs 5.2 oz
speaker and microphone built-in
powers up in 4-7 seconds
2AA batteries - alkaline last 2 hours and camera quality batteries last 6 hours (real filming hours)
1.5" tft lcd screen
648×480 resolution
4.17”H x 2.16”W x 1.25”D


The ease of this camera is so evident that it has the best stealth marketing campaign around, just use it and you'll buy one.. watch someone else use it and you'll buy one.

The downside to this little camera is the fact that it has almost no zoom... 2x is fine for closing in on faces. The reality is, the camera is so much lighter and more transportable than my handycam with great zoom that I take it everywhere I go and I don't mind the lack of zoom.

Included is a cable that attaches to your television for great playback. A recent children's birthday party proved this feature was a hit. I filmed the kids and towards the end of the party when things were screaming, I headed to the tv to see if I'd caught the essense of the party, one child noticed and within minutes, it was a film screening with every child sitting quietly (except when they were giggling) and enjoying being in a movie. I ended up having to mail copies to 5 or 6 of the parents but that's so easy to do, it wasn't a problem. The flip also comes with a soft pouch, a guidebook, batteries and a wrist strap so it's useable right out of the box.

The best thing about my Flip is the customer service I received when it broke. I wrote PureDigital when my camera stopped working after 4 months (of constant use) and they were amazing even though the camera has a 90 day warranty. They sent a box for it that arrived within 2 days. They worked to retrieve the video that was on my flip and they transferred it to my brand new flip which was sent within a week of their receiving my broken one. They were so quick, so concerned about my video and so helpful that I appreciate my camera so much more. I've had the replacement for 7 months, I've recorded about 40 hours of video on it and it's perfect. It lives in my purse or pocket, I never leave home without it so I've been able to capture fabulous moments that I never would have had a video camera for in the past. I love it.. I was the first person in my family to have one... a year later, two of my three sisters have it, one of my sons has one and my sisters have bought them for their kids at college so they can send videos home.