Flip Video Mino HD Review
This year we invested in a number of Flip Ultra Video cameras to be used in the classroom environment. These reasonably low cost video cameras have revolutionised how we work with video in education.
A couple of years ago we were involved with a large scale video project that involved training teachers on how to use a camcorder (tape), how to import footage, how to edit footage and how to export it to a portable format that would work on the networked computers.
The training was a challenge, the process was a hassle and the result was very few video resources were actually production post project. The process was just too much of a hassle for teachers to include it in their everyday teaching…… welcome Flip Video. The Flip Ultras are brilliant but after a few minutes of playing with the Mino HD it was a must buy !
The flip Video devices make working with video as easy as working with still images. Point, shoot, import and share. The workflow is near instant and since purchase the 3 Flip Ultra cameras have been in near constant use with video resources being produced of science experiments and most recently Technology projects. The benefits of the flip over the traditional camcorder not only include ease of use but also reduced charge time and most importantly reduced cost !
This week sees the release of the Flip Video Mini HD to the UK market and we were lucky enough to get our hands on a unit for review. Completely irrelevant to the function of the camera the box is also an impressive package.
The box ‘flips’ open to reveal a slightly smaller and glossier camera than the Flip Ultra version. The review unit is a black 4GB version that offers a full sixty minutes of High Definition video (720p) and two hours of battery life per charge.
The first thing we love about the camera is this version features a rechargeable battery that charges while connected to the USB2 port on your computer. The battery offers about 2 hours of HD recording and we found it took just under 3 hours to charge from zero to full power.
The arrival of our Mino HD coincided with the arrival of a new family pet so we decided to put the camera through its paces chasing the new puppy up and down the garden.
Like the Flip Ultra there is zero learning with the Mino HD. The device features a power button, TV out, a flip out USB connector, a record button and 2-3 small control buttons used (mostly) for playback. It would have been nice (given the device is HD) it if offered an HDMI output for direct connection to a TV. The device is simple, there is literally nothing to setup or get to know, you hold out the camera and press the red record button to video, easy !
After recording a few video clips it was time to connect the Mino HD to the computer, in this case an Apple iMac computer running Leopard. On connection the device appears as an external drive.
The camera records directly as .mp4 so you can pull the video direct from the video folder on the external drive or alternatively Double clicking the ‘flip icon’ loads the Flip Video software. Having the software stored on the camera itself means you can connect the camera to any computer and be able to get the most from the camera within a few minutes.
The software doesn’t just offer the ability to move video from the camera to your computer it also offers a host of great features including being able to trim footage, email video and upload it to a range of video sharing sites (including YouTube).
Double clicking on the video file not only plays the footage but offers the ability to easily edit and trim the areas you want to exclude and save revisions of the video.
Once you are happy with your footage you can upload it to MySpace or YouTube without even leaving the software.
Although the software that ships with the Mino HD is great you are not forced in to using it. We tested the device on another Mac (without installing any drivers or additional software).
The Mino HD worked perfectly with the Elgato Turbo.264 software which treated the device as an AVCHD camera. The Mino HD and Turbo.264 HD are a perfect combination for accelerated processing to YouTube HD.
The device also works as standard with iMovie 09, better still the latest update to iMovie means you can now export your footage as true HD (see below).
It probably isn’t very fair to compare the Mino HD to a high end Panasonic HD camera costing over 3 times the price of the 4GB Mino HD but we did it anyway. Lets face it if the Mino HD can compete at all with the Panasonic camera (given the price difference) it is a real winner. The footage below is in HD format :
Watch only the Mino HD Clip on Vimeo.(HD)
Watch the above video on YouTube HD.
Note you have to click the HD button on the video to view it in High Definition.
The guitar (me) was added using iMovie ! As you can see from the sample HD video produced in iMovie 09 the Mino HD really does come out favourably against the Panasonic at 4 times the price. Yes, the Panasonic offers a stack more features etc but for recording simple video pieces it would be hard to fault the Mino HD.
I think in most classroom and domestic situations the Flip Video Mino HD is the perfect solution compared to using camcorders. I think the only feature the camcorder offers over the Mino is the ability to lens zoom whereas the Mino only offers digital zoom.
The Flip Video Mino HD offers excellent value for money. Although we demoed the 4GB version at around £160 a 2GB version (VGA / Non HD) at around £100 is also available. I definitely think if you can afford the 4GB, 60 minute (and HD) version it is definitely worth the extra !
The only performance negative I can come up with (and I had to go hunting) would be the sound quality. Given how small the device is picking up audio from distant sources can be tricky and is definitely not as good as a standard camcorder.
That said most uses will be recording people in close proximity and in this situation the Mino HD works very well. A couple of slight hardware negatives might be that there doesn’t appear to be a way for the user to replace the rechargeable battery or expand the internal flash storage.
These negatives really are being a bit picky, although if the device offered the ability to use SD cards it would definitely earn a 5/5 rating. That said, High Definition footage from such a small portable device is stunning especially when you consider the retail price !
From an education point of view teachers are now able to put HD video capture into the hands of their students. The Flip PR company might not like the next sentence but I allowed both a 6 and 9 year old to use the camera. Both were able to use the device with ease allowing them to focus on creativity rather than technicality. These devices are perfect for the classroom !
It probably won’t be too long before High Definition is the standard and Flip Video have released a device that offers HD to the masses removing painful capture, importing and editing. With the Mino HD you literally point, shoot and share in a matter of minutes.
The Mino HD takes the pain out of video, no more lugging around large camcorders, the device is about the size of a mobile phone and fits into any pocket easily. (see a photo showing size). I suspect we will be building up a bank of Mino HD cameras over the next academic year and personally I will definitely be buying one for home use.
DigMo! Rating : ★★★★
Links:
FlipVideo
Buy from Amazon
Really fancy one of these. Any chance of an upload of the raw mp4 out of it so we can see it without YouTube/Vimeo doing their compression on it?
@Stuart Gibson Uploading now http://www.digmo.co.uk/VID00002.mp4 let me know what you think ?
Good review. It’ll be interesting to see how well the rechargeable battery will perform over time. While sticking in new AA or AAA batteries may be wasteful, they do give instant power. I can imagine the frustration when the internal battery runs low and it requires a longish charge to give it more juice. Yet realistically, that could be quite rare. Bar Camp Belfast will be an interesting test run.
Hmm, there is some pretty serious artefacting going on. I’m guessing that, like still cameras, resolution means nothing if the lens/software doesn’t match up.
I realise that it is both very inexpensive and also has the press-and-go ease of use, but I’m wondering if the video quality is that much better over the standard Mino?