I’m always looking for these pocket cams, and I have a Flip UltraHD on the way, but the Zi8 from Kodak seems to top it with a matching price. It has yet to be tested and I’m pretty happy with the Flip Cameras but there is always room for improvement but tough to keep it in the same price range. I do like that it has an external microphone jack so you won’t hear the air if you can place a microphone somewhere else when your recording a moving vehicle.
Features:
1080p Recording
Electronic Image Stabilizer
SDHC Card Slot
External microphone jack
5 Megapixel Stills
Track Faces of Subjects and “more details and accurate colors in low light”
I got my Flip MinoHD a while back now but I didn’t have a chance to really use it except a little recently. The box is nice and compact, comes with a few wires, a pouch, and the manual. The camera is smaller then I expected, its smaller then my Blackberry 8900, fits very nicely in my hand. Switched it on and it has some very simple settings, and you pretty much point and record right away. It records at 720p video which you can connect to your computer through USB, the USB connector is built into the Flip MinoHD, its at the top and flips out, then you connect it to your computer to either take the videos or charge it, to charge the Flip you also connect it to the USB.
It has very simple operations when recording, you just have one big red button to record and point in the direction that you want. There is a simple built-in software which I used to create the test video below. The sound recorded quality is excellent and so it the video quality, if you are looking for a simple point and shoot video camera for under $200 then this is the perfect camera. I was looking to use a camera to mount to my bikes while riding and mount it to the car while driving to make some fun videos, and it really did the job. You can do edit the video insert any effects but that must be done in something like Adobe Premiere.
Holds 60 minutes of HD-quality video (1280 x 720 resolution at 30 frames per second; 16:9 widescreen) on 4 GB of built-in memory
Weighs only 3.3 ounces, sleek design, fits into your pocket or purse
Features one-touch recording and digital zoom
Flip-out USB arm plugs directly into your computer to launch built-in FlipShare software
FlipShare software lets you save and organize your videos, simple editing, make movie, email, or upload online
I honestly think they did a great job with this camera targeting a specific usage for it. I do think there is room for improvement but I gave it high marks because of the video quality I kept getting and sound capture, and overall extreme ease of use. Now you can the Flip UltraHD which does a little bit more for the same price, so I would go for this one at this point.
